Last night my stupid neighbor shot a gun in the air 12 times...?

Question

Where do the bullets go? About how far from the shooter if he shoots it straight up in the air? A 45 cal. gun?

4th July reason.

Answer 1

There was a story on the news last 4th of July about some asshole shooting his pistol off celebrating and then the next sentence was about a lady that was sitting in her yard holding her child when she was struck in the eye with a bullet. It was his gun and she was 1/2 mile away. She ended up losing her eye and thank God her child wasn't hit. If I were you I'd go and beat his stupid ***.

Answer 2

we have gone over this question so many times. If shot straight up it will not cause much damage. If shot at an angle it will cause damage.
People will say this is crap because they know some guy....
or because it was reported in a newspaper that that some guy shot a gun a half mile away and it killed someone. If the bullet killed someone a half mile away it probably was not shot straight up. Look at the story with the cop. The people were shooting fireworks people were not shooting guns near the cop The shooters were probably far away and thus did not shoot the gun straight up. The terminal velocity on bullets is not that fast. When you hear stories about people dropping pennies from the empire state building and killing someone it is FALSE. Simply an urban legend.

I want to hear a story about someone shooting a gun straight up into the air and the bullet coming down within a ten yard radius and killing someone to change my mind. Not some guy standing around and then all of the sudden having a bullet go through him.

Your stories do not contradict those of us who say it has to be shot at an angle.

Answer 3

Has anyone seen mythbusters? They had a TV episode on this very thing. They showed that if you shoot perfectly straight in the air the bullet will fall sideways and lose terminal velocity.

On the other hand if you are even a little off the round will main a lethal trajectory and if I person or animal gets in between they will be shot.

People can be killed and the shooter in some cases have been charged with murder as a result. At the least it is illegal call the cops. Your neighbor will be charged with illegal discharge of a firearm within city limits.

Answer 4

I actually saw an episode on Myth Busters about this. When a gun was shot straight up in the air, it did not come down in the same spot. It was close but the wind carried it a bit. Also, when a gun is shot straight up, it will tumble on the was down and the terminal velocity would slow down. I can't remember the speed at which it was slowed to but I do recall them saying it wasn't deadly, would just hurt alot. Now if the gun was at an angle it would continue to spin and when it came down would be deadly, but if you are right next door I wouldn't worry about the bullets hitting your house, I would worry if I was a few blocks away. In any case, the guy is an idiot for shooting his gun off in an unsafe environment. I would report him to the police.

Answer 5

Well, it was the fourth. In the days of the Earp brothers in Dodge City, the part of town on one side of the tracks was wide open, but there was an ordnance on the other side of the tracks that prohibited shooting firearms except on Christmas, New Years, and the 4th of July, when it was OK. The bullets go up, the bullets come down, and there's rarely any damage. Terminal velocity is low enough that when they come back down, even if they do hit something important, they're not likely to do much harm.

Answer 6

Many years ago on New Years Eve, I was working at a college bar and we walked outside to see some people shooting off fireworks in the parking lot.
A policeman who was on duty was standing with us and at one point grabbed his shoulder in pain. He was hit by a rifle bullet heading straight down ...the bullet hit his shoulder blade and exited his skin below the shoulder blade. Lucky for him it only went through skin and muscle. We administered some compression and by the time the ambulance arrived he was not bleeding and walking around.
A couple on inches forward or to the side and he would have had a fatal wound as the bullet would have gone into his chest or head. I was maybe four feet away at the time.
In many cities across the US, people regularly shoot off their firearms on New Years or July 4th.....so stupid! Call the police and report this deadly, dangerous and irresponsible behaviour.

Answer 7

what goes comes back down but not at the speed it went up, it takes a lot more energy to go up at 1000 mile an hour and maybe 100 mph coming back down. There has always be old sayings about bullets, there was one story about a solider having been shot in his private parts and the bullet traveled about 1/2 mile and hit a woman in the stomach and she conceived a child, the man heard about her and knowing he had been shot in his privates, realized that this child was his and would be the only one he would ever have , so he went and married the woman......you talk about a long shot!!!!! both ways.........I guess you act funny after your privates are gone........I don't think I want to find out..........

Answer 8

Uh first of all what ever goes up must come down. My father is the captain of the fire department in our town and he has seen many cases of "friendly fire" injuries.

I have also seen quite a few bellet holes in roof's from the projectiles falling out of the air with such force.

Thus, yes people can be hurt from a bullet fired into the air.

Answer 9

What goes up, must come down, and that could be far or near. I wouldn't tolerate that, he could have killed someone. Next time call the cops, its not worth the risk of him killing someone all in the name of being a jackass on the 4th of July. If he wants to shoot guns he should move to the far country!!!!!

Answer 10

It depends on how the weather conditions are, and the angle it was shot at. For example if there was some wind coming from the east. The wind would move the bullet towards the east.