How stupid can people be?

[Huddog]

I just had a guest from a neighbor's New Year's Eve party fire a single shot shotgun into the air, I don't know if it was a blank or a live round. Happy New Year. Fireworks are still going off but he only fired the one shot and away from my house. I had the PD number dialed when he put the shotgun back in the trunk of his car. I live in a neighborhood in the metropolitian area of Atlanta. I understand this happens but this is the first time I've actually seen it. It's idiots like this that give firearms people a bad reputation. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

 

[Cosmoline]

So? Was he aiming at you? They're safer than fireworks. I've capped off blanks in town and cut down trees with live ammo out in the sticks.

 

[CrawdaddyJim]

Niiiiiiiiiice.........Thats the ticket. What a maroooon!

 

[meinbruder]

RE--How stupid can people be??

Pretty stupid sometimes. I never go anywhere on New Years for just the reason you’ve described. I walk the back yard and then out front to check for damage and listen for an impact on the roof. Our neighborhood has traditionally sounded, and looked, like a war zone, mostly fireworks but the occasional gunshot(s). I’ve called a few in but have never seen anyone in the act. I was visiting my grandmother many years ago and at the stroke of midnight we rushed outside to bang some old pots together only to hear the sound of gunfire from every point on the compass, some of it automatic. High desert can be a little strange in a sparsely settled area.
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[RNB65]

A few years ago when I lived close to the Richmond city line, I would routinely hear full-auto subguns, handguns, and shotgun blasts coming from South Richmond on New Years. One year I heard a Richmond cop on my scanner remark that it sounded like a war zone. He wasn't exaggeratting. Richmond 911 gets so many gunfire calls on New Years that they don't even bother to respond to them.

 

[Barbara]

How stupid can people be??

I don't think there's an upper limit.

 

[Huddog]

No if he'd been aiming it at me this might be a different thread. But he certainly had no idea what his target was or what might be behind it.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Firing live rounds + metro area= idiot
Hopefully it was a blank and if not, hopefully nobody's person or property gets hit when it comes back down.

 

[Cosmoline]

I thought you said he fired into the air, and that you didn't know if it was a blank. You people from the east are too civilized. Ease up!

 

[10-Ring]

What goes up must come down Hopefully no one was hurt! Knuckleheads

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

I thought you said he fired into the air, and that you didn't know if it was a blank. You people from the east are too civilized. Ease up!

He also said he's in a metro area
Some of us can blast away, but in denser areas your rounds will come down in someone else's postage stamp property.
However maybe it was a blank. If so, load up and let em fly!

 

[BigBlock]

I don't know if it was a blank or a live round.

At least know the details of the situation before you get your panties into a bunch. If I had thought ahead far enough to order some blanks, I'd be shooting them off in my yard in the suburbs tonight. Instead I'll be using a propane/oxygen noise cannon which makes a shotgun seem like a cat fart...as well as being perfectly safe and legal.

This is kinda like calling the police and saying "I saw some kids running down the street with a gun. I don't know if it was a squirt gun or not".

 

[wildburp]

Getting Smarter Maybe?

Over the years I have noticed a definite reduction of firearms on New Years Eve in my neighborhood, which is good. Maybe we are getting through with information. A recent movie showed a guy killed from a falling bullet in Mexico. Yes, everyone knows what goes up must come down, but how many realize objects shot skyward come back down with near equal force?

Happy New Year!

wb

 

[Huddog]

Don't wear panties Bigblock. Just irritated lots of small children and families live around here. I don't know that it was a blank and I assume the worst. If I lived on the Raggedy edge of the universe or somewhere similiar where I knew what my background was I might fire a few rounds myself and the cannon thing sounds like a lot of fun.

 

[The-Fly]

dumb question: if you using a real small shot, like #8 or #9, how much of a danger is that coming back down?

Its not legal to discharge a firearm in my town in any case, but if it was, I wonder if that small of a shot size would be a danger or not.

 

[chipp]

I'm betting big it wasn't a blank. Keep us posted.

 

[Zen21Tao]

dumb question: if you using a real small shot, like #8 or #9, how much of a danger is that coming back down?

Depends, is it being fired by Dick Cheney?

 

[Cosmoline]

how many realize objects shot skyward come back down with near equal force?

Where did you get that idea? Objects fall at their terminal velocity, which is considerably less than muzzle velocity. For standard rifle or handgun bullets that's about enough to raise a welt. You run into problems when you fire bullets at an angle and they maintain ballistic trajectory and a greater velocity than terminal. Into the ground is fine, and straight up isn't going to hurt anything. It's the angles in between that give rise to problems.

As far as this case, why not go over to ask the guy if he's shooting live ammo or blanks? If live, show him how to pull the shot.

 

[Logan5]

Another dumb question: Was this a dry New Years Eve celebration?
Or is this a situation with people who throw the shotgun in the trunk planning to drink 'till 2400 at a party in a metro area, where some people are random strangers to them, and then at 0001, whip it out and make some noise?
I might have been that stupid when I was 17, but I doubt it. Don't invite those people to your parties.

 

[BigBlock]

the cannon thing sounds like a lot of fun.

My point is, to the neighbors, my cannon IS a gun, or a bomb, or an illegal firework, or any other crazy thing they can come up with. The reality is, it isn't, and they'd be getting all uppity over nothing.

 

[musher]

#8 shot has a maximum range of about 200 yds,
#9 will go about 180

Neither will hurt you if it's falling at terminal velocity.

If you're gonna shoot a gun into the air, a shotgun with small shot is the right choice.


Edited to add, that a shotgun with bird bombs is even better

 

[JohnKSa]

Not saying it was a good idea, but unless it was buckshot or a slug, it's not going to be dangerous when it comes back down. And I'm not so sure about buckshot.

Falling objects (after they fall for any significant distance) reach terminal velocity at which point the air resistance balances the force of gravity. The terminal velocity for any small shot is so low as to be harmless.

 

[Huddog]

Logan 5

Not my party. Will be discussing it with the neighbor tomorrow, when he wakes up.

 

[MrDig]

Since you asked the question, You have obviously never read "News of the Wierd" edited by Chuck Shepherd.
The answer is Infinatley. This is due mainly to the law of nature that states "Ignorance can be temporary, Stupidity is permanent"
Chris Rock also noted "there aint no rehab for stupid people"

 

[chipp]

they did that on myth busters. I'm not poissitive but as I remeber it, a rifle shot perfectly straight wich is very difficult, ahh forget it.
The slugs were going deep into the ground though and could be lethal. didn't use shotguns. think it has to be shot on a slight angle.