Shooting guns on New Years

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Gordon

Gordon

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How many of you are gonna shoot your firearm to greet the coming year. In the city I have my business they have spared no expense to put sound triangulation sensors up all over residential areas. They activate them 20 Dec and shut them off 5 Jan to save lives from falling projectiles! I think I heard of somebody in Ripleys believe or not that got hit in head from falling bullet.Anybody ever hear of real very high trajectory damage. I don't think morons should shoot in town and they should be arrested but isnt this just more antigun panic? Why dont they keep sensors on 365days? I may shoot a 30-06 blank on my ranch however.:neener:
 
I think I heard of somebody in Ripleys believe or not that got hit in head from falling bullet.
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You don't need Ripley's. Just check the January 1st editions of southwestern newspapers. Where I live there was a death on three of these "celebratory" times in nearly consecutive years, a child, a young woman, and I don't remember about the other.

Why more prevalaent in the southwest? Better weather and, I guess, more idiots firing guns in the air.... :(
 
I bet those things can't

discriminate between live rounds, blanks, and 'fireworks'.

Still don't have enough guys to respond in time.

"Yes, Officer, three guys of indeterminate description in a Nash Rambler stopped there at the corner, shot off three cherry bombs, then beat a caddy down the street".

Assuming anybody bothered to ask. This is even dumber than 'smart gun' technology.:neener: :ar15: :evil: :cool:
 
In Arizona we have "Shannon's Law" which makes random gunfire a felony. It was because of the 14 year old girl's death, due to a bullet fired into the air that struck her in the head while she was standing in her back yard talking on the phone, that this law came about. It does happen.
 
I think that these injuries involved a gun not fired straight up, not that a drunk moron is gonna know which direction that is.:rolleyes:
 
Once, (not that long ago), an aquaintance and I went through two full belts of blanks with an M-60, and a couple of mags through M-14's (all legally owned), in a residential neighborhood to greet the new year. (None of that semi-auto 'controlled fire', either). Two loooong strings, and two fairly long strings.

Great fun. When the police showed up, we showed them the paper, the guns, and OUR badges. No prob. Some came back later after shift and joined the party. ;)
 
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Just did.

Don't feel too guilty about it, either.

Just let rip on the beachside with 20 rounds of LC-76 7.62mm NATO BLANK ammo in my M14NM. Actually, I fired 5, the neighbors got to fire the remaining 15. Wish I had the blank adaptor, we had to cycle the action by hand. All involved wore hearing protection, too. :ar15:
 
Irresponsible

Unless you live alone with no one around for over 10 miles, don't.

The best I've read is during the WW II in the Western Desert. Both the 8th Army and the Afrika Korps put on a dazzling show including AA with tracer rounds. Everything shot into the air of course so as to enjoy the best effect of the incendiaries.
 
I can remember one new years eve quite a few years ago where the falling projectiles sounded like hailstones hitting the roofs of my house and others in the neighborhood. There was some idiot in the area with a FA, and you could hear him rip off a couple of mags. When I heard them start hitting the roofs a few houses away, I stepped back inside till they stopped.:rolleyes:
 
Will here about it in the news tomorrow morning. I live in suburban Chicago and there are always idiots who will go out on their front porch or wherever and celebrate by firing a gun in the air. Then when the police arrive, the drunken idiots have a tendency to point their guns at the officers who immediately eliminate the threat.
 
Gordon,
I think that these injuries involved a gun not fired straight up, not that a drunk moron is gonna know which direction that is.
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Any idea of how complicated the calculations are to shoot a gun "straight" up so that the bullet comes down close to where the gun was fired from?

Clue: it's NOT straight up.

Hint: the surface of the earth is moving at about 1,400 fps.

Hint: if the bullet launched straight up takes 5 seconds to return to earth, the launch point will have moved about 1.3 miles by the time it returns.

Hint: wind matters.

Hint: "Straight up" is not the same for any two points on earth, practically speaking.

Things get very complicated from there....
 
Sadly,

this year, it'll just be some fairly common fireworks, as I have no blank rounds.

For those who feel like it, and have the time, it's pretty easy to dump the shot out of shotgun shells. Still makes a real satisfying boom, if thats legal where you are. (If you fold the crimp over, they'll cycle through an 1100 pretty fast, too).;)

Got any of those WalMart cheapies laying around?:what: :D

(WARNING: Wads can kill at close range. Usual firearms safety rules still apply. Don't shoot at the cat, either.)
 
My sister lives near Knoxville, Tn. Her neighbor showed her & husband hole in carport roof and .22 caliber lead bullet laying on the concrete. Probably a little bit to think of. I know it can happen...but the probability has got to be low....but I don't do that because I wouldn't to get hit! What a bummer! Walk outside and get smacked down like that!:eek:
Mark.
 
A FIREARM is A FIREARM in regards tom dischargeing blanks in town. Once again I mean when a bullets reachs its apogee in an upward vector hitting near 0 velocity before beginning its downward acceleration limited by air drag. Thats why they sound like "hale" on roof. If it has a trajectory then someones gonna get hurt. Any way a foolish stunt that Sadam often pulls off with his mannlicher. All the rags are always shooting thir guns off, I dont think they are blanks!:evil:
 
As I sit here right now there are gunshots down the block.

Idiots and slightly troubling since down the block is a sector of rent controlled housing...aka projects.

Wanna bet if any of them are legally registered?

Good SHooting
RED
 
Hint: the surface of the earth is moving at about 1,400 fps.

[Hint: if the bullet launched straight up takes 5 seconds to return to earth, the launch point will have moved about 1.3 miles by the time it returns.
One more hint: Everything involved, gun, shooter, cartridge, etc., is also moving at same speed. Bullet path describes a parabola, and absent wind, if fired straight up, will fall pretty much back at point of departure from surface.

Not that this is recommended. Blanks are ok, live rounds kind of risky, at best. Fireworks even better (assuming not aerials).

Oh, yeah. I don't live in 'town'. What restrictions the townies are saddled with (which depends on what town, in any case), don't concern me. Laws vary. Check yours.
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If you have to shoot your weapon on any occasion, do it into the ground and not into the air. The bullet has to come down somewhere. Do you want to be the target of someone else?:scrutiny:
 
Shooting guns on New Years - ATF warning

Fireworks are legal here.

ATF has a good warning about this practice...

http://www.atf.treas.gov/press/fy03press/field/122702sf_celebgunfirelethal.htm

CELEBRATORY GUNFIRE CAN BE LETHAL
San Francisco, CA - Every New Year's Eve there are unintended victims injured, sometimes even killed, by an extremely dangerous ritual - celebratory gunfire. ATF is trying to reach the public through the media to remind people just how dangerous this practice can be. "During this time of New Year resolution, let us resolve not to have any more tragedy as a result of celebratory gunfire", said John A. Torres, Special Agent In Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, San Francisco Field Division

Discharge of a firearm into the air is a crime and can lead to felony charges under State law. Additionally, those who choose this method to "celebrate" may not be aware of the very serious potential for harm when the bullets return to the ground. Bullets shot into the air can climb to two miles. The bullets can then fall at a rate of 300 to 700 feet per second. Studies have shown that the force of a bullet traveling at 100 feet per second can penetrate skin and 200 feet per second can penetrate bone. Around the country many people have been seriously injured, permanently disabled, and even killed by celebratory gunfire. If a stray bullet should kill someone, the shooter can be arrested and charged with murder.

Special Agent in Charge Torres is asking the public " please, celebrate responsibly and safely. If you see anyone shooting a gun into the air, contact your local police department immediately."
 
Just a bad idea to be shooting into the air. As Gordon indicated, someone's going to get hurt. If there is a trajectory, it is going to hit something. If you opt to shoot perfectly straight up, although probably very difficult to do, it will come down on your own head. (The Coriolis Effect due to the rotation of the Earth would come into play with very long range missiles). Even if you don't shoot but decide to aim it at like a Chicago cop against his advice, you're going to get hurt. Hear about these things every year after New Year's Eve.
 
We generaly fire off our shotguns with bird shot. Many time we have stood in our backyard and shot strait up in the air and let the shot rain down on us. I have very large field behind the house now, even though I am in city limits, we just shoot out over the field and let the shot rain down there. Clean ritual and no one gets hurts!

Marshall :cool:
 
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