People DO get killed by bullets shot up. Cecil assumed that the gun would be shot straight up so that the bullet would come to a complete stop, then fall back down. Unless someone is using a level to line up the gun barrel to be precisely “straight up”, almost all flailing revelers will shoot a shot that arcs to some degree and the bullet will not stop before it falls. A high calibre bullet or one shot from a rifle will most certainly injure or kill the unsuspecting recipient of the celebratory shot.
Welcome Favrefan. Forum rules require a link to the columnin question. Here it is: Can a bullet fired into the air kill someone when it comes down? - The Straight Dope
The Mythbusters also tested this one. A special rig, measured twice by Jamie to be certain it was square and truly pointed straight up, is not a problem – bullet lands at it’s terminal velocity, the same as if it was dropped from a height. But no one’s arm can ever point a handgun that perfectly up, and the bullet takes on a ballistic (arcing) trajectory.
I’d seen it on some other Discover channel show I can’t remember the name of – some guy died from something bruising his neck in a public park. It took forensics quite a while to prove that he was struck by a rather slow moving bullet, that they eventually found, and traced back to some people celebrating by firing handguns “mostly” straight up, several houses away. Unfortunately for them, they were convicted felons, and couldn’t legally own handguns. As I recall, forensics had a tough time gathering enough evidence against them, to get them to admit what they’d done. I think they had long since discarded the handguns.
Cecil doesn’t say such a bullet WILL kill someone; he says it MAY. This is discussed in great detail in the column. What exactly are you taking issue with?
Even if it travels in an arc, the vertical motion will slow and briefly stop before reversing. The horizontal movement will be continuous, but if the bullet is shot at close to vertical, it won’t have much horizontal force anyway.