# shooting into the air **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 14, 2003, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321 "2003-07-14T05:41:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321/21 "2003-11-25T17:25:11Z")
This is good. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321/22 "2003-11-25T18:33:41Z")
Did nobody else ever do this when they got bored dove hunting? We’d do it with shotgun shells, max arc out the shot and have it come down on a fellow hunter (friend) who’d turn and do it back to us. Takes about 7 or so seconds and then you hear little pellets landing all around. They definately dont “burn up”. Course a bullet would be just plain idiotic. ---
**Author:** ![fezpp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fezpp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fezpp)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321/23 "2003-11-25T18:42:39Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by radar ralf_ > I seem to remember an incident where many rifles were shot into the air on the occasion of some country’s independence celebration… lots of people packed into a small area like a town square or some such. Bangladesh? Sri Lanka? I guess that not many of the rifles would be pointing straight up in the air. As the bullets are going at quite a speed they would probably move quite a distance horizontally as well. [hijack] I’ll leave someone else to do the calculation: Average rifle (?) shot in the air at a number of angles off vertical (5 deg, 10deg etc). How far does it travel in the horizontal direction assuming negligible wind [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321/24 "2014-08-27T06:52:26Z")
Zombie thread I started back in 2003, but it doesn’t mean I forgot about it. From today’s NYTimes: “In Gaza City, health officials said Randa Nemer, 19, had been killed and 45 others wounded by the mass firing of gunshots skyward as many residents rushed to celebrate. But some Gazans were circumspect.” > **[Cease-Fire Extended, but Not on Hamas’s Terms (Published 2014)](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/27/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-strip-conflict.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpSum&module=photo-spot-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0)** > > The long-term deal, proposed by Egypt, halts the longest, bloodiest battle either side has experienced in years, but without resolving many of the bigger issues underlying the conflict. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321/25 "2014-08-27T11:05:09Z")
> [@MichaelColey](#): > > The odds of a bullet hitting someone is very small. Even if you look at a densely populated area with a million people in ten square miles, there’s less than a 1% chance that the bullet would hit where a person is… These odds would seem pretty good if we were talking about a single discharge of a single bullet. mmm ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321/26 "2014-08-27T11:10:35Z")
> [@MichaelColey](#): > > The odds of a bullet hitting someone is very small. Even if you look at a densely populated area with a million people in ten square miles, there’s less than a 1% chance that the bullet would hit where a person is… > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > These odds would seem pretty good if we were talking about a single discharge of a single bullet. Point well-taken, I just want to note that **MichaelColey** ’s comment was from 2003 and he hasn’t been on the boards since 2011, so unlikely he’ll see your response. ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321/27 "2014-08-27T17:57:32Z")
A lot depends on the angle of fire. If a bullet is fired straight up, or nearly straight up, it stalls and destabilizes and tumbles as it falls to earth. The stabilizing spin is lost and it falls much, much slower than it went up due to air drag. Mythbusters performed an experiment which showed that while a bullet fired straight up would likely cause injury to someone on the ground, it probably wouldn’t be lethal unless it hit someone directly on top of the head or a similarly unlucky spot. Now, as the angle gets reduced toward the horizon, the bullet shoots in an arc and maintains its stability and speed much better and would be increasingly damaging to anyone it hit. A bullet fired at a 45-degree angle would be far more dangerous than one fired straight up. Now, having said that, the simple truth is that most bullets fired in the air, even in a dense city, are likely to completely miss people altogether when they com down. Is it a safe practice? Of course not, it’s dangerous and cavalier. Do the people who shoot up in the air care? Apparently not. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321/28 "2014-08-27T18:14:22Z")
Anecdotal evidence only, but one of my neighborhood friends came home one day to find a small wad of cotton-like material on his bedroom pillow. He picked it up and it felt heavy, and found a bullet inside the wad, about a 30-30. He lived in a modular home/house trailer and it had fallen through the roof and took some insulation with it. I saw the bullet, the insulation wad and the hole in the ceiling myself. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321/29 "2014-08-27T19:06:15Z")
error ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321/30 "2014-08-27T19:08:03Z")
The question in my mind is: why do people still do it? I mean it’s a fairly well known planetary law: what goes up must come down. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321/31 "2014-08-27T19:50:26Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > The question in my mind is: why do people still do it? I am fairly certain that alcohol and/or testosterone are involved. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321/32 "2014-08-27T19:55:17Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > The question in my mind is: why do people still do it? > > I mean it’s a fairly well known planetary law: what goes up must come down. First, because the euphoria produced by shooting in the air is not sufficiently diminished by the chance the shooter himself will be the victim of his bullet. Second, these shooters are not typically the brightest candles on the altar. Third, they are not overly concerned with morbid consequences, period, given the wretchedness of their daily lives and constant exposure to risk. It’s a bit harder for us to put ourselves in their shoes when our big risk concern is whether or not that bread might have had some exposure to peanut dust during its production. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321/33 "2014-08-27T19:59:37Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I am fairly certain that alcohol and/or testosterone are involved. Given the fundamentalist Islamic bent of much of the Middle East, I am less inclined than you to suggest alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321/34 "2014-08-27T20:12:56Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Anecdotal evidence only, but one of my neighborhood friends came home one day to find a small wad of cotton-like material on his bedroom pillow. He picked it up and it felt heavy, and found a bullet inside the wad, about a 30-30. > > He lived in a modular home/house trailer and it had fallen through the roof and took some insulation with it. I saw the bullet, the insulation wad and the hole in the ceiling myself. That is not a falling bullet, that is a direct shot that hit the roof and deflected downward. A falling bullet is not going to penetrate shingles and or roof sheathing on pretty much any code compliant building in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321/35 "2014-08-27T20:35:36Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > That is not a falling bullet, that is a direct shot that hit the roof and deflected downward. A falling bullet is not going to penetrate shingles and or roof sheathing on pretty much any code compliant building in the US. No, it was the thin roof of a house trailer/mobile home or whatever you can it where you are. And yes, the bullet pierced the ceiling and landed as I said. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321/36 "2014-08-27T21:51:49Z")
In large cities, a few cases of damage and personal injury are reported every January 1st. The bigger the burg, the closer together people and buildings are. If you must fire a gun to celebrate, it’s safer to fire at the ground. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321/37 "2014-08-27T22:00:22Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > No, it was the thin roof of a house trailer/mobile home or whatever you can it where you are. > > And yes, the bullet pierced the ceiling and landed as I said. I lived in one of those during Grad school, thin metal roof on 2"x2"s, with the appropriately thin layer of fiberglass insulation. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321/38 "2014-08-28T00:30:51Z")
I lived just fine in a 10 X 56 for 7 years and only moved after our second child was born. ---
**Author:** ![Sasquatch\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8491ac/32.png) [@Sasquatch\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sasquatch_1)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321/39 "2014-08-28T01:36:18Z")
It is definitely a different culture in the Middle East/Afghanistan area. Both in Iraq and Afghanistan, I can attest that people with AKs would fire them around with what any westerner would call reckless abandon. One incident, a patrol from my unit was working with host nation army squads, and one group had gotten too far away. The group didn’t have a radio, so the US Patrol leader yelled and waved but couldn’t get their attention… so one of the local troops near the US patrol just casually fired off a burst from his AK in the general direction of the straying squad - just to get their attention. ---
**Author:** ![LiliesOfTheField](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c0e974/32.png) [@LiliesOfTheField](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiliesOfTheField)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321/40 "2014-08-28T20:01:05Z")
I visited Egypt recently. One man, who had been married recently, told us about his wedding. He said that it was customary to shoot off guns into the air to celebrate weddings in rural areas. Although it wasn’t common, every once in a while, a neighbor would be killed by the gunfire, causing a feud to erupt between families. He said it was not as common as you might think because the rural areas are sparsely populated, and because “everyone” gets invited to a wedding. If “everyone” is at the wedding then the gunfire in the air will land where there are no people. As far as Muslims drinking, I certainly saw a bit of that. I didn’t see openly drunken people but Stella beer was available discreetly (not secretly) in many places. There was some kind of screwdriver-type drink available in a can, too. The wine was the absolute worst wine I’ve tasted in my life! Others found drinking contemptible and would not even touch a closed container. Bartenders were often Christian, but many Muslims were their customers. Egypt of course has a tourist-accomodating culture and the religious practice of Muslims runs anywhere from Brotherhood to atheist. My point being, that surely at Egyptian weddings at least, alcohol and guns must collide at times. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-into-the-air/188321.md?page=3)