# Yay, freedom! Now quit firing guns into the air, dumbasses! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 5, 2011, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629 "2011-03-05T23:07:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fiveroptic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiveroptic/32/8257_2.png) [@Fiveroptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveroptic)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629/21 "2011-03-06T12:24:30Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > You just shot your neighbor’s wife through the top of the skull. She had it coming. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629/22 "2011-03-06T13:42:03Z")
I was going to start a thread about this but I’ll go ahead and post here. What is the deal with firing all those weapons in celebration? They don’t just fire their rifles into the sky they like to shoot RPGs, heavy machine guns, and other weapons seemingly for the sake of firing them. They’re like a bunch of kids with new toys. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629/23 "2011-03-06T13:47:43Z")
> [@Sevastopol](#): > > No parabolic arc either, even discounting friction. Inertia from the Earth’s rotation, it counts. … and which hemisphere. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629/24 "2011-03-06T14:11:36Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > do soldiers or Marines use live ammo when they fire a 21-gun salute? No. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629/25 "2011-03-06T14:30:03Z")
Actually, do they use live ammo if firing off the side of a ship into open water? For a 21-gun salute, I mean. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629/26 "2011-03-06T15:29:01Z")
> [@Fiveroptic](#): > > She had it coming. And it was a damn good shot. ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629/27 "2011-03-06T16:43:58Z")
I was going to start a thread about this but I’ll go ahead and post here. What is the deal with firing all those weapons in celebration? They don’t just fire their rifles into the sky they like to shoot RPGs, heavy machine guns, and other weapons seemingly for the sake of firing them. They’re like a bunch of kids with new toys. [like this?](http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x372/gravitycrash1/iliketosingademotivatio.jpg?t=1299428053) ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629/28 "2011-03-06T20:13:59Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Seems to be everybody’s favorite way to celebrate when they dislodge the tyrant: Fire round after round of automatic weapons into the air. Usually **in an urban area.** > > Basic physics lesson, dudes: When you fire a rifle into the air, the bullet goes up and up in a parabolic arc and gradually slows, as its weight overcomes its initial kinetic energy. It then starts to fall and picks up all that energy again. When it gets back near the ground it is now traveling at the same speed and with the same punch as when it exited the muzzle. You just shot your neighbor’s wife through the top of the skull. Allah willed it be so; else why would he have left her there in the path of the bullet? Besides, she’s only a woman; it’s not like someone important, like a man, was killed. Fucking infidels. ---
**Author:** ![TravisFromOR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@TravisFromOR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TravisFromOR)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629/29 "2011-03-06T20:26:06Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > Allah willed it be so; else why would he have left her there in the path of the bullet? > > Besides, she’s only a woman; it’s not like someone important, like a man, was killed. > > Fucking infidels. And “true Americans” (aka drunken hillbillies) _never_ fire firearms into the air. Nope. Not once in a million years has this happened. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629/30 "2011-03-06T20:28:33Z")
The thing is, people don’t always shoot straight up. I saw it on Mythbusters. Their tests, which shot straight up, failed to get to penetration velocity. However, reports indicated that people were actually injured and killed from bullets shot up in the air. The myth expert (a sadly missing feature nowadays) informed them that the injuries did not involve someone shooting straight up, as the bullet never fell to where it was shot. ---
**Author:** ![Lazlo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lazlo/32/9678_2.png) [@Lazlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazlo)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629/31 "2011-03-06T23:08:15Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The thing is, people don’t always shoot straight up. I saw it on Mythbusters. Their tests, which shot straight up, failed to get to penetration velocity. I hate those idiots. I hate even more that people cite them. Do you know of any links to their “test?” I’m wondering what calibers they used and what they actually did. I could see those rimjobs using a handgun and basing their “busted” upon that. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629/32 "2011-03-06T23:33:45Z")
Those people are the ME equivalent of trailer trash; we have just about as many ignoramuses per capita and cannot realistically claim superiority. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629/33 "2011-03-07T02:47:14Z")
> [@TravisFromOR](#): > > And “true Americans” (aka drunken hillbillies) _never_ fire firearms into the air. Nope. Not once in a million years has this happened. > [@An\_Arky](#): > > Those people are the ME equivalent of trailer trash; we have just about as many ignoramuses per capita and cannot realistically claim superiority. [It’s very rare in the U.S., and we make a lot of attempts to stop it, educate people against it, and prosecute when we catch people doing it, especially if it results in injury or death.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebratory_gunfire) And despite your fucking racist tu quoque, **Travis,** [it seems to cross](http://wsbradio.com/localnews/2011/01/two-arrested-in-celebratory-gu.html) [racial/cultural boundary lines.](http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5350a2.htm) At least [King Abdullah II of Jordan](http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=185178) seems to be the only ME ruler inclined to do something about it that I could find. Good for him; I hope other ME leaders follow his example. ---
**Author:** ![Bambro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df705f/32.png) [@Bambro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambro)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629/34 "2011-03-07T02:55:04Z")
racist? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629/35 "2011-03-07T02:59:50Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > By the OP’s logic, hail would also go through the top of your skull. I think your overlooking the M part of the formula m\*v2=F ---
**Author:** ![TravisFromOR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@TravisFromOR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TravisFromOR)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629/36 "2011-03-07T03:12:33Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > And despite your fucking racist tu quoque, **Travis,** [it seems to cross](http://wsbradio.com/localnews/2011/01/two-arrested-in-celebratory-gu.html) [racial/cultural boundary lines.](http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5350a2.htm) Um…I wasn’t being racist. I was responding to your racist comment by mocking it. ---
**Author:** ![Phatzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/da6949/32.png) [@Phatzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phatzo)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629/37 "2011-03-07T03:14:08Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > :o Ignorance fought. I bow to the Master. > > Still a dangerous and silly thing to do, though. I mean, do soldiers or Marines use live ammo when they fire a 21-gun salute? I find 300 fps as terminal velocity for a falling bullet a bit of a stretch, I think you will find it would be less than 1/2 that. I dont have time to prove it but surely anyone with a bit of a clue about physics can estimate this. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629/38 "2011-03-07T15:06:29Z")
> [@Lazlo](#): > > I hate those idiots. I hate even more that people cite them. > > Do you know of any links to their “test?” I’m wondering what calibers they used and what they actually did. I could see those rimjobs using a handgun and basing their “busted” upon that. I really don’t remember for certain. But I don’t believe they called it busted. Like I said, they did more research back then. You got the idea that they didn’t actually rely on their experiments, at least, for busting. That urban myth specialist was always consulted at the end, and she would confirm and elaborate on their findings. It was a very early show. I’ll see if I can find it. Unless it’s on YouTube or an official site, I’ll probably have to email it to you to avoid the ire of the mods. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629/39 "2011-03-07T15:29:15Z")
From the [Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MythBusters_(2006_season)#Bullets_Fired_Up) for Mythbusters: > [@](#): > > In the case of a bullet fired at sufficiently close to a vertical angle to result in a non-ballistic trajectory, the bullet would tumble, lose its spin, and fall at a much slower speed due to terminal velocity and is therefore rendered less than lethal on impact (the Busted rating). However, if a bullet is fired at a lower angle allowing for a ballistic trajectory (a far more likely case), it will maintain its spin and will retain enough energy to be lethal on impact (the Plausible rating). Because of this potentiality, firing a gun into the air is illegal in most U.S. states, and even in the states where it is legal, it is not recommended by the police. Also the MythBusters were able to identify two people who had been injured by falling bullets (fired from approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) away, and hence at a lower angle), one of them fatally (the Confirmed rating). To date, this is the only myth to receive all three ratings at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629/40 "2011-03-07T16:45:53Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > [It’s very rare in the U.S., and we make a lot of attempts to stop it, educate people against it, and prosecute when we catch people doing it, especially if it results in injury or death.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebratory_gunfire) > > And despite your fucking racist tu quoque, **Travis,** [it seems to cross](http://wsbradio.com/localnews/2011/01/two-arrested-in-celebratory-gu.html) [racial/cultural boundary lines.](http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5350a2.htm) > > At least [King Abdullah II of Jordan](http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=185178) seems to be the only ME ruler inclined to do something about it that I could find. Good for him; I hope other ME leaders follow his example. Sorry for the misunderstanding - I was speaking in general terms - that yeah, the guys shooting in the air are ignoramuses, but we have no shortage of ignoramuses here (not specifically in the air shooters), so meh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-freedom-now-quit-firing-guns-into-the-air-dumbasses/573629.md?page=3)