I wonder what they did with their brass?
Gunshots fired every 76 seconds in Birmingham July 4.
Williams said one person was shot in the arm in the 1500 block of 34th Street Ensley about midnight, but that injury wasn't life threatening. A suspect is in custody in connection with that shooting, which police said they don't believe was the result of celebratory gunfire.
This practice is a routine way to celebrate Independence Day, New Years (and Kwanzaa, for all I know) in certain neighborhoods of the Magic City. The dumbest thing I think I ever heard from a police official's mouth came from a Sheriff's Department spokesman one year, when he insisted that projectiles fired into air came down faster than they went up (this in an effort to persuade the physics-challenged among the population of just how dangerous it was). I wrote a letter to the editor ridiculing this notion which was received in certain quarters of the firearms community as a minor masterpiece of common sense and Newtonian physics. A deputy even bought me a Diet Mountain Dew as a result, commenting that no one liked that so-and-so anyway. (I think the exact words were something to do with moron and anal sphincter. Or words to that effect.)
6 comments:
Mike, although the moron Chief's statement violated the laws of physics, you missed a more serious violation. According to my unproven and probably totally bogus theory, in order for him to say something so stupid, the electrical impulses in his brain are violating the laws of physics by traveling at a lower velocity than predicted, usually about the velocity of a .41 rimfire cartridge fired from a double derringer - you know, the round that was famous for bouncing off nearby trees.
Most ammo used in celebratory gunfire is probably cheap steel cased ammo, anyway.
- Old Greybeard
http://wtvr.com/2013/07/05/child-shot-midlothian-fireworks/
The boy died yesterday.
No one has turned himself or herself in yet. Since this happened a few miles from where we live, we are all grieving for the family.
Make no mistake. I don't want the government coming near my Second Amendment Rights but this is plain stupid. We have to be smart now about anything we do. The regime will just use these tragedies to their own advantage. Not shooting off guns on the Fourth of July seems wise to me.
Bullets fired straight up come back down at around 120 mph. They sting a little, but they aren't lethal.
A bullet fired on any kind of spin stabilized trajectory will come back down at lethal velocity.
Don't shoot your gun into the air, unless you're shooting at a drone.
Of course, when firecrackers were legal, people didn't have to shoot their guns for a bang. Does the government EVER solve more problems than they create?
AJ, I know of at least one Marine killed in 2003 from celebratory gunfire returning to ground. I also recall the spall patterns on the concrete, they left very nice dimples too. ANything falling out of the sky can be lethal. And you are correct about government making this a problem, stupid people will do stupid things and I much prefer them blowing their fingers off then maiming and killing others.
Cruachan!
Highlander
If I recall my physics, the acceleration factor of gravity is 32 feet per second per second. When an object starts falling, its speed is zero feet per second. Every second thereafter, its speed increases by 32 feet per second. Therefore, all falling objects do not contact the ground at the same velocity. Its speed at the time it contacts the ground, therefore, depends on its altitude above the ground when its descent began. The higher it was at the beginning of the fall, the faster it is going when it hits the ground. The effect of drag by the air also must be considered. So the terminal velocity will be a little less than the 32 feet per second per second result.
The lethality of the falling bullet then depends on its real speed at impact and the softness of the target. Think of the top of a baby's head, which is soft because the sutures in the skull haven't closed yet. So, a falling bullet definitely can be lethal. So, never shoot into the air. If you are dumb enough to engage in celebratory gunfire, shoot into the ground!
- Old Greybeard
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