Stupid question?

return guide

Hi Guys,
This something I have wondered about over the years.

We have all seen news coverage of guys shooting ther weapons in to the air, lately it was the Pakistani secuirity forces on the recaputre of the police college.
To me the higher the angle they hold their weapons the more chance the rounds are going to fall in their area or any area for that matter.

Am I missing something or is this a really dangerous thing to be doing?

Thanks

RG.

iceage

Not that Wiki is absolutely accurate all of the time, so don't quote me. But as the saying goes "what goes up..............."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebratory_gunfire

concussion

In a nutshell, yes.

I came across a scientific journal on this very subject recently, I'll try and dig it up.

Firing it straight up may be the safest -the bullet tumbles on the way down resulting in less penetration - you'll probably survive but with a huge headache/flesh wound. THe closer to horizontal you fire it the more likely it is to retain its spin and penetration.

target assassin

a year or two ago a person in my town was walking through a car park and felt a tap in the back of the head, when she put her hand up to feel what it was and felt blood.

it turned out that a person shooting on a near by like about 2k or so had fired a bullet which ricochet of the post office wall and hit her in the back of the head. she was fine!
but just goes to show how care full u should be when firing

Fishtits

I was in the middle east a few years back, on the feast of Eid al Adha it was customary for people to fire AK47's in the air in celebration, on average there were two fatalities each year due to falling rounds, this in a city the size of Cork.

artielange

Mythbusters ,I actually saw this one and can't remember it

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061123033017AAAvky8