What not to do....

[chevyman097 2,579]

Two schools were locked down after a home invasion in a nearby neighborhood. Harris County Precinct 4 deputy constables said a girl opened a door at a home on Sabine Brook Way near Blue Rock Springs Drive on Monday morning and two men barged into the house.

 

The girl's dad got into a scuffle with one of the men, investigators said. The father managed to get the gun away from the attacker, authorities said.

 

Deputy constables said the attackers ran off, and the dad fired two shots into the air to scare them.

 

Nearby Dekaney High School and Booker Elementary School were placed on lockdown for 30 to 45 minutes.

 

The men have not been captured, investigators said. Descriptions of them have not been released.

 

 

So Im browsing some news...yada yada.

 

Well I come across this little story. I couldnt help but /face palm half way through.

 

so ya What not to do after you take a gun from an attacker....

Please...just shoot the bad guys....

 

never fire shots into the air so some poor sucker and get clipped in the head on their way back down to earth.

 

 

 

[BrutalGardener 205]

If he shot these cretins in the back as they were running away, couldn't he have been charged with manslaughter or even murder? Also, the chances of a bullet fired into the air hitting someone are pretty damn low. Plus, Mythbusters have demonstrated that a bullet traveling at terminal velocity doesn't have enough energy to seriously hurt someone.

[yakdung 2,926]

I wonder where the strays landed.

 

Yakdung

[chevyman097 2,579]

If he shot these cretins in the back as they were running away, couldn't he have been charged with manslaughter or even murder? Also, the chances of a bullet fired into the air hitting someone are pretty damn low. Plus, Mythbusters have demonstrated that a bullet traveling at terminal velocity doesn't have enough energy to seriously hurt someone.

 

I did not intend it to sound as if I promote shooting anyone in the back.....

 

 

Still I cant help but think its a bad idea to shoot into the air. Just been raised diffrent I guess.

 

 

 

Also I have heard of people being killed by falling objects. I dont see a bullet being any different....

[volkov 318]

I do NOT advocate shooting into the air...

 

Having said that the odds of actually hitting someone are extremely low. You will most likely hit a tall object, like a tree or a building since the bullet will have some horizontal velocity and coming in at an angle it has a much greater chance of hitting something taller before it gets down to the level of a person.. Think about when someone shoots one a bit too high over the back of the range and the bullet sails off into who knows where, it's more likely to get caught by a tree on the way down before it even gets low enough to hit a person. Also since the bullet's vertical velocity can only be terminal the horizontal part of it's velocity is a big part of what makes it dangerous, and the more horizontal velocity it has, the more likely it is to get caught before it gets on a level with people since it will have a greater angle coming in.

 

Also mythbusters claims that terminal velocity is not enough to break the skull (doesn't include horizontal velocity)... but it's mythbusters so..

 

Anyway.. yeah I wouldn't shoot in the air, but it's pretty unlikely to actually do any damage.

[nalioth 405]

If he shot these cretins in the back as they were running away, couldn't he have been charged with manslaughter or even murder?

Not under Texas law.

 

We can shoot to fleeing felons.

 

ETA: This is why Joe Horn was no-billed. He was stopping the commission of a felony.

Edited September 27, 2010 by nalioth

[VaiFanatic90 360]

Plus, Mythbusters have demonstrated that a bullet traveling at terminal velocity doesn't have enough energy to seriously hurt someone.

 

That's only if fired straight up at 90 degrees. If there is even the slightest angle, the bullet will retain its ballistic properties up returning to the Earth.

[vtx1800 1]

Please don't fire into the air! I'm From the New Orleans area and many years ago,(late 70's)new years eve, a woman was hit by 30-30 bullet in head,DIED, big investigation, no news for three or four years. Finally discovered that a NOPD officer habitually fired his 30-30 every new years eve! Ballistics test proved it was his rifle. Convicted of negligent homicide ect. He went to prison. The bullet traveled across the Mississippi river a little over three miles.

Edited September 27, 2010 by Thud

[GregM1 241]

another reason i want to move. that is about 5 - 6 miles from my house. this area goes more to crap every year.

 

my brother had a bullet go through the trunk of his car from some dumbshit firing into the air on new years.

[Kliegl 304]

If you MUST discharge the weapon, shoot the DIRT.

 

However, since they were running away, the best thing to do would be to cover them till they

ran off, then call the police to secure and make a report, and give them the gun for printing

and tracing.

 

That reminds me of my friend. He's like...red ring means safe. I said no way, and he points at the

ground and yanks the trigger. Boom. It was a 12 gauge though. You CAN shoot a shotgun in the air with

no issue, but, unfortunately, I bet mythbullshit didn't cover that.

 

That show is like learning how to run a nuke plant by watching Homer Simpson.

Edited September 27, 2010 by Kliegl

[my762buzz 141]

 

Also mythbusters claims that terminal velocity is not enough to break the skull (doesn't include horizontal velocity)... but it's mythbusters so..

 

Anyway.. yeah I wouldn't shoot in the air, but it's pretty unlikely to actually do any damage.

 

I think I saw that episode and researched this topic extensively in the past. If a regular 30.06 bullet fires up at 90 degrees to the intersect at the earths surface, the bullet travels to about near 10,000 feet above and then when its velocity slows to a stop the bullet free falls at no faster than its constant terminal velocity back down with absolutely no spiral stabilization. Trying to recall this correctly, the myth busters free falling objects didn't have enough kinetic energy or otherwise to cause significant damage.

Shooting at a lower angle than 90 degrees will allow the regular bullet spiralled arc trajectory. The likely chance that someone launches at exactly 90 degrees is slim to none.

[my762buzz 141]

You CAN shoot a shotgun in the air with

no issue, but, unfortunately, I bet mythbullshit didn't cover that.

 

The exception being a stable slug that will arc hundreds of yards and still remain lethal.

The goose or duck shot is not spiral stable as buck wouldn't be. The farthest I had birdshot land on me from cross field hunting was 300 yards and it was dropping straight down.

It didn't even sting. This is brings up an excellent alternative to firing a bullet up in the air for a celebration. Use birdshot safely and it will not harm anything.

[getitat 609]

Hello

 

"Take a Bite Out of Crime...Shoot the Bastards!"

 

-guido

[Kliegl 304]

You CAN shoot a shotgun in the air with

no issue, but, unfortunately, I bet mythbullshit didn't cover that.

 

The exception being a stable slug that will arc hundreds of yards and still remain lethal.

The goose or duck shot is not spiral stable as buck wouldn't be. The farthest I had birdshot land on me from cross field hunting was 300 yards and it was dropping straight down.

It didn't even sting. This is brings up an excellent alternative to firing a bullet up in the air for a celebration. Use birdshot safely and it will not harm anything.

 

Doesn't have anything to do with spiraling or stability, rather, it has to do with the drag. While spiraling instead of tumbling would help,

it has to do with conservation of force, momentum, and kinetic energy. The problem is that drag equations get complicated. Gravity is constant (supposedly)

and air resistance is a function of velocity. As the two forces balance, the velocity reaches constant.

 

However, one must realize that drag works both ways, and while one may safely assume that the terminal velocity IS the fastest it will go,

one should not assume that it actually is GOING that fast.

 

I would doubt a slug, which has much less aerodynamic efficiency and velocity than a decent rifle round, would "stay lethal" for anywhere

near the amount of time as a rifle round. (I know folks have hard-ons for slugs here)

[Eric Pate 478]

The Mythbusters episode was highly unscientific.

 

Heres the deal:

If a bullet is fired on a trajectory that causes it to destabilize before impact, it will tumble and lose a great deal of energy.

 

If the bullet manages to maintain its proper ballistic trajectory it will retain a great deal of energy and, depending on the bullet weight, do potentially fatal harm.

 

Bullets can and do kill people when they come down.

[chevyman097 2,579]

Ya we can debate all day long and throw science into it. But lets be honest. It is not in the best interest of anyone to shoot into the air. That is all.

[my762buzz 141]

If a bullet is fired on a trajectory that causes it to destabilize before impact, it will tumble and lose a great deal of energy.

 

Which is why I question whether a 30-30 bullet will remain stable over the 3 miles of the proposed story in new orleans.

It goes subsonic at just over 400 yards. Even .308 150 grain FMJ are said to tumble from unstability before 800 yards, so how would

regular 30-30 loads not tumble through 3 miles. Maybe a ballistics program can help answer the velocity of a heavy 30-30 load at 1000 yards,1 mile, 2 miles, 3 miles.

I just somehow don't think it would make it that far.

[Kliegl 304]

I will agree with all recent replies on this.

 

Mythbusters is unscientific by design, maintaining a ballistic flight form and not tumbling is good

for maintaining speed, most bullets would not be "as lethal" on the way down, and shooting into the air

with a non-shotshell firearm is a dumb idea.

 

762buzz, that program would need a couple nasty differential equations....stuff I forgot in order to stay sane.

[my762buzz 141]

I would doubt a slug, which has much less aerodynamic efficiency and velocity than a decent rifle round, would "stay lethal" for anywhere

near the amount of time as a rifle round. (I know folks have hard-ons for slugs here)

 

Not nearly as long as a better BC rifle bullet but from the velocities I recall at 200-300 yards a forster slug is still passing along fast enough to

kill where even buck shot pellets have since slowed down to sub lethal speeds.