'Hundreds of young black people beating white people'...

[Robert&Liliya 31]

Shot Fired into the air

Did you just say that?

Post of the year.

Happens quite often every New Year

[Zero Sum 305]

Shot Fired into the air

Happens quite often every New Year

Yeah that's when I hear most of random bullet fatalities.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Yeah that's when I hear most of random bullet fatalities.

Oakland gets most of their random bullet fatalities by people standing within range of the shooter.

Edited August 5, 2011 by Crusty Old Perv

[Zero Sum 305]

Oakland gets most of their random bullet fatalities by standing within range of the shooter.

Air shots have been known to go pretty far. But I like your play on words there.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Air shots have been known to go pretty far. But I like your play on words there.

They actually checked that myth on Mythbusters. It would probably hurt, but little chance of a bullet doing any real damage with just gravity bringing it back to earth.

[Zero Sum 305]

They actually checked that myth on Mythbusters. It would probably hurt, but little chance of a bullet doing any real damage with just gravity bringing it back to earth.

F = m * a

Parabolic

I didn't see what they tested, but I am sure that the force lost by the bullet would be minimal from firing until it hits the top of the parabola. Then it comes down.

[Ban Hammer 12,829]

They actually checked that myth on Mythbusters. It would probably hurt, but little chance of a bullet doing any real damage with just gravity bringing it back to earth.

that was straight up as i recall. firing at an angle it still has enough velocity to kill.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

[slim 1,514]

Just as much as a shot to one of them in the face would disperse the mob... I am sure firing into the air one or two shots would have the same effect as long as none of them had a piece.

Firing into the air isn't always legal while firing into the face of an attacker is almost always justified.

When you fire in self defense, you do so to render a threat incapable of continuing the action that caused you to fire. A mob is a unique threat because the danger doesn't necessarily come from one individual but moreover comes from the collective danger of all individuals in the mob. Shooting one individual is justified because every individual in a mob derives the same power as the mob has. Each participant is equally dangerous and equally a threat.

Firing into the air is almost never a good idea, especially when surrounded by a threat. It's better to take swift, decisive action directly against the threat than to "show it you mean business" and give it time to react.

Gabe Suarez (a gun dude) posted a nice writeup on this topic. You can probably find it pretty easy via google search. My buddy said something to the effect of, "My old man always told me when you're confronted by a crowd, to hit the loudmouth first and the biggest one next." That's pretty solid advice!

Yes that sucks. An innocent may be put at risk by a stray bullet. Maybe the punks can be extra punkish to deserve firing into the punkish crowd. It is self-defense after all.

As I said above, a crowd presents a unique threat. A violent mob is absolutely a reason to defend yourself with a firearm.

The problem was that they probably didn't have any flashlights. We all know a good security guard needs a flashlight. Dayday wanted a flashlight if he was gonna be Top Flight Security.

"You gotsta shine some dambody."

indeed. i'm fairly sure slim was talking about popping the apricot.

I was talking about pulling out your handgun and shooting the nearest attacker in the face. If he's smart he'll get that fear of god look in his eyes and you'll hesitate just long enough for him to run away. However, you'd be left with that mob now at a safe distance to replan their attack and multiple attackers to do so. Shoot one and they scatter. Pull and cover, and they may just take a few steps back while you spin in circles.

A horrible sitution either way. Some really good lessons learned from this story are NEVER EVER get out of your automobile to fight someone in a crowd. That's just stupid. So you have some dents on your hood? Big freaking deal. Better than having dents in your skull or watching your wife get dragged through the streets by her hair. Your car is fast. Use it!

Despite what you've seen on TV, people cannot stop a moving vehicle by simply standing there if the driver is determined to relocate.

Luckily in Texas part of the gun laws states that you can protect others that are in imminent danger with deadly force. Race does not come into play when a child is laying in the street getting beat. You defend a human being from a mob that is trying to cause as much harm to people as they can.

A mob is a horrible adversary to face and "scaring them off" isn't always an option. That's got to be one of the worst shoot/don't shoot scenarios out there.

Oakland gets most of their random bullet fatalities by people standing within range of the shooter.

This is what you won't hear on TV.

F = m * a

Parabolic

I didn't see what they tested, but I am sure that the force lost by the bullet would be minimal from firing until it hits the top of the parabola. Then it comes down.

A falling bullet (that's went all the way up and is now falling back down at terminal velocity) is not the same as a bullet on the downward portion of it's flight that's still retained some of it's velocity from the shot.

Falling bullets rarely kill people. Stray bullets (that missed their intended target or weren't fired "up" enough) are almost always the cause of serious injury.

[Niels Bohr 72]

Technically, if a bullet reaches terminal velocity, it would probably be enough to kill.

[Zero Sum 305]

Not disagreeing with you, slim. Just make sure you understand what a parabola is. Shots into the air rarely go in a perpendicular direction to the force of gravity. Hence they retain part of their firing force, not just the initial velocity.

[slim 1,514]

Technically, if a bullet reaches terminal velocity, it would probably be enough to kill.

How can you say technically and probably in the same sentence?

Anything is possible. But, the average bullet is so light it lacks the energy to break through bone when it's falling - even at terminal velocity.

[SMOKE 1,426]

I was talking about pulling out your handgun and shooting the nearest attacker in the face.

i knew what you were talking about. i was trying to give a visual.

Edited August 5, 2011 by SMOKE

[slim 1,514]

Not disagreeing with you, slim. Just make sure you understand what a parabola is. Shots into the air rarely go in a perpendicular direction to the force of gravity. Hence they retain part of their firing force, not just the initial velocity.

You suggested someone fire a round up into the air. That's going to be pretty close to "straight up" isn't it?

If someone fires "straight up" then the bullet will go up, turn around, and "fall" back down. In most cases, that's not going to be fatal. What is (possibly) going to be fatal for that person is the mob that can now attack them with more extreme prejudice because they're a more dangerous victim and need to be overcome more quickly.

If you pull a weapon and/or fire a round into the air with a group of violent people around you and they run away, you're very lucky. If they stand there and make you shoot someone, chances are you're going to be overcome since they've already decided you can be overcome by the mob.

Ever seen a group of mongoose take a cobra?

[Ban Hammer 12,829]

i knew what you were talking about. i was trying to give a visual.