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Chesterfield Gunowner stops robbery

peter nap

peter nap

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TexasNative wrote:
I happened to be looking at the site referenced from the Wikipedia article you quoted, and I noticed that the Army has determined that 150 gr bullet falling at terminal velocity would have about 30 foot/pounds of energy, while they've determined that it takes 60 foot/pounds of energy to produce a disabling wound.

Point taken. I still think I'd prefer to either 1) aim my warning shot at the assailant, or b) in the event I can't shoot safely in that direction, make sure the assailant knows I'm armed by some means other than firing a round.

Then again, every situation is different, and it's impossible to predict all of the circumstances we might encounter and how we would react to them.
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I'm not saying it's a good idea, just clearing up a popular myth.;)

What amazes me is the number of people who believe every shot in the air is a death sentence for someone in the world,,,,but,,,,think nothing of shooting an arrow in the air.

That's a whole different thing:shock:
 
Neplusultra

Neplusultra

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peter nap wrote:
I'm not saying it's a good idea, just clearing up a popular myth.;)

What amazes me is the number of people who believe every shot in the air is a death sentence for someone in the world,,,,but,,,,think nothing of shooting an arrow in the air.

That's a whole different thing:shock:
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Exactly, unless you're on a crowded Manhatten street at 12 noon shooting straight up in the air is HIGHLY unlikely to hit anything of value. Then weigh that against the poor man getting the crap beat out of him.
 
peter nap

peter nap

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Neplusultra wrote:
peter nap wrote:
I'm not saying it's a good idea, just clearing up a popular myth.;)

What amazes me is the number of people who believe every shot in the air is a death sentence for someone in the world,,,,but,,,,think nothing of shooting an arrow in the air.

That's a whole different thing:shock:
Click to expand...
Exactly, unless you're on a crowded Manhatten street at 12 noon shooting straight up in the air is HIGHLY unlikely to hit anything of value. Then weigh that against the poor man getting the crap beat out of him.
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In certain parts of the country (That I don't have to name), that would be considered a public service!:uhoh:
 
TexasNative

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I think it's extremely unlikely that a bullet fired into the air will fall to the Earth and actually strike someone, unless it's an extremely crowded location such as a concert or something like that.

What bothers me is that it's just unlikely, not impossible. And my luck would have that person looking into the sky as my bullet fell to strike them right in the eye. Mr Murphy rules, and all that.
 
peter nap

peter nap

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TexasNative wrote:
I think it's extremely unlikely that a bullet fired into the air will fall to the Earth and actually strike someone, unless it's an extremely crowded location such as a concert or something like that.

What bothers me is that it's just unlikely, not impossible. And my luck would have that person looking into the sky as my bullet fell to strike them right in the eye. Mr Murphy rules, and all that.
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Have you ever fired a low powered BB gun at something unforgiving and had the thing bounce straight back. I have!

I have named that type of accident, a Ralphie!
 
TexasNative

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peter nap wrote:
Have you ever fired a low powered BB gun at something unforgiving and had the thing bounce straight back. I have!

I have named that type of accident, a Ralphie!
Click to expand...
No, but once when I was qualifying with handguns in the Navy, we used a Greek Air Force range. There was so much hard rock around that there were a lot of ricochets. Once the powers-that-be noticed the bullet holes in the bus (which was parked about 50 feet behind the firing line), we could no longer use .45s to qualify on that range and had to switch to .38s.

Ow.
 
celticredneck

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If you believe what the Mythbusters TV show says, it is a myth that bullets fired up into the air at high angles could cause fatal injury. They did a show where they tested several weapons, including both pistols and rifles and recovered the bullets. Based of the amount of ground penetration from the spent bullets compared to test shots directly into the same soil, they concluded that the spent rounds had insufficient velocity to cause fatal injuries. However, they did not rule out minor injury if struck by a spent round.
 
L

lax

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Where will the bullet end up when shooting at the bad guy? This also has risk of hitting an unintended target. In this case the warning shot worked. A good ending for everyone involved.
 
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