Officer fires gun into air

[I_Route]

Here I was thinking Don Knotts was dead.....I see he was reincarnated as a woman in Omaha....

Who would'a thunk!

[cobra]

i saw a thing on Myth busters where they did shoot a couple of differnet cal. into the air to see if they would kill somebody and it turns out that its not likely that the bullets would have enough energy or speed to penetrate anything. thought it was interesting.check it out if you get the chance I love that show

[hellagerms]

Originally Posted by cobra

i saw a thing on Myth busters where they did shoot a couple of differnet cal. into the air to see if they would kill somebody and it turns out that its not likely that the bullets would have enough energy or speed to penetrate anything. thought it was interesting.check it out if you get the chance I love that show

In a perfect world when you can control all varibles and conditions, the bullet will go straight up, then straight down. When the bullet achieves terminal velocity it shouldn't be able to fracture the cranium and lodge into the dense warm nervous tissue. But if it deviates any degree from the axis of atmospheric origin, it is considered a missle.

We did this experiment in Physics II my 2nd year, but everything was under perfect conditions ie vaccum etc.

In the "real world" stratospheric planes will maladjust the trajectory so that wind will play into the equation quite exponentiously leading to not a faster falling bullet which reached terminal velocity, but a bullet that has merely been sent off course. The bullet will shift in such a way that the air around it can cause this drift. We were able to elucidate that the hydrostatic shock preceeding the bullet can demonstrate this to an extent as well.

So in closing, bullets fired into the sky are to be considered deadly unless all laboratory-like conditions are being met secondary to extrinsic forces.

I love MythBusters as well but their controls and samples are too flawed to even be considered novel. But its good entertainment nonetheless.

[DoctorDawg]

Originally Posted by cobra

i saw a thing on Myth busters where they did shoot a couple of differnet cal. into the air to see if they would kill somebody and it turns out that its not likely that the bullets would have enough energy or speed to penetrate anything.

I enjoy mythbusters, too, but sometimes we need a Mythbusters-Busters. All in favor of getting hit by a chunk of lead at 400 ft/sec (that's 273 miles per hour!) raise your hands.

Shannon's Law

By Mayor Phil Gordon

July 3, 2006

In 1999, my friend and neighbor, Shannon Smith was killed in her own backyard. She was talking to a friend on a cell phone when a bullet, fired into the air from 3 miles away, struck Shannon down.
http://216.197.100.172/news/view.cfm?id=1153764182

The NRA weren't real happy about Shannon's Law at the time it was passed, apparently because it violates our constitutional right to act like damn fools.

[CyberOtaku]

Originally Posted by hellagerms

So in closing, bullets fired into the sky are to be considered deadly unless all laboratory-like conditions are being met secondary to extrinsic forces.

I love MythBusters as well but their controls and samples are too flawed to even be considered novel. But its good entertainment nonetheless.

The MythBusters experiment were not supposed to be under laboratory conditions, the entire point is to test under real world conditions. The bullets were affected by wind, but would still not do lethal damage at terminal velocity. However, the catch is that typically a shooter would not aim upwards 90 degrees, but at an angle. In this case the bullet maintains a parabollic trajectory, thus remaining spin stablized and impacting at a much higher speed. Either way no responsible and sane person would discharge a weapon into the air.

BTW welcome to the forum.

[galway]

Of course this happens in Omaha. All the stupid live here.

The last line of the story reads "The incident will be investigated to make sure the officer followed protocol." Does anyone actually think anything will come of this. Unless someone was killed or a famous person was involved the cop gets off.

[Mike TRT]

Originally Posted by galway

Unless someone was killed or a famous person was involved the cop gets off.

not true...coppers get in quite a bit of trouble a lot

but, the news will not pick up the story of the discipline that was handed down

[standerson]

Amazing.

[CavSoldier]

wow jednp I live in Omaha also and this is the first time I heard about this but that is completely bunk. I feel that if an officer cannot assert his or herself with their voice in a situation like that then they should probably be riding a desk and pushing some papers. Not driving a car and pulling triggers. Also in my hunters safety course we were told about an incident a bunch of years ago where this kid was shooting at a squirrel up a tree with a .22 and he missed and the bullet traveled a ways into town and happened to tag this lady in the leg as she was sunbathing in her backyard.

[jednp]

Originally Posted by CavSoldier

wow jednp I live in Omaha also and this is the first time I heard about this but that is completely bunk. I feel that if an officer cannot assert his or herself with their voice in a situation like that then they should probably be riding a desk and pushing some papers. Not driving a car and pulling triggers. Also in my hunters safety course we were told about an incident a bunch of years ago where this kid was shooting at a squirrel up a tree with a .22 and he missed and the bullet traveled a ways into town and happened to tag this lady in the leg as she was sunbathing in her backyard.

It's amazing how us gun owners are able to recall hunters safety training, and use it still today to keep safe. The lessons I learned then, are still as fresh in my mind as the day I learned them. Now if this cop could just get a little more training. maybe she needs to take the 4 day, 16 hour CCW course next year so she can remember what to do, and not do.