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This is What Happens When You Fire a Bullet into the Air
Photo courtesy of the LAPD
Police across the region are telling people not to shoot guns into the air on New Year's Eve. "What goes up inevitably is going to come down, and it comes down at a velocity that can quite easily penetrate buildings, car roofs and human beings," LAPD Chief William Bratton said at a news conference yesterday highlighting the dangers of celebratory gunfire, which is a felony punishable by one year in prison, something local officials promise to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.
When a bullet is shot into the air, it can climb two miles, remaining in flight for over a minute and then falling back down at a rate of speed enough to kill someone, explained the Long Beach Press-Telegram.
This year, cops are bringing out the Shot Spotter technology, a gunshot location system that provides wide-area acoustic surveillance that detects and pinpoints gunfire within seconds. Hrmmm, sounds like something that could be useful on a daily basis.
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