Celebratory gunfire

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Celebratory gunfire is the shooting of a firearm into the air in celebration. It is culturally accepted in the Balkans, the Middle East, South Asia, and in Latin regions like Puerto Rico as well as southern and rural areas of the United States.

A Lebanese unload is the practice of firing off all remaing rounds from an automatic weapon into the air.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Injuries due to celebratory gunfire

People are sometimes injured when bullets discharged into the air fall back down. In ballistics, this is called space bullet trauma. A round travelling 820 meters per second will climb more than three kilometers before beginning its slightly slower descent.^{[citation needed]} The mortality rate among those struck by "space bullets" is about 32%, compared with about 2–6% normally associated with gunshot wounds.^{[citation needed]} This alarmingly high number is indicative of the fact that the vast majority of SBT wounds are head wounds. A study[1] by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 80% of celebratory gunfire-related injuries are to the head, feet, and shoulders. Firearms expert Julian Hatcher studied falling bullets and found that they reach terminal velocities of 60 meters per second or more — enough to pierce a human skull.

In 2005, the United Nations Development Programme ran education campaigns on the dangers of celebratory gunfire in Serbia and Montenegro.[2]

[edit] See also

• 21-gun salute
• Shannon's law — a law in Arizona prohibiting this practice

[edit] External links

• UN Development Programme activity report
• Can a bullet fired into the air kill someone when it comes down? The Straight Dope
• AnswerBag
• Celebratory Gunfire: Good Idea or Not?