Originally Posted by
FN1910 
I remember years ago on almost every box of .22 bullets was printed "Range one mile". I think the new boxes have increased that range but I don't think anyone knows the exact possible danger range of any bullet. However I think it is safe to say that any handgun or rifle has a danger range of at least one mile and probably much more. This would include muzzle loaders and some pumpkin chunkers. It does seem that lately there have been many cases where the odds of someone getting injured or killed from guns being fired into the air from long distance have been defeated. Even Mythbusters has not been immune from this happening.
The Mythbusters segment had the guns being fired straight up in the air. Big difference between that and a bullet fired at a lesser angle that still retains it's ballistic arc. The former is harmless while the latter can still be very deadly.
A while ago I saw a program that detailed cases of people being killed by bullets that had travelled some pretty improbable paths. In one case the shooter did everything right and was shooting into an old steel oil drum that was in front of a large dirt berm in a rural area. The bullet (from a rifle) apparently struck an angled piece of steel from an earlier puncture and exited the drum at an upward angle - just enough to get over the berm. It then clipped a transformer on a light pole which redirected the bullet on a slightly downward angle. The bullet travelled about half a mile before striking a man in the side and severing a blood vessel in his kidney. He bled to death before he could get proper medical attention. Another case at a gun range had a .44 mag round ricocheting off a styrofoam ceiling tile (albeit at a very sharp angle) and going through a couple of walls before striking someone in the head and killing him.
The bottom line is that you just never know where that bullet is going to go. "Treat it like it's always loaded" is Rule #1 of firearm safety IMO. On a somewhat humorous note concerning the "always assume it's loaded" way of thinking.....a few weeks ago I went out to do some cardio excercise and I grabbed my LCR (my preferred non-work EDC) and dropped it in my fanny pack. After I got home and as I was taking the pistol out of the pack I saw that it was unloaded (duh!). I had unloaded it the night before when I cleaned it. When I had picked the gun up to go out, in my mind Rule #1 kicked-in and I assumed it was loaded. Good thing I didn't need it otherwise some BG might have a nasty contusion on his forehead where I threw it at him 
(Insert random tough-guy quote here)
"See my gun?? Aren't you impressed?" - Anonymous sheepdog
Guns - the alternative to running for your life.
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