Quote :

"DURHAM (WTVD) -- A billboard overlooking a busy Durham street is the latest way authorities are trying to keep people safe during a New Year's Eve tradition. The message is direct; "Have fun, but don't shoot a gun" - a reference to the idea of celebrating by firing shots into the air. What goes up must come down and those bullets, authorities say, could hurt or kill someone. "It's extremely foolish, and I would use the word stupid, to discharge a firearm, because that bullet is going to go somewhere and odds are, it's going to hit someone and hurt someone," Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez said. "It makes it hard for people to be safe," student Trevor Hasty said. "Now you got to be careful where you walk and stuff, and you're not supposed to feel that way! You're supposed to feel safe in your neighborhood.""

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=8463815

I saw this billboard today. Didn't realize Durham had the same problem as Mogadishu.

12/13/2011 10:00:59 AM

Actually, Chief, the odds are that it's NOT going to hit someone, or hurt someone.

But there's a chance, so do don't do it.

12/13/2011 10:02:53 AM

12/13/2011 10:04:21 AM

I didn't realize this was a tradition or problem. Interesting....

Also...



[Edited on December 13, 2011 at 10:05 AM. Reason : asdf]

12/13/2011 10:04:58 AM

Durham = Mogadishu.

12/13/2011 10:06:14 AM

This is a mexican tradition

I learned it from The Three Amigos

12/13/2011 10:27:37 AM

I like it better than the Eat At Moms billboard in new bern....

12/13/2011 10:49:24 AM

^^

This is a Mexican tradition.

I learned it from a neighborhood off Rock Quarry Road.

12/13/2011 12:24:29 PM

Funny, cause my dad had a friend who was in the delta force; he was in the 1st gulf war and did some time in Somalia (among other stuff), he came back and joined the durham police force for a few years, then went back into the Army because "he got shot at less". I believe he's retired, teaching self defense classes. Makes bank.

12/13/2011 12:45:29 PM

the three amigos made me chortle

12/13/2011 12:53:01 PM

Quote :

"and odds are"

12/13/2011 1:16:13 PM

the billboard should have been written in spanish in order to be effective.

12/13/2011 1:31:51 PM

According to the rules of terminal velocity, wouldn't a bullet fired in the air from a gun (assuming it was an angle higher than 75° or so) not come down any faster than a bullet dropped from a tall building?

12/13/2011 1:33:21 PM

mythbusters covered this several years ago.

Quote :

"In the case of a bullet fired at sufficiently close to a vertical angle to result in a non-ballistic trajectory, the bullet would tumble, lose its spin, and fall at a much slower speed due to terminal velocity and is therefore rendered less than lethal on impact (the Busted rating). However, if a bullet is fired at a lower angle allowing for a ballistic trajectory (a far more likely case), it will maintain its spin and will retain enough energy to be lethal on impact (the Plausible rating). Because of this potentiality, firing a gun into the air is illegal in most U.S. states, and even in the states where it is legal, it is not recommended by the police. Also the MythBusters were able to identify two people who had been injured by falling bullets (fired from approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) away, and hence at a lower angle), one of them fatally (the Confirmed rating). To date, this is the only myth to receive all three ratings at the same time."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MythBusters_%282006_season%29#Episode_50_.E2.80.93_.22Bullets_Fired_Up.22

12/13/2011 1:37:50 PM