Hold your fire...your town?

[cjcj]

Mayor to revelers: Hold your fire

The Arizona Republic
Dec. 29, 2005 06:05 PM

Hold your fire. That's the message from Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon as we near the midnight hour on New Year's Eve. Too often, that moment is marked by people firing guns into the air.

"Some people call it celebratory gunfire, we just call it gunfire," the mayor said.

Randomly firing a gun into the air is a felony in Phoenix after the passage of Shannon's Law in 2000. advertisement




The law was named in honor of Shannon Smith, who was killed in her Phoenix back yard in June 1999. She was struck by a bullet fired from perhaps as far as 2 miles away.

This year there will be a door-to-door campaign in the Maryvale and Garfield neighborhoods to educate people about the danger. The mayor said those Phoenix neighborhoods were chosen randomly. {BIG LIE] hump

On New Year's Eve, 150 to 200 Phoenix officers will be assigned exclusively to respond to gunfire calls.

- John Faherty

 

[noharleyyet]

Duh???

 

[2fastnaz]

I live in Maryvale. I promise you it will sound like a war zone come newyears. Hell I've been told the PX police have been told to find covered parking to sit under from a quarter till 12:00 till a quarter after. 6 years ago the firing started at about 9:00 pm and went till way after 1:00 am. I'm not talking a few random shots but what sounded like a 5 hour fire fight. It may have been the year Shannon was killled. I think AZ hunter lives by me he can confirm, it's plumb crazy.

 

[Calif. Hunter]

Someone who knows physics - explain to me how fast a bullet shot straight up comes down? (Believe me - I am not "poo-poo'ing" the danger of shooting in the air.) The reason I ask is that I have found .22 and bigger slugs on the roof on my houses a few times, usually in the rain gutters when I've replaced a roof. Sometimes, they are barely stuck in the asphalt shingles.

If my math is right, and it's probably wrong, they should be going about 176 fps, or less than a BB gun. Again, don't get me wrong - shooting indiscrimately without regard for safe backstop or where the bullet is going to end up is just plain criminal. I would think the danger comes more from those that are shot at a lesser angle than straight up.

 

[AZHUNTERR]

2 fastnaz is right its like a war zone here ..some times you here the bullets hit the roof you stay in the house un tel its over

 

[big ben]

crazy

wow that sounds crazy,i would never shoot up in the air,you see that in old western movies,but i think people would have become more civilized than that by now,

 

[danr55]

CH, a falling body accelerates at a velocity of 32 ft per second per second until it reaches terminal velocity. Given the factors of form for a handgun bullet, that velocity is probably about 36 to 40 miles per hour. Givne an average of 38 miles per hour, that calculates to 59 ft/sec. Doesn't sound like a lot until you try to catch it with your noggen..

 

[Calif. Hunter]

Thanks, Dan. I seemed to recall, either from jump school or high school, the figure of 33 feet per second per second, and the number 120 mph rings a bell. (?)

Anyway, thanks for the figures.

 

[noharleyyet]

Still have your issue headgear Dan?

 

[Nut]

IMO it is foolish to feel the need to shoot off a gun in the air. Most of the time the idiot at this time is intoxicated anyways. (I also do not see any wisdom in drinking yourself into a stupor either)

I do not believe there is any member here who would do such a thing because we all know that saftey comes first.

 

[cjcj]

2Fast and AZhunter are right.. hump ..My wife and i were at a New Years party 2 years ago in Maryvale....[my old hood] it was unreal!!!....

But the funny thing in the article is where The bullshitting Mayor [Gordon] says that the Garfield and Maryvale area`s were selected at random W.T.F..

My guess is the Mayor doesn`t want to upset his voting base or make it look like they are "targeting" the ethnic majority of those 2 neighborhoods... Randomly selected? what a crock.

 

[AZHUNTERR]

it was kind of quit around here last night only heard a few guns go off an that was about 12:30-1:00 am

 

[Erik in AK]

The acceleration of earth's gravity is 32 fps squared. Theoretically a falling body would accelerate continuously. Terminal velocity is a function of drag coefficient (friction with air). Skydivers routinely get up to 130 mph in the tuck position.

I assume a 150+ grain pistol bullet would apogee at about 1500 feet and top out at about 300 fps. The real question is how much force (ft lbs) does falling bullet deliver?


either way, NOT shooting up into the air is a good idea no matter what the physics say


Happy New Year ever-body

 

[JLG]

A few years ago my buddy moved to some apartments at 67th ave & Mcdowell. Someone asked him what he did for New Years & he said they grabbed a mattress & spent the night in the bathtub.
A few years back I was walking home a couple of days after New Years & found a flatten-out 44 magnum slug on the sidewalk about 5 houses from mine. Up until Nov. 18th of 2005 I had lived my whole life in Maryvale (44 years). It took my wife, best friend & family about 4 years to talk me into moving, but now that I am out of the "hood" it feels pretty good. I don't know what my "New hood" will be like yet. They are still building houses in our subdivision & it is too early to get a feel for it, Enjoy the New Year, JLG.

 

[2fastnaz]

Very Quiet this year as compared to years past. Never did see any cops going door to door, and I was waiting for them. I had every thing laid out in the living room cleaning em.