Are people ever struck by stray bullets shot in the air?
Popular TV show “Mythbusters” addressed this question, and concluded that a bullet shot perfectly straight in the air probably isn’t dangerous, because of terminal velocity. However (and this is a big however), firing a gun straight in the air is very difficult. It’s far more likely that the bullet will be shot at an angle. These falling bullets can be, and often are, lethal. In January 2006, a Mississippi farmer was paralyzed by a falling bullet. At a 2003 Ku Klux Klan initiation ceremony in Tennessee, a stray bullet struck a participant “on the top of the head and exited at the bottom of his skull.” The Straight Dope agrees that many people have been struc
