firing a gun in the air

[lumination]

when people fire a gun in the air, as in point the gun towards to sky and fire, like a warning shot. surely the bullet has to come back down, isnt it very dangerous? what happens to the bullet when its fired? cause im thinking it could kill someone...right?

[sandyRoe]

I think if a gun was fired directly into the air the bullet would lose all force and just drop back to earth. If it was fired at an angle it could still be lethal. I think I read somewhere that army rifles have a range of over 1 mile.

[ChuckFickens]

Rifle rounds can and will cover far far more than 1 mile, 4+ miles for some easily

the are not accurate to that sort of range, but can still be lethal if it does hit something.

top range sniper bullets can get to 10'000 feet plus before they start to fall.

[Graham-W]

As LCDMAN said earlier, this was tested on Mythbusters. Here are the results.
http://mythbustersresults.com/episode50
I certainly wouldn't want to chaance it.

[AlBags]

No .. It's gets into orbit and stays there .. that's what space junk is : )

[beso]

Rov
///it falls to Earth under gravity at 32ft/s/s.
ie 1st second it falls 32ft
2nd second 64ft ///

Incorrect. Neglecting air resistance, at the end of the first second the speed reaches 32 feet per second and increases by 32 feet per second in each subsequent second.

The distance it falls is the average velocity over the period. Consequently in the first second it falls 16 feet. In the second second it falls (64+32)/2 = 48 feet.