brett30030 said:
Gravity is a constant rate per second, so wouldn't the higher up you shoot increase the speed/velocity at which it returned to earth? ???
If gravity is constant, why would something falling from a higher location affect it's speed?
A bullet falling from 2 miles up, will be just as fast as one falling from 1 mile up. They will both reach the same velocity (terminal velocity).
Also, it's not just gravity that you need to take into account. If you shoot a bullet, straight up into the air, it is eventually going to lose it's forward momentum, and gravity will be the only force pulling on it.
However, a bullet shot at an angle maintains much of it's spin and velocity, even as gravity pulls it back to earth.
Mythbuster's did an episode on this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MythBusters_(season_3)#Bullets_Fired_Up
In the case of a bullet fired at a precisely vertical angle (something extremely difficult for a human being to duplicate), 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. However, if a bullet is fired upward at a non-vertical angle (a far more probable possibility), it will maintain its spin and will reach a high enough speed to be lethal on impact. Because of this potentiality, firing a gun into the air is illegal in most states, and even in the states that 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, one of them fatally injured. To date, this is the only myth to receive all three ratings at the same time.
Pay special attention to the underlined part. They found that for the bullet to lose it's forward momentum/velocity, the gun needed to be pointed directly up, which they found very hard to do. IF the bullet is shot at an angle other than STRAIGHT UP, it basically travels on a huge curve, still maintaining some of it forward velocity.
Unless you have something to verify that you are shooting exactly, precisely straight up, it's not a good idea. Shoot some blanks, or shoot into some soft ground in a safe direction.
P.S. This is a pic of the bullet (.45 JHP) that landed a few feet from my brother this New Year's Eve:
He was working that night (firefighter). Him and some of the other guys walked outside at midnight to listen to all the guns go off, and 2 bullets, both .45 JHP's, landed very close to them.
