Why it's stupid to shoot guns at weddings

[jimnyc]

I know this is fairly popular a thing to do in Middle Eastern countries and amongst Muslims, maybe they'll be a little more careful going forward. So sad that this took place at a wedding, as if it wasn't sad enough for all involved to begin with. Some complain about gun use in America to defend lives, but they surely shouldn't be used as props like fireworks.


Celebratory gunfire at Saudi wedding cuts cable, 23 electrocutedRIYADH (Reuters) - Celebratory gunfire at a wedding party in eastern Saudi Arabia on Tuesday night brought down an electric cable, killing 23 people, a local civil defense official said.

"At the wedding, the cable fell on a metal door and the 23 people who died were all electrocuted," Eastern Province official Abdullah Khashman said by phone.

A photograph of the aftermath of the accident, published on local newspapers' websites showed a large courtyard strewn with fallen chairs and a pole in the middle supporting cables carrying lightbulbs.

All those killed were from the same tribe, Khashman said. Thirty others were injured in the incident near Abqaiq, a center of the Saudi energy industry.

Saudi Arabia banned the shooting of firearms at weddings, a popular tradition in tribal areas of the conservative Islamic kingdom, last month.

http://news.yahoo.com/celebratory-gunfire-saudi-wedding-cuts-cable-23-electrocuted-091141411.html


Wedding turns into disaster as electric shock kills 24 east of Saudi ArabiaAn electric shock killed 24 people, and wounded 30 others, mostly women, celebrating a wedding in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia early on Wednesday, Al Arabiya correspondent reported.

The wedding was held in "Ain Badr" village, in Abqaiq, 60 kilometeres southwest of the Dhahran-Dammam-Khobar metropolitan area.

The disaster occurred when a high voltage power line fell down and touched the metal door of the house where the wedding was being held, according to sources from the Saudi Civil Defense.

In line with traditions in the Gulf, wedding celebrations in Saudi Arabia are segregated.

Most of the casualties were women, and they died as they attempted to escape through the electrified metal door, the Civil Defense sources told Al Arabiya.

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/10/31/246776.html

[Robert A Whit]

I know this is fairly popular a thing to do in Middle Eastern countries and amongst Muslims, maybe they'll be a little more careful going forward. So sad that this took place at a wedding, as if it wasn't sad enough for all involved to begin with. Some complain about gun use in America to defend lives, but they surely shouldn't be used as props like fireworks.



http://news.yahoo.com/celebratory-gunfire-saudi-wedding-cuts-cable-23-electrocuted-091141411.html



http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/10/31/246776.html

I too have long wondered why the ME region is full of those sort of gun shooters.

Blanks can't do a lot of harm so long as the muzzle is not at some person who is close to the gun, but bullets sure cause harm.

I am amazed that more people are not hit by bullets returning to earth.

I suspect some injury can happen when lead falls that far back to earth.

[Marcus Aurelius]

http://mythbustersresults.com/episode50


Bullets fired into the air maintain their lethal capability when they eventually fall back down. busted / plausible / confirmed
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.

[Dilloduck]

There were a couple of guys in ultra lights who made 2 passes over the outdoor shooting range today. Not the brightest thing to do either. :laugh:

[jafar00]

http://mythbustersresults.com/episode50

That's correct. As a former member of a SFMG platoon I can tell you that a rain of bullets from several kilometers away can certainly put the dampener on your enemy's spirits and can be lethal if they hit you right.

[gabosaurus]

Americans occasionally shoot guns at weddings. Unfortunately, they don't shoot them in a air.

Westerners get drunk and act bad at weddings. Others shoot guns in the air.

[jafar00]

Americans occasionally shoot guns at weddings. Unfortunately, they don't shoot them in a air.

Westerners get drunk and act bad at weddings. Others shoot guns in the air.

Westerners also like to shoot and drop bombs at other people's weddings too.

[cadet]

Westerners also like to shoot and drop bombs at other people's weddings too.

Nope, we don't shoot civilians. Totally off limits.