What Happens to Bullets Shot Directly Upward Into the Sky?

Essential Insights

The adage "What rises must descend" serves as a fitting introduction. When a gun is discharged skyward, the bullet can ascend up to a mile (depending on the gun's power and firing angle). Upon reaching its peak, the bullet descends. While air resistance slows it down, bullets are crafted to be highly aerodynamic, making their falling speed potentially deadly if they strike someone.

In sparsely populated rural regions, the likelihood of hitting someone is minimal due to the low density of people. However, in densely packed urban areas, the risk increases significantly, and fatalities from stray bullets are not uncommon.

Shooting a Gun Skyward Is Hazardous

On New Year's Eve 2022, an 87-year-old Philadelphia woman experienced a near-miss with a falling bullet. As she stood on her porch celebrating, she felt a sudden sharp pain in her shoulder. To her astonishment, upon removing her blouse, a bullet fell to the ground. Authorities labeled it a "suspected celebratory gunfire incident."

Another instance occurred on New Year's Eve 2017 when Texas House Representative Armando Martinez, a Democrat, stepped outside and felt as though he'd been hit by a sledgehammer. Rushed to the hospital, doctors discovered he had been struck on the head by a falling .223-caliber bullet. A fragment pierced his skull and embedded itself in his brain's outer layer, necessitating surgical removal, as reported by CNN.

Martinez, who healed from his wounds, joined the list of those harmed by the peculiar tradition of celebratory gunfire, where people shoot bullets into the air that eventually return to the ground — sometimes striking innocent bystanders.

How Frequently Do Falling Bullets Injure People?

Accurate nationwide statistics on such incidents are scarce, but numerous fatalities have been reported over the years. For instance, a 2015 article from The Trace highlights two tragic cases of children killed by falling bullets during Fourth of July celebrations in 2011 and 2012. A 2004 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that celebratory gunfire during New Year's Eve and New Year's Day caused 19 injuries and one death. Thirty-six percent of victims were hit on the head, followed by feet (26 percent) and shoulders (16 percent). A 2017 Miami Herald article recounts multiple incidents, including at least 20 deaths in Iraq in 2003 due to celebratory gunfire after the deaths of Saddam Hussein's sons, Uday and Qusay.

How High Can a Bullet Travel?

Beyond the baffling question of why such a dangerous and potentially deadly practice persists, you might also wonder: What exactly happens to a bullet fired directly upward? How high does it travel? What forces bring it back down? And where and when does it eventually land?

Answering these questions isn't straightforward. Ballistics experts have extensively studied bullets fired horizontally to enhance shooter accuracy and range. However, firing bullets straight upward, a practice uncommon among soldiers, police, hunters, or target shooters, lacks substantial data.

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Julian Hatcher, driven by curiosity, conducted experiments in Florida, firing various weapons—from rifles to machine guns—into the air. He measured the time it took for bullets to descend and their landing spots. In his 1947 book "Hatcher's Notebook," he calculated that a .30 caliber bullet fired vertically would reach 9,000 feet (2,743.2 meters) in 18 seconds, take 31 seconds to fall, and achieve a near-constant speed of 300 feet (91.4 meters) per second during its final descent.

According to James Walker, a ballistics researcher with a Ph.D. in mathematics and director of engineering dynamics at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, the height a bullet reaches when fired vertically depends on the firearm and ammunition type, similar to horizontal firing. Handguns, with shorter barrels and less powder in their cartridges, propel bullets to lower heights than rifles. Variations also exist among rifle types and ammunition.

"A .22, not designed for big-game hunting, has a cartridge the same diameter as its bullet," Walker explains. "It contains minimal powder, so the bullet travels slower. In contrast, rifles like the .30-06 have larger cartridges with more powder, enabling faster speeds."

When fired horizontally, bullets decelerate quickly due to air resistance. A rifle bullet may lose half its speed by the time it travels 500 meters (1,640.42 feet), Walker notes. "If fired upward, gravity causes it to slow down slightly faster, though not significantly."

For altitude calculations, Walker referenced a chart on the Close Focus Research website, a ballistics testing firm. The chart indicates that a .25 caliber ACP handgun bullet might peak at 2,287 feet (697 meters), whereas a .30-06 rifle bullet could soar to 10,105 feet (3,080 meters).

What Rises Must Descend

Regardless of how high a bullet ascends, it will eventually slow until its speed drops to zero, at which point it begins its descent back to Earth, as explained in a 2018 article on falling bullet injuries in the Journal of Neuroscience Rural Practice.

"The height achieved doesn't affect the descent speed, as the bullet (if no longer spin-stabilized) will reach a terminal velocity determined by its shape, orientation, and whether it's tumbling," Walker clarified in a follow-up email.

Crucially, a bullet rarely falls straight down due to wind interference, making its landing point unpredictable, Walker notes.

In Texas, Representative Martinez aimed to prevent injuries from falling bullets by proposing stricter penalties for firing guns without a specific target. In late 2022, he introduced House Bill 1138 to tackle celebratory gunfire. Currently, such gunfire is a Class A misdemeanor in Texas cities with populations over 100,000, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine. If passed, the bill would extend this law to all areas of Texas, regardless of population size.