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July 4th

2K views 19 replies 18 participants last post by  mocarryguy 
#1 ·
As some of you know I just bought my first house and this is our first 4th of July in the house. Since I never owned my house I never realized house nerve racking fire works can be. I was on edge the whole night because the fireworks sounded like gun shots to me this year. I don't know if it because I am more alert this year than last but man it sucks.

What do some people do to have the mind set that it is nothing but fireworks. I was outside last night and I seemed not to be as jumpy because I can see what is going on.

So what do you do for this night of gun shots oh I mean fireworks?
 
#3 ·
I try to sleep through the noise. This works pretty well, but I sometimes wake up for a particularly loud burst.

Whether to notice a sound is a decision, either subconscious or conscious.

I have no trouble sleeping through a thunderstorm. When my sons still lived at home and would come home late, I discovered that the sound of a key sliding into the front door lock would wake me instantly in my upstairs bed...
 
#5 ·
Gunshots in my area are not that uncommon. Not because of crime, but we are kinda sub rural (used to be rural) and everyone lives on acreage, so sometimes people shoot their guns for one reason or another. Probably dispatching snakes or pests I guess.

I treat it like lightning. If you hear the sound of a distant burst and haven't been hit by anything you don't need to worry. The bullet would have hit before you heard the sound anyway. If it sounds like rifle fire, (which only occurs on the 40 acres behind me, usually prior to hunting season) I do listen up for the wizzing sound of rounds passing if there are folow up shots. If I don't hear any, I just ignore it and figure whoever is shooting is doing it for a reason and it's none of my business. Same goes for fireworks. Let freedom ring. Live and let live.

Now if their projectiles were coming my way, it would be a different story all togeher.
 
#6 ·
Fireworks? Put on the AC, earplugs and watch L&O reruns.

The dogs are cool with it-the dobie even chases them dancing sparkly things.:tongue:
 
#7 ·
So what do you do for this night of gun shots oh I mean fireworks?
First, relax. It's not like statistics for armed robberies with shots fired goes up starkly on Independence Day. But I recommend staying inside if possible, because you do have those morons who think it's okay to fire guns into the air to "celebrate." :mad: I wish there was a spell we could cast to make their own bullets find them on the way down. People get maimed and killed when idiots do this.
 
#14 ·
So bullets do come down? I always wondered what happened to those things when they left the barrel of my 300 Win Mag at 3400fps. Great point on what goes up comes down, and most folks do not give it a second thought about it. Always entertaining to watch those idiots in the Mid East racking off those AK's in the air. We never get to see the body count of those who catch them on the way down...Go figure.
 
#8 ·
WOW, So you heard us lastnight?? I'm sorry to have bothered you. We were at my sisters house in Illinois and shot guns until it got dark, then brought out the fireworks. I'm sure everyone around was glad when we stopped. We made some noise.
I guess I've never really thought much about it being gunfire on the night of the fourth.
 
#9 ·
Go out on the front porch, poor a good glass of wine or beer, your choice, and enjoy the show.
Mike
 
#11 ·
I don't really have to worry about fireworks in my neighborhood...because it is illegal to shoot fireworks within Oklahoma City city limits. But there are areas here like churches that put on some good shows, so if I can see them, i'll sit out with a cigar and a cold one and enjoy the free show.
 
#12 ·
Having just spent $5k on a new roof, I now am nervous about some of the local rockets landing atop my house...funny how things change when you have more at stake...heh.

That being said, I enjoy all the sights and sounds around the Fourth, for it is a reminder to celebrate and give thanks for the courage and foresight of our founding fathers.

Happy Fourth of July!
 
#13 ·
It's pretty rural where I live. Hearing gunshots isn't unusual. There's just more of them on the 4th. My wife will will be kept awake tonight, but I won't.

One of the few advantages of being half deaf. Once I unplug the artificial ears, it takes a pretty loud noise to get my attention.
 
#15 ·
Some lady last year in Tampa took a round in the shoulder/chest, 7.62x39, that fell out of the sky. It still had enough punch to penetrate 6 inches, and seriously wound the lady. She was outside on her patio watching the fireworks.
 
#16 ·
The very first fireworks that went off near us about four days ago really gave me a start.

My husband had just gone to take the trash out and I heard what sounded far to similar to gunfire and after a few moments John still wasn't coming back in.

Your mind is an amazing animal but something it can be your worst enemy.

I hadn't seen him take a gun out with him and yet he wasn't coming back in. There have been a few incidents where the police have been called for domestic disturbances for the people right next to the trash dump across the parking lot. They are always screaming and threatening each other with violence. All I could think of was that my husband was laying dead in a parking lot or in some other trouble from being caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and I'm sitting on the couch on the phone.

I could not sit idly by and let the possibility even linger.

I told the person I was talking to to I'd call them back, I shoved my Kimber in my waste band and went running down stairs with my cell phone in hand.

I opened the front door of the apartment building to find him sitting on the stairs having a smoke in the cool night air.

He smiled up at me, took a confused glance at the gun stuck in my waste band with my hand over it and put two and two together.

"It's just fireworks. I'm okay. I'll be in in a second."

It was a big relief off of my mind to see him on those steps, alive and well and not bleeding (or standing over someone else who was dead or bleeding), and I also realized that for the next few days I'd have to cool it and take all sounds of gunshots in stride as it's that time of year for fireworks.

I try to ignore them, but they do make my head snap up every now and then.

It's just part of the seasonal hazards.
 
#18 ·
I started to watch the Macy's display on tv. The wife decided she wanted to look at Lifetime, so I went to bed with the sounds of fireworks lulling me to sleep in the background.
 
#19 ·
Thank god the names don't match.

I read on CNN that a guy in Ohio shot and killed several people over a dispute about loud 7/4 parties in the neighborhood.

I immediately thought of this thread, remembered original poster's address of "Ohio," and thought, "Sheez, don't let it be a forumite!"

(Well, I'd rather it wasn't a gun owner period, but...)

Guy angry over fireworks party shoots several, kills two in Ohio

CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) -- A neighbor apparently angry about fireworks at a noisy Fourth of July party shot three people to death early Thursday and wounded two others, police said.

Terrance Hough Jr., a 35-year-old off-duty firefighter, was arrested in connection with the shootings, police spokesman Lt. Thomas Stacho said.

No charges had been filed Thursday morning because police were still gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses, Stacho said. There was no phone listing for Hough's address.

Police had received a number of complaints in recent years about loud parties, fireworks and drag racing connected to the house where the victims were shot, Stacho said. Some complaint calls came from Hough's address, but no one called police about the party Thursday night.

The neighbors were throwing a party when two men and a woman, all in their 20s, were shot to death shortly after midnight, Stacho said. He said another man was shot in the elbow and a woman was wounded in the hand.

A police officer who lives nearby heard the shooting and arrested Hough, Stacho said. He said a handgun believed to have been used in the shootings was among a dozen guns found at the home.

The area of neat ranch homes overlooking the industrial Cuyahoga River valley is popular among firefighters and police officers who are required to live in the city.
Ugh. :ugh:
 
#20 ·
There have been a few incidents where the police have been called for domestic disturbances for the people right next to the trash dump across the parking lot. They are always screaming and threatening each other with violence.

One word: Move. That is a tender box waiting to ignite. It is everywhere it seems.
 
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