An old party here stepped out in his backyard a few years ago and was hit by a falling bullet in the side of his neck on New Year's Eve. He later died in the ER. The bullet had torn up his carotid artery.
I'm all for firearms but shooting at the sky at night violates a least two of the rules for gun safety.
People around my necok'o'woods fire shotgun blanks. Nice boom, no effect.
I have been on the business end of an RPG and an anti-tank mine, in a combat zone, and survived but it is tragic to get killed for no reason in your back yard!