Seems to me that the typical rifle bullet having traveled three miles would be left with the velocity of an asthmatic jogger and not be real dangerous except to a dinosaurus liberallus who would be frightened to death. This is kind of like that old nonsense about shots fired in the air.
They can be fatal.
Participant at KKK initiation wounded after shots fired into sky
JOHNSON CITY, Tennessee (AP) -- A bullet fired in the air during a Ku Klux Klan initiation ceremony came down and struck a participant in the head, critically injuring him, authorities said.
Gregory Allen Freeman, 45, was charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment in the Saturday night incident that wounded Jeffery S. Murr, 24.
About 10 people, including two children, had gathered for the ceremony. The man who was being initiated was blindfolded, tied with a noose to a tree and shot with paintball guns as Freeman fired a pistol in the air to provide the sound of real gunfire, Sheriff Fred Phillips said.
A bullet struck Murr on the top of the head and exited at the bottom of his skull, authorities said.
Freeman fled the ceremony but was arrested near his home, authorities said. He was released on $7,500 bail.
“This is kind of like that old nonsense about shots fired in the air.”
The skull can be penetrated by bullet-sized objects with a velocity of only 200 FPS. The terminal velocity of falling bullets is in the 300 to 500 FPS range, so yes they can kill. There are many documented cases, particularly in countries where shooting into the air is a common activity for celebrations.