Posted on 06/24/2012 8:07:25 PM PDT by smokingfrog
Some of the wildfires scorching the West this year were sparked by unusual culprits: Gun owners. Or, more specifically, gun shooters.
As with the Dump fire in Utah, which flared hard enough on Friday to force the evacuation of 1,500 homes and 9,000 people, nearly two dozen conflagrations, officials say, have started accidentally by careless target shooters whose bullet sparks touch off dried-up pinon and wild grasses.
“Now is not a good time to take your gun outside and start shooting in cheat grass that’s tinder dry,” Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said Friday.
While authorities can ban certain fire-related activities when fire risks are high, that’s not true with guns, the carrying and use of which are staunchly protected by state and federal law, including several recent Supreme Court decisions.
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
You're right - but dems aren't big on the 'facts' thingie...
This may also be an attempt to ban Tannerite.
Only an idiot would use Tannerite in a drought stricken area.
“You see, here in the great state of Utah, we have a huge number of people receiving public benefits (through tax credits, “free schooling,” etc.)....”
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I assume you are referring to large-family white Mormons? To the extent that new white families embrace this unending welfare state, America is screwed; perhaps permanently, as now close to 50% of the population is fully on board with UNEARNED goodies from the government, and will vote Communist to keep them coming.
That is, until the inevitable fiscal downfall that is inherent in socialism.
“You can’t even ignite a gasoline-filled can with a bullet.”
On the subject of gasoline, you can drop a lit cigarette in a puddle of gasoline and it will just put it out.
Saw this youtube video and thought it appropriately named :)
“The Rifles - We Didnt Start The Fire”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzzxudZ6_rc
We started several fires at Army ranges, but all involved tracer rounds. Most summer range trips required us to pull all tracers out of the loads and fire them into dirt berms at the end of the day. Every now and then one tracer would jump the berm and start a fire.
Lead hitting rocks does not create sparks. Neither does copper.
I suppose if you broke a rock with a rifle round the process of it fracturing and grating against the other half could create a spark.
It is much more likely that shooting aerosol cans, or tannerite or other types of ‘fun’ would create the necessary heat to catch dry grass on fire.
I have yet to see lead, brass, or copper strike a spark. Get a piece of flint and try it.
Wow, best of luck! I hope those conditions break soon. Been a strange couple of years now with this el nino/la nina cycle.
Military rounds are most frequently either steel jacketed, or steel cored. this type of round is required in order to defeat body armor, ammo laden vests, etc.
Most military ranges incorporate steel targets. If a bullet that has any steel in its makeup strikes a metal target of sufficient thickness as to prevent penetration by the round, the resulting ricochet will almost assuredly produce a spark.
unless you happen to hit some vapor before the butt hits the liquid.
Smoky Bear has no middle name. It's "Smokey Bear", not "Smokey the bear".
Pretty much how I read it ,too.
Sounds like something McCain would say.
newest media meme: we had “cop killer” bullets, now “forest fire” bullets.
Maybe Dateline NBC can dig up their old exploding GMC truck gas tank videos and re-use it for this,too?
“This truck was struck by an errant ‘forest fire’ round from a Utah NRA member...”
“I assume you are referring to large-family white Mormons?”
No, Utah culture is irrespective of the majority of people here being A) White or B) Latter-day Saints. Utah has its goods and its bads, but the culture here is one of frugality (which you could argue is a Latter-day Saint quality, but which is found no where else. Any Latter-day Saint for outside of Utah will tell you, Utahns on a whole are very, very different.
In any event, as you stated, Socialism never works (you said inevitable fiscal downfall, but I’m rephrasing), you always run out of other people’s money. The U.S. btw has been using deficit spending and using OPM for decades. The rest of the world has been subsidizing us (and central bankers ensnaring us) and that will dissipate in short order as well. I pray one day we all learn to live within our means, and throw off the taxation and regulation strangleholds that make people not want to work. With a progressive income tax fueling a giant big brother government, you’re penalized the harder you work. A lot of people simply quit trying. A return to a limited government where men get to eat the fruit of their own labors (not someone else’s) and people will in short order start working very, very hard. People like “stuff,” largely like working for “stuff” but ultimately want to keep their “stuff.” We have few to no property rights left in this country, so many people ( I would never say it’s close to 50%) question “Why bother?”
Never say never, but it is extremely unlikely.
Little speculation here.
Maybe folks in more humid lowlands and the east aren’t much aware of how dry parts of the West can be. And maybe sparks aren’t the only consideration. Consider heat on the surface of a bullet from firing and impact. Store-bought lumber is quite a bit wetter than the trees here now.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2008/may/17/gunfire-at-range-sparks-blaze-in-piru-crews-full/
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wildfires/2008-12-05-yosemite-wildfire-culprit_N.htm
http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=112819&page=2
http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=136149
http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=201455
Have a good summer, y’all. I’ll be building some fence.
It’s not only bullets, either, BTW. Fire at night, sometime, and see what comes out of the muzzle.
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