Would you instantly recognize the sound of gunshots?

pizza - you may be right...It would be impossible for me to say - I have been fortunate enough to only experience gunfire in safe, appropriate contexts.

My last point: It does seem that every time there is a shooting at a _________ [fill in some retail, church, restaurant location], many of the witnesses report thinking the sound was something other than gunfire at first. Granted they may not have been gun enthusiasts like you and I so there may be a difference. I just think that the way the brain works, it almost won't allow you to register it as gunfire for several seconds given the context.

In any case - may nobody here have to find out if they can identify gunfire in a mall!!!
 
i can id a gun shot, in doors, outdoors, from the inside of an apc,etc...
i can usually determine type(rifle, pistol, shotgun) too.

while in iraq we would sit on the roof of our quarters in the fob and listen on some of the battles up to 1/2 city away, determining how many, and what weapons are being used. got to be pretty accurate at it.
 
pizza - you may be right...It would be impossible for me to say - I have been fortunate enough to only experience gunfire in safe, appropriate contexts.
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My experiences have all been safe..... appropriate, well, that's another thing entirely.:D

I would qualify my point by saying that most people, myself included, would likely have to be in the same environment as the shot. As in, if it's outside then you'd probably have to be outside, unless it's nearby. If it's inside then you'd probably have to be in the same building.

My father shot a 30-06 out the window of his house one time. He was sitting probably 4 feet back (muzzle to window) resting on a diaper bag with the window only open about 4 inches. I was outside. The noise was much more like a "WHOOOOMP!" than a "BOOM!". I would have never thought gun if I hadn't known.
 
Location and perception have a great deal to do with determining and even realizing that a firearm has been discharged. If you are in a place where you would not associate a loud, abrupt sound with fire you're likely to either wait and try to see if you hear it again, or try to associate it with something that you may be expecting (raquetballs at a gym for example).

I know of two experiences where a gunshot was not remarked upon even though people were closeby or it was a public building. - - -

1) While going through a training program, I had a negligent discharge while lowering the hammer on a 1911. I'm left-handed and the 1911 wasn't, my thumb slipped while lowering the hammer improperly. A 230-grain hardball went through the upholstered arm of a chair and made a nice, neat hold in the carpet on exit from my quarters. This happened while two other selectees were sleeping in the same trailer not more than 20 feet away. Neither emerged from their room to see what the noise was and neither remarked upon it the next day.

2) While staying at the hotel across from the battleship Alabama, my roommate and I were getting ready to go to the closest shooting range for a little relaxation. While I was finishing up a few things on a laptop, I observed him open a gun rug, take out a pistol and place 6 rounds securely in his pocket. It wasn't more that 2 minutes later that I was deafened by the sound of a 6-inch, .44-Magnum discharging in a small room. I did a self-check and turned to see a Very stunned co-worker. I swear I could see the thought process going through his head "... the gun went off... but I put the bullets in my pocket.... but the gun went off...but I put the bullets in my pocket ... but the gun ... the bullets..."
Turns out he had indeed secured 6 rounds in his pocket, but he had also failed to check the firearm itself and it was fully loaded. We found a chip in the cement ceiling and another, smaller one in an outside wall. After airing out the room, we took a peek down the hallway and there was a chambermaid not more than 4 rooms down the hallway, nonchalantly going about her business as though nothing had happened at all.



It's my theory, in both cases, that 'something' was heard, but whoever heard it was unsure. That being the case they probably hesitated and waited to hear the sound again so they could identify it. Not hearing another, similar sound and not perceiving any immediate danger they went back to their lives with only a slightly elevated awareness which soon faded.
 
while in iraq we would sit on the roof of our quarters in the fob and listen on some of the battles up to 1/2 city away, determining how many, and what weapons are being used. got to be pretty accurate at it.
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I could do that too......for a while. Then, while we were on a raid, my buddy B ripped off half a drum of SAW ammo in a small room, while I was next to him. Now my hearing isn't so hot. AK's sound like pops to me, from a distance. 5.56 sounds like a crack, 7.62 NATO is a higher crack, and IED's are a loud BOOOOOM! I basically had the sounds covered!
 
No. Only shooting ive done was with hearing protection, I honestly only know what 12 ga sounds like from a distance. But playing with fireworks and what not, I can tell the difference somewhat from gunfire and a firework
 
I am reasonably sure that I would not mistake gunfire for something else, but I have many times thought I heard gunfire which turned out to be something else (or didn't make the paper). I live in a big complex with lots of buildings, built on a hill that does some weird stuff to sounds. This is especially true regarding noises up the hill from me.

After my year in Afghanistan, I will never forget the sound of incoming mortars; not that I expect to ever hear that again now that I'm fully in the First Civ Div... but you never know (Red Dawn?).
 
There's a clerk at the local grocery store that I've known for a long time, since she's regularly worked the same counter for at least the past 12 years or so, ever since we moved to this town. I see her at least once a week in that context, and (since it is a small town) we regularly stop and visit when I come through her line, if no one else is waiting for her register.

A few weeks back, I bumped into her down at the park on her day off, and I did not even recognize her. I actually walked right past her, looking straight at her, and it wasn't until she called my name that I realized who it was.

Why does that happen? It's because she was out of context. She wasn't where I expected her to be, doing what I generally see her doing, dressed as she is usually dressed when I see her.

With that in mind...

Questions:
1. What causes people to confuse the sound of gunfire with other sounds?
2. Could this confusion cause people to lose valuable reaction time, putting them at greater risk?
3. Would you, the reader, instantly recognize the sound of gunshots?
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1.) Context. On the range you expect to hear gunfire. On a busy street, you expect to hear traffic noises. If you hear a loud BANG! while traffic is going past, you're far more likely to assume it's something traffic-related (a backfire?) than you are to assume it's gunfire. This happens even to people who regularly hear gunfire on the range, because human brains do use context as a cue for sound recognition.

2.) Of course. No doubt about it.

3.) The more you've heard gunfire, the less likely you are to mistake it for something else. But I'm as human as the next person, so maybe not. It's something to be aware of.

pax
 
I suspect that not just the amount of gunfire heard but also the variety of locations would play a part.

For example, a good many people on TFL live in a fairly large city and NEVER hear gunfire except at a range. With some of those people it's the same range, indoors every single time, 99% handguns, from a relatively short and more or less constant distance and likely entirely with hearing protection. On the flip side, there are those of us who have almost never been to an indoor range, do most of our shooting outdoors, use and/or hear a wide variety of firearms from point blank to miles distant and both with and without hearing protection.

I would suggest that "the flip side" has a far better chance of recognizing gunfire out of context than does the "city slicker".
 
Last weekend I was wakened by the sound of 8 distinct shots from an AK 47. I am sorry to say that a young man lost his life due to reasons that no one can explain. I have been hunting and spent many hours at the range but to hear these shots at 1am frightened me to death. The shooting happened at the end of my block but it sounded like it came from my living room! It is not anything like firecrackers or a car back firing! I am still shook over the incident.:eek:

The perp has not been apprehended as of this posting.
 
I recently did hear some shots from my bedroom window. Fireworks go on not just on the 4th of July, but all summer. This was different. I actually could make out the sound of the recoil. Maybe it's the trained ear of a person who shoots and has been hearing fireworks every night for months, but I could. The other dead give away was within moments, the sound of the shots was followed by the sounds of commotion and screaming. I called 911, who I'm sure had been getting triple the number of calls for shots fired all summer, but as I was on the phone with dispatch, they confirmed a man had been shot.
 
I just remembered something. When we were kids, we'd drop a lit firecracker in a cigar box and flip the lid closed. The resulting sound wasn't anything like a firecracker, & we were sure that it sounded a LOT like a gun shot.
 
Yes and no. Depends on where. In my immediate vicinity, I guarantee it.

But the farther away you go, the sound can be muffled and distorted until it may not sound like familiar gunfire.
 
I can tell when a movie uses the wrong type of gunshot audio for what an actor has in hand.

I can tell the difference between a typical bottleneck rifle cartridge and a handgun cartridge. I can tell the difference between an autopistol and a revolver cartridge. I can tell the difference between a shotgun and other cartridges.

But I immediately go to flinch/grab hip mode whenever a car backfires on the street. I did it last night, actually, in the parking lot of a local amusement park I was at, while I was out with friends.

I can't tell the difference (while unaware that gunshots are coming) between a car backfiring or other gunshot-like sounds, and those of actual gunshots.

However... I was drinking at Mill Avenue near ASU about 5 years ago and out on the patio of a bar. Heard a string of gunshots that were a block away. I called out right away they were gunshots, and that I counted 8 of them.

I was sheltered back in a corner behind a huge brick building, and way away from the street so I wasn't worried at all about it. A couple hours later (no more drinks in that time) I went to get my car from the parking lot... the drive by was on the far side of the parking lot I put my car in. Police tape all over, markers showing where brass was.
 
Sometimes people present at shootings confuse the sound of gunfire with other sounds.
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That is probably because the have not spent a lot of time around firearms. I live close to a highway, and the people that live across the highway from me own a bunch of land. We are outside the city limits, so the neighbors shoot some of their guns on a regular basis.

Sometimes, when I am having a get together and a bar-b-q, the neighbors will be across the highway shooting their guns. Its funny to watch my company when they hear the gun shots. They will jump and say "what was that?" Some times they will ask if that was a backfire from a car - they think that because we live close to the highway.

I just say "no, that is the neighbors over there shooting."
 
I was once leaving a friends house very early in the morning around 3:30. I heard his neighbor being murdered around the corner. 5 quick pops I knew exactly what that sound was, and what it meant! The sound came from that a away, and I'm going this a away! My girlfriend has mistaken tons of sounds for guns shots. I live in a semi questionable neighbor hood. But when she sees me get up and check a window holding my 870 she knows that was a real gun shot. "If you stay ready, you don't have to get ready!"
 
Not sure if I'd recognize it or not, since most of my experience around guns has been in a range with hearing protection on, which changes the characteristics of the sound, obviously.

Context has been discussed extensively, but I think the other piece of the puzzle is frequency. The odds of something being a gunshot are much lower, outside of a war zone, than it being anything else.

So combine context and exposure to the sound, with the unconscious understanding of the odds that it could be a gunshot, and it only makes sense that people would think it's something different.
 
I live in a semi questionable neighbor hood. But when she sees me get up and check a window holding my 870 she knows that was a real gun shot. "If you stay ready, you don't have to get ready!"
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Probably a good point that you would recognoze gunshots but if you are always on ready it would be more likely that you would mistake something different fro gunshots than gunshots for something else.

Anyone that can convice me that they would always correctly identify a noise as being gunshots or not should be in the business of selling oceanfront property in Kansas or in politics. :D
 
My home is pretty close to the police training center, and I also work occasionally at a refinery thats just down the street from the CHP office and Between those two places I've gotten pretty decent at identifying that signature pop. You know your bored at work when your listening to LEO's shooting and trying to figure out who's shooting what!
 
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