History Main / FiringInTheAirALot

* [[AntiAir Anti-aircraft fire]] often qualifies for this trope, although of course they generally have some target in mind. For obvious reasons, most of what they fire misses... and what goes up, must come down! There have been several occasions when the air defense response caused more damage on the ground than the actual air attack, particularly when the gun crews thought that something was there and so shot at the clouds, but were in fact mistaken.[[note]]One of the most famous examples of this in RealLife being [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII The Battle of Los Angeles .]][[/note]] It's standard strategy to launch decoys to fool opponents into wasting ammo.

* Happens during the level "The Coup" in ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'', where a platoon of Al-Asad's soldiers fire their guns into the air in celebration at the sight of the captured president Al-Fulani being brought to his execution.
** In ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 3'', during the mission "Back on the Grid", a group of militiamen douse a civilian in gasoline and set him ablaze (unless you stop them in time). One of them fires his gun into the air as the civilian is being dragged to his place of execution.
* The UsefulNotes/PlayStation version of ''VideoGame/{{Nectaris}}'' features this in the cutscenes that play whenever an infantry unit captures a factory.

* At the end of ''TheMilagroBeanfieldWar'', the celebrating farmers all fire their rifles in the air.

[[quoteright:320:[[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yosemite_sam_8.png]]]]

* ''Series/MythBusters'' showed that this happens as long as the rifle/pistol is not pointing perfectly straight up into the air - on the fluke chance that it is, the bullet will just drift. Of course, the ability of your average celebratory shooter managing this is not all that high. Warning: Science content! A bullet fired straight up, or very nearly so, will expend all of its momentum in gaining altitude, less a little bit lost to air resistance. It will then fall back down, its velocity limited by air resistance. A bullet fired at an angle, however, even a steep one, will still have a ''very'' high velocity when it comes back down.

* ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'': "In celebration of your joining our ranks, I will fire the ceremonial pistola!"
** "WAHH! ISAAC IS DEAD!"
** To explain: ceremony of joining TheMafia is concluded with a shot into air, inside the building. Isaac and his girl were hiding in the roofspace, peeking through the oh-so-convenient round holes in the floor.

* ''Film/TheGunfightInDodgeCity'': One of the issues in Dodge City is the 'Saturday night shoot-ups', when drunken cowhands ride through the town firing their guns into the air after the saloons close.

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* Referenced mockingly in "Adventure Today!" by ''Music/TheAquabats''
-->Don't throw sparklers, or shoot guns in the air\\
'Cause you never know where it's coming down

[[folder:Stand Up Comedy]]

* Happens during the level "The Coup" in ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'', where a platoon of Al-Asad's soldiers fire their guns into the air in celebration at the sight of the captured president Al-Fulani being brought to his execution.
** In ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 3'', during the mission "Back on the Grid", a group of militiamen douse a civilian in gasoline and set him ablaze (unless you stop them in time). One of them fires his gun into the air as the civilian is being dragged to his place of execution.

* After the score tally at the end of each level in ''VideoGame/TotalCarnage'', the player cheers and fires his gun up into the air. In 2-player mode, the player with the higher score will be doing this while the other stands in the background frustrated.
* {{Lampshaded}} in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', when you go to Galaxy News Radio and end up in a fight between the Lyon's Pride (an elite Brotherhood squad) and a bunch of supermutants. After the mutants are defeated, their latest recruit, Initiate Redding, celebrates the victory by shooting in the air. She is immediately told to stop wasting ammo and to not let her guard down. She is then immediately killed when the [[GiantMook Behemoth]] shows up...
* Miss Fortune from ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' does this with her "Make It Rain" ability. As the name suggests, the bullets ''do'' come down, damaging and slowing any enemy they hit.
** Gangplank can do this as well. "Cannon Barrage", his ultimate, fires a flare up in the air to call down a [[DeathFromAbove rain of cannonballs on a specific area on the map]]. It used to be that he could also do this to buff nearby allied champions with "Raise Morale", but this ability was removed after his rework on July of 2015.
* One of the weaponskills of the Machinist job from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' is Lead Shot. When using it, the PlayerCharacter will fire straight up in the air, and the shot will [[ImprobableAimingSkills somehow]] fall on the targeted enemy a second later to apply a DamageOverTime effect.

* In ''VideoGame/FreedomPlanet'', [[TheDragon General]] [[SnakesAreSinister Serpentine]] can use an attack where he fires his dual blasters into the air (ala [[VideoGame/MegaManZero Fighting Fefnir]]), and then the laser beams rain down from the sky on the battlefield. Not only there is little room to dodge the attack, but if a character gets caught in the laser barrage above Serpentine himself, they will continuously take damage, losing a lot of health in the process.

* [[WebVideo/TheAngryJoeShow Angry Joe]] did this all throughout the second invasion of Molossia in ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}''. WordOfGod says he did it in case Molossia had an air force.
* Featured in an article in ''Website/TheOnion'' "Kentucky, Iraq Vie For World Shooting-Into-The-Air Supremacy".

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''. New Texas native Brian fires his free gun into the air a lot, accidentally killing the Super Devil.
* [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Yosemite Sam]] would shoot up in the air, and every other which way, including down to the ground, which would lift him up with each shot. He's barred from doing so in ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'' [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome due to the grounded setting's gun control laws]], but goes nuts with glee with a starting pistol for a footrace.
* ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'': Bender does this in the episode "Where no Fan has Gone Before", where they are pitted in a fight to the death. While Fry and Leela come up with plans to create primitive weapons out of caterpillars and rocks, Bender claims "...And we can use this gun to shoot them!" before demonstrating the trope, and using up all of the bullets that would have been very useful later on.
** Zapp Brannigan invokes the trope when drafting the entire population of Earth to fight off the Omicronian invasion in "When Aliens Attack."
--> '''Zapp:''' Anyone without a ship should secure a weapon and fire wildly into the air!

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* In ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', after Zamasu coverts the entire Earth into a barren wasteland after killing every human on the planet, Future Mai goes into a grief-stricken rage and fires her shotgun at the sky while screaming in denial at what has transpired.
* In the ''Manga/DragonHalf'' anime, the cybernetically-enhanced Damaramu demonstrates his ChestBlaster and [[ArmCannon machine gun arm]], with cutaways to a roast chicken and a flaming [[AnachronismStew space shuttle]] falling out of the sky. He later "regrets" having "used up all the rounds showing off".

[[folder: Comic Books]]

[[folder:Film]]
* As the quote above would indicate, ''Film/HotFuzz'' {{Lampshades}} the use of this by a single character (as a reference to ''Film/PointBreak1991''), then later in the film directly parodies it.
* [[TheWestern Westerns]] in general. {{Bandito}}s seem particularly fond of doing this.
** The Mexican bandits in the western comedy ''Film/TheGreatBankRobbery'' are an arch-typical example of this.
* ''Film/TheMexican'' had a bullet from one of these parties come down and kill someone, leaving the lead in a bit of a predicament.
* At the end of ''Film/{{Jarhead}}'', after not getting to use their guns once for the entire movie, every single character begins firing their weapons into the air when they hear that they are going back home.
* The HitmanWithAHeart protagonist of the HeroicBloodshed film, ''Film/AKillersBlues'', eventually found the courage to propose to his girlfriend after 17 years of courtship. When the girlfriend express her concerns that he's a hitman and killer by profession, he then fires his pistol repeatedly in the air, emptying it's contents, and threw the gun into the nearby beach where he's proposing.
* Happens in the 2008 ''Film/IronMan movie''. The doctor that we get introduced to picks up an assault rifle and runs around shooting the ceiling ([[ATeamFiring and not the baddies]]) with it.
** I guess he takes his "Do no harm" oath very seriously.
* A fun scene, from ''[[Film/ThreeAmigos The Three Amigos!]]'': the Amigos themselves are doing this, riding around the banditos and firing their (blank-loaded) revolvers in the air. The bad guys are amused, and fire one round. Straight into Steve Martin.
** And how not to fire in the air: later in the film, they are instructed to fire in the air once each to summon a spirit. Lucky Day and Ned Nederlander both fire into the air. Dusty Bottoms's shot is more horizontal. [[spoiler:Straight into the Invisible Swordsman they were summoning.]]

* ''Film/{{Zombieland}}''. Tallahassee is so exuberant at finding a bag full of illicit automatic weapons (after his own lever-action has been stolen) he fires a Heckler & Koch [=MP7=] in the air.
* ''Film/Batman1989'' had some of the Joker's goons firing into the air during a chase for no particular reason other than show that they are manic enough to be worthy of their boss.
* A Turkish comedy film, ''Kahpe Bizans'' ("Perfidious Byzantine") {{Lampshaded}} this. The film occurs around medieval times, before gunpowder weapons were common. So how do the Turkish tribesmen celebrate their victory at the end of the movie? By shooting ''flaming arrows'' in the air. Extra points for the bows making sounds of gunfire when they are used.
** Of course this trope is quite well known in Turkey, although its been much better in recent years thanks to intense campaigning.

* Parodied in the film adaptation of ''Film/{{Postal}}''. A group of Taliban terrorists are getting pumped for their mission and start firing their AK-47s in the air... inside a van.
* Parodied in ''Film/TwentyOneJumpStreet''. During the big hotel shootout, while Jenko uses his gun competently, Schimdt fires into the air until his gun is empty. Schimdt excitedly asks how many bad guys he killed, and Jenko answers, "All your shots went into the ceiling!"
* Parodied and subverted in ''Film/TheNakedGun 33⅓''.
-->'''Rocco Dillon''': Freeze, and nobody gets hurt! ''[a grip falls from the rafters into the orchestra]'' Well, from now on!
* Similarly parodied in ''Film/ShanghaiNoon'' when a sheriff fires into the air to stop a bar brawl. A large amount of plaster then lands on the head of the deputy standing next to him.
* In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', when Gordon and his cops are being sent out onto the ice, and are walking slowly, one of the mercenaries fires his automatic into the air to make them move faster.
** In the shootout with Captain Jones's men, a couple of mercenaries are seen firing weapons into the air at the start.
** During the stock exchange robbery, the robbers fire their weapons at the trading screens when they enter. When Bane declares that they are leaving, one mercenary fires multiple bursts into the ceiling with his submachine gun while ordering the hostages to stand up.
* The film ''Film/ValleyOfTheWolvesIraq'' has a local wedding celebration which includes people firing their guns into the air wildly. Unfortunately, foreign military aircraft is flying over the area at the moment. The pilot mistakes this for anti-aircraft fire and responds accordingly. (See below in the Real Life section for inspiration for this scene.)
* When the Frog realizes the protagonists are onto him in ''Film/Red2'', he pulls an Uzi out of his handbag and sprays bullets into the ceiling, causing the café to empty out and allowing him to slip away in the chaos.
* At the end of ''TheMilagroBeanfieldWar'', the celebrating farmers all fire their rifles in the air.

* Franchise/{{Rambo}} does this occasionally, most notably in ''Film/RamboFirstBloodPartII'' when he shoots up Murdock's computers at the end.

* In ''Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction'', Hound the Autobot military truck fires off several rounds when Optimus rejoins the Autobots after some time missing in action. Later in the movie, he runs out of ammo. Probably should have restrained himself.

* Brockie and his cronies do this when they shoot up the town after shooting Marshal Chisolm in ''Film/FortyGuns''.
* [=McNeil=]'s men do this while stampeding the cattle as part of their efforts to drive the farmers of their land in ''Film/TerrorInATexasTown''.
* ''Film/TheCarRoadToRevenge'': When Talen announces the bounty on the car, the chip and the girl, the assembled street scum of the city show their pleasure by firing fully automatic weapons into the air. Given they are inside a warehouse at the time, it's a wonder no one was killed.
* In ''Film/BlackPatch'', Flytrap and Holman do this when the stagger out of the saloon drunk. Marshal Clay Morgan comes up behind them and makes them drop their guns before they can draw on each other. Flytrap tries to use this as excuse to push the marshal into a duel, but Clay just arrests them for being drunk and disorderly and makes them spend the night in the cells.

* ''Film/NoTimeToDie''. In the forest scene, James Bond fires his pistol in the air repeatedly to draw his pursuers in his direction and away from where he's hidden Madeleine Swann and her daughter.
* ''Film/TheGunfightInDodgeCity'': One of the issues in Dodge City is the 'Saturday night shoot-ups', when drunken cowhands ride through the town firing their guns into the air after the saloons close.

* The main character of Creator/KurtVonnegut's novel ''Literature/DeadeyeDick'' commits an accidental manslaughter as a child by firing a gun in the air and killing someone miles away, scarring him for life and providing the novel its title.

* In the Literature/LeftBehind book ''Armageddon'', during the Global Community army's assault on Jerusalem and Petra, Nicolae Carpathia orders a ceasefire surrender to the Jewish rebels in Jerusalem or else they will be destroyed. Buck Williams, Tsion Ben-Judah, and the Jewish rebels respond in this fashion to tell Carpathia [[ScrewYourUltimatum what he can go do with his ultimatum]].
* Referenced in ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'', when Greg tells us about his first swim meet; he didn't do so well because the referee fired a gun to start the meet, and Greg was more concerned about where the bullet might land than anything else. He only learned that the ref fired a blank later.
* ''Literature/TheDarkHours'': The inner-city custom of firing guns into the air at midnight on New Year's is used by the killer to disguise his gunshot murdering Javier Raffa.

* ''Series/{{CSI}}'': In one a man killed a woman miles away while doing some target practice. When the man says that it was an accident, the CSI notes "Well, that's why it's illegal to shoot guns within city limits, Genius!" By the way, this was based on a real case in 1948.
* Justified on an episode of ''Series/CSIMiami'' where Horatio and Delko find bank robbers firing multiple rounds in the air. After taking the robbers down, the two remark on how odd it was for these men to be wasting so much ammo. They realize the firing was all a distraction to cover the ''real'' theft happening in an office a couple of floors above.

* Hal and Otto do this in an episode of ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'', and Otto manages to get hit in the rear as the bullets come back down.
* One old visual gag from the Chilean humor show ''Japening con Ja'' has a sniper practising his shots, accidentally shooting a plane down (the video is obviously taken from the news or a movie) and then having the police after him.
* A very early episode (#3, in fact) of ''Series/StargateSG1'' has SG-1 trade a handgun for Carter's freedom from a barbaric chieftain. He celebrates this wondrous new acquisition by repeatedly firing it into the air... While the team make a hasty exit before he gets his first lesson in magazine capacity. The Free Jaffa also do this on at least one occasion.

* In the HBO mini-series ''Literature/GenerationKill'', one episode has Iraqi civilians, rebels and/or military defectors firing [=AKs=] ([[TheMoreYouKnow actually Norinco Type-56s]]) into the air after the local Republican Guard pulls out of a nearby town. The observing Marine Force Recon members note to themselves and their higher ups that it is celebratory gunfire and not a sign of open hostility to the US Marines' presence.
* On ''Series/GoodNewsWorld'', during one segment, it's said that "Happy rebels are celebrating freedom from years of random violence by firing millions of shots into the air! {{Beat}} And killing thousands, because [[GravityIsAHarshMistress gravity's a bastard.]]
* {{Lampshaded}} on ''Series/SirArthurConanDoylesTheLostWorld''. A character tries this, and is ordered to stop wasting bullets. They're in a jungle, after all. They'll need all the bullets they can get.

* Deconstructed in ''Series/{{Reno 911}}''. The Iraqi police officers that the Reno Sheriff's Department is training have a habit of firing their guns in the air in celebration. The deputies respond to this by telling them to run since the lead's probably going to be coming back down soon.

* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' pilot, Q puts HumanityOnTrial, with humanity being represented by the ''Enterprise''[='=]s command staff, in a recreation of a post-WorldWarIII "court of facts" where lawyers are banned and attempts to explain facts in a different light are severely punished. Guards are dosed-up on drugs and are armed with [[HandCannon fistguns]] that they use to maintain order via this trope (while inside a courtroom).

* ''Series/HorribleHistories'': Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid do this repeatedly in one of the Cliff Whiteley sketches. Cliff is not happy about the damage to his ceiling.
* Australian comedy show ''Series/FastForward'' had a skit ''The Saddams Family'', with Saddam Hussein's family firing their guns in the air instead of ''Series/TheAddamsFamily'' finger snaps.
* A segment in ''Series/MindOfMencia'' where Mencia attempts to teach gang-bangers to shoot other gang-bangers ends in this, with all the gang-bangers killed by falling bullets and Mencia having ducked under a car, telling viewers that what goes up must come down.
* ''Series/{{Cannon}}'': In "Devil's Playground", a petty crook is so excited when he gets his hands on a sub-machine gun that he immediately fires several bursts into the air.
* On ''Series/{{MASH}}'' Hawkeye and Col. Potter are pinned down in a foxhole by enemy fire. Hawkeye, being a doctor, refuses to shoot back, so Potter orders him to do this instead as an attempt to scare them off.
* A group of drunken cowboys do this, shooting out the streetlights on the way, during the opening credits of the pilot movie of ''Series/BarbaryCoast''.
* ''Series/DeadMansGun'': The first crime Leo Sunshine has to deal with as marshal of Apache Springs is a bunch of drunken cowhands shooting up the main street.
* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'': When Lalo arrives at his villa, one of the guards grabs the side of the car for a ride-along while firing his gun in the air in celebration of his boss's return.

* In ''VideoGame/FreedomPlanet'', [[TheDragon General]] [[SnakesAreSinister Serpentine]] can use an attack where he fires his dual blasters into the air, and then the laser beams rain down from the sky on the battlefield. Not only there is little room to dodge the attack, but if a character gets caught in the laser barrage above Serpentine himself, they will continuously take damage, losing a lot of health in the process.