Don’t shoot – I’m not masonry

The Canadian Concrete Masonry Association wants building codes to require the use of masonry walls on the grounds that they will keep out stray bullets.

After a man in Calgary accidentally shot his gun off while handling it inside his townhouse, the bullet went through his wall through the main floor of the adjoining townhouse, passed between two units and then into the wall of a third townhouse. The bullet was only stopped eventually by a plasma TV. The bullet sailed over the heads of a couple watching the television, while their one-year slept upstairs.

“Regardless of how you feel about the legality of firearms, the reality is that they are used all around us – legally and otherwise,” said Paul Hargest, President of the Canadian Concrete Masonry Producers Association (CCMPA) in a press release.

He continued: “Our building codes have to take this into account and mandate the use of stronger, more durable building materials to protect homeowners from events like this as well as risks associated with fire and weather. In a high winds, objects such as hockey sticks can become airborne projectiles and seriously damage and even penetrate certain types of walls.”