We had a rather extended period with "gunshot" noises in the neighborhood a few weeks back. I tracked the source to the use of "cartridge actuated spike drivers" being used to "nail" anchors into the concrete on a nearby construction project.

Smaller "guns" of the kind are fairly commonly used even in home construction here, but these were driving three inch long x half-inch diameter pins. The smaller ones sound somewhat like a small caliber pistol - barely noticeable at a half block distance - but these were more like a large bore shotgun. Being about two city blocks distant, it was hard to pick up a characteristic "signature" in the sound, but it was close enough to "sounding like a gun" to raise my curiosity.

By about the third day I concluded it wasn't a gang fight - or that the gang were all very poor marksmen, and that it probably was safe enough to inquire.

John