A small round like that, coming down would not have enough force to kill you. There is not enough mass in the bullet to do so. going up, yes it is going very fast. Once gravity slows its upward motion, its coming down at 9.8 m/s*2, which with something that light (a bullet) would probably just hurt someone, not kill. A .22 round has about the same mass of a penny, maybe a bit more. Anyone who watched the Mythbusters thing on the penny off the empire state building saw that the penny could not generate enough force to even break skin. Now something like a bullet that is a bit more aerodynamic might at best leave a little bruise, it sure as hell wont kill you.
I support the 2nd amendment, but things like this need to be taken in a case by case thing. By law, he was in the clear, but morals are a totaly different thing. On one end, there are people who dont think anything of it, on the other end you have people who wish all guns were destroyed because they can only bring harm.
I was brought up to handle firearms with respect, and understand that this is a weapon of death, and that if used incorrectly will harm someone, most likely myself.