"Henry J Cobb" wrote in message
...
http://globalsecurity.org/military/s...ft/ac-130u.htm
The newest addition to the command fleet, this heavily armed aircraft
incorporates side-firing weapons integrated with sophisticated sensor,
navigation and fire control systems to provide surgical firepower or
area saturation during extended loiter periods, at night and in
adverse weather.

Is Spooky safer for the surrounding civilians than laser guided bombs or
hellfire missiles for attacks on point targets in urban areas?

Probably so.
Since the AC-130 shoots and looks out the side rather than
straight ahead they can spend a lot of time getting a good
look and sorting out targets.
The explosive power of individual rounds from the 105mm is
considerably smaller than that of a most bombs, so -barring
secondaries- the blast radius (read as collateral damage area)
is also much smaller.
The AC-130 and laser guided bombs are both extremely accurate.
The only question I would have is how often do they experience
some kind of guidance/pointing failure.