I was torn on the subject for a long time because in the stadium they are awesome and different but [a lot of] our fans are too stupid to realize that outside the stadium (other than in your tailgate) they should be silent.. Bars, Restaurants, MARTA, Hotel Lobbies, Elevators, Malls, opposing players family areas, etc... just realize that you make all of us, even the ones without the bells, look like inbred 17s.
The Gator Bowl pushed me over the top when some jackass MSU fan was ringing his bell in the face of a 60+ year old female parent of a Michigan player while they were waiting on a sidewalk for their son to emerge from the tunnel. The lady never said a word, just kept backing up to get away from him and he would follow her keeping it less than a foot from her face. (and yes I did stop it....and he told me I wasn't a "real fan")