Hooray for Hollywood; FX, The Americans....

[ClydeFrog]

I saw a few new web banner ads for the spy drama; The Americans on FX.
In the dramatic ad, the one actor has her finger inside the pistol trigger guard & on the trigger.

I know Hollywood actors groan & croak about "gun safety" but even the ads can't seem to get it right.
Now I know, it sounds minor & Im sure there are plenty of movie posters & TV ads of improper gun use but this just bugs me.

[Theohazard]

Yeah, that kind of thing is not only common, but it's the norm. On EVERY movie or video game poster or cover I can think of, the person has their finger inside the trigger guard. Hollywood is actively promoting unsafe gun handling, but unfortunately it's nothing new.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Can you tell me what safe behaviors Hollywood promotes?

Anyway, on Justified, the bad guys were doing 21 foot Tueller exercises.

The worst gun usage is on Law and Order, SVU - total clown college of gun usage.

[Mike Irwin]

She's a Russian.

Everyone knows their gunhandling stinks.

[ClydeFrog]

I did see one recent ad of decent(correct) gun use.
On the UK spy thriller series; VII ad, the Jason Bourne type secret agent is holding a full size semi-auto pistol with his trigger finger off the trigger.
The actor was either properly trained or knew the right way to use a firearm.

[Pond, James Pond]

Hollywood is actively promoting unsafe gun handling, but unfortunately it's nothing new.

Well, I just watched an episode of Bones where Dr Brennan grabs a pistol grip shotgun and runs after a baddie with her finger neatly up the side of the receiver and the muzzle pointed up at a safe angle.

Hollywood might change.
Hope dies last....

[dakiwi13]

Originally Posted by Pond, James Pond

Well, I just watched an episode of Bones where Dr Brennan grabs a pistol grip shotgun and runs after a baddie with her finger neatly up the side of the receiver and the muzzle pointed up at a safe angle.

Hollywood might change.
Hope dies last....

That show is so anti gun its ridiculous

[Pond, James Pond]

That show is so anti gun its ridiculous

Maybe so, but that was not what I was saying.
I was pointing out that I noticed there was the main actress holding a gun correctly, with the finger off the trigger which is not so common.

Which stance the show may or may not have re guns is another story.

[DaleA]

Dr Brennan grabs a pistol grip shotgun and runs after a baddie with her finger neatly up the side of the receiver and the muzzle pointed up at a safe angle.

When Dr. B is running after a bad guy her fingers are the last thing I'm watching.

I'm a big fan of the show and remember when Brennan got her concealed carry permit, (she claimed it was her right under the 2nd amendment (!) but Booth still had to vouch for her (against his better judgement). IIRC she got a huge revolver, maybe an S&W 500. When Booth saw it his reaction was 'where did you get THAT?' and her reply was 'At the mall.'

Despite any problems with the gun stuff I still love the show.

[SHE3PDOG]

I know it is a zombie show, but most of the actors in the Walking Dead actually do a very good job with gun handling.

[Tom Servo]

total clown college of gun usage

I'll thank you not to refer to Princeton that way

Yes, the gun handling on television is wretched and unsafe. No, it's not going to change any time soon. If I get my hackles up every time I see it, I'm going to give myself an ulcer.

What does get me is the constant practice of flipping revolvers shut. Too many people emulate that in real life because that's the only way they've seen it handled.

[ClydeFrog]

It is funny to me when I see Hollywood movies or TV shows where a character; who has zero firearms training or doesn't own/carry any guns can pick up a firearm at random & use it with advanced skills(like maybe a retired LE officer or instructor showed them how ).
Some actors(mostly women) look like they take it seriously too.

A few years ago, I read a media item that actor Eva Longoria was a better shot than either of her male co-stars training for her role as a US Secret Service agent in The Sentinel. www.imdb.com
The firearms trainer even stated she did better on the range with the SIG P229R than about 90% of the federal agents he trained.

[Mike Irwin]

I always thought the gun handling on Justified was pretty good, but the most recent episode?

One of the bad guys shot another bad guy with a sawed off shotgun.

The guy on the receiving end of the buckshot was picked up and thrown backwards a good 6 feet.

I hate it when they try to pass that crap off as realistic.

[LockedBreech]

I love Justified. It's my favorite TV show without question, even against all the other great ones like Breaking Bad.

My favorite part of Justified is not the particular mechanics of any gun or how it is handled (even though they're generally, as mentioned, pretty darn good about it), but about how the gun does not make the person like it does in every other TV show. The show properly displays the ubiquity of guns that is true where I live in rural WY and I know is true in most of the South. The bad guys aren't always afraid of them, the good guys can't always use them, and their presence in a scene is usually an accessory, not the focus.

In other words, despite the heavy presence of gunplay, I think it's one of the best shows on TV for the axiom "guns don't kill people, people kill people".

It doesn't hurt that Olyphant is a skilled and likable lead or that the plots and dialogue are very well-written.

If I had to pick an eye-roller moment from the show, it'd be from Season 3 where Robert Quarles is talking about how deadly his .32 ACP hollowpoints are.

Probably the worst show I've seen in terms of heavy-handed political talk about guns is Law & Order SVU and the other Law & Order knock-offs.

For lighter comedy TV shows, even though they acted like it was fringe and weird a few times, I enjoyed on How I Met Your Mother that Robin's gun hobby was mostly portrayed as a healthy stress outlet and way for her to not have to be afraid in the world.

[Tom Servo]

The guy on the receiving end of the buckshot was picked up and thrown backwards a good 6 feet.

While local laws prevent me from performing such an experiment, I have it on good authority that's exactly what happens with a 12ga shotgun. My source? Every knowitall husband, boyfriend, or brother who thinks a pistol-grip shotgun is a perfect gun for a 5'1" woman with no experience.

For an overseas perspective, I was watching the new Sherlock Holmes series. A woman pulls a gun. Holmes asks her if it's a semiautomatic. Why? Because those bullets travel over 1,000 meters/second.

(That's 3281 ft/second to us who still use the English measurement system. Which not even the English still use.)

[dakota.potts]

I've never seen Pulp Fiction. Last night my dad was watching it on the TV. I saw John Travolta in the front of the car and he turns around with his finger on his 1911 to what's-his-face in the back seat. I thought "wow, that's very unsafe, but I guess it's Hollywood."

I was surprised when, a few seconds later, the gun went off and killed the man in the back seat. So there's always that wild card I guess.

I should probably watch that movie...

[ClydeFrog]

The backseat scene in Pulp Fiction(1994) is a big part of the film plot.
Several sources behind the scenes during the production say actor John Travolta used writer/director Quintin Tararento's own nickeled Auto-Ord 1911A1 .45acp pistol in a few scenes(unloaded of course).

Many A list actors get top level skill training & on set armorers/prop depts are fairly strict due to OSHA rules & insurance policies.
Some people do not realize how dangerous & risky some film sets/action scenes can be.
A stunt co-ordinatior I worked with briefly in 2013 told me how a few crew members were killed while making The Expendibles action movies. They were hurt by huge explosions caused by the pyrotechnic devices on set.

[44 AMP]

I love Justified. I think I'm actually starting to feel sorry for Dewey Crow.

The shotgun blast in the last episode was a bit much. People do sometimes get "thrown" from a gunshot. Backwards mostly, when it happens, but sometimes forward or in a random direction. Its not the energy of the bullet moving them its their own body's muscular "twitch/spasm" due, I'm told to a "short circuit" in the nervous system. It's supposedly very rare, but it apparently has been witnessed. NOT like TV/movies, flying a dozen feet though the air.

Generaly I think the gun use is pretty good, it is, after all a fictional drama, so I allow some leeway. I like the fact that sometimes things don't do what Hollywood always has them do, though sometimes they are the standard cliché.

Bet that one bad guy gets to try his 21 foot rule against Raylan, before the season ends. I'll put my money on the marshall.

[Theohazard]

But here's my problem with Pulp Fiction: John Travolta's character claims, "The gun went off, I don't know why!" and nobody ever directly contradicts that statement.

Sure, we all know it's because he was pointing the gun at the guy's head with his finger on the trigger, but the average person watching that movie is lead to believe that guns can just go off by themselves.

Early on in our relationship, I explained to my wife that guns don't just "go off", and VERY few guns will fire when dropped; they almost all will only fire when the trigger is pulled. She was surprised; all her life she'd been lead to believe that guns "just go off".

[Glenn E. Meyer]

While the shotgun incident may be suspect to the physicist, Art - the old guy - facing down the evil doer gave a warm feeling to other old guys.

I once saw a picture of Jessica Alba going to the range. I ate dinner with Don Kates and a fellow who worked for Hollywood. He said that quite a few were gun owners but had to shut up for PC reasons.

[ClydeFrog]

I agree.
Few people outside of gun owners, hunters & those in the gun industry understand that guns do not just discharge or go off.
Gun companies & FFL holders don't like to be sued. Safety & civil liability really became more important in the last 20/30 years.

The only real, documented AD where a modern pistol discharged by "going off" I ever heard of was a small town off-duty police officer who's single action 1911a1 series 80 .45acp discharged inside a MRI machine. The incident took place in upstate NY about 5/6 years ago. No one was injured but the Colt 1911a1 .45acp was damaged. The pistol was knocked loose hit the side of the MRI while it was on & fired one .45acp round.
It was discussed in a few medical industry magazines & forums.

Clyde

[g.willikers]

There are firearms trainers who specialize in teaching actors the safe use of weapons.
Taran Butler, one of the very best competitive shootists, does this.
One would think that every actor, who is asked to handle a gun on tv or in the movies, would at least want to look like they know their stuff.
Looking like a doofus, in front of the entire world, can't be good for their careers.

[44 AMP]

Looking like a doofus, in front of the entire world, can't be good for their careers.

Unless that's the character they are playing...

or they are doing comedy...the list of successful, wealthy, "doofus" comedians is long.

[UncleEd]

I think a mistake made in some of the comments here assume that the character the actor portrays is as gun wise as they should be. But in real life I've seen enough dubious things to know otherwise.

Just because a character in a show is supposed to be a gangster or pro killer or even a cop doesn't mean he/she is all that up on all the safety rules. In fact I suspect a lot of gangbangers on the big city streets are basically klutzes when it comes to firearms handling.

[ClydeFrog]

The #24 post reminds me of a true incident about 2/3 years ago in metro New York City.
A gang member ran into a cramped apartment & shot three people.
The NYPD came after him & as the thug fled his baggy pants started to sag & he fell over a fire escape. The hapless gang member went down 6 floors to the pavement below!
He was DOS(dead on scene).