What movies/tv shows portray civilian gun ownership as totally normal?

[Rifleman1952]

IMHO, the best TV show of all time on many levels but especially regarding respect for the value of firearms: The Rifleman starring Chuck Connors as Lucas McCain, circa late 1950s and early 1960s. If you're lucky enough to get these in re-runs, enjoy.

[Hal]

The only one I can think of offhand, and yes I know it is heavily scripted and probably more fiction than non-, is Pawn Stars.

Somebody brought in a holster or something that fit a 1911 in one episode.
Rick drew a 1911 out from inside his back waistband to stick in the holster or whatever it was.
His comment when the custmer's eyes sort of widened @ the sight of the gun was "Hey, I work in a pawn store, what do you expect?"

Rifleman1952 - amc runs it every Saturday morning starting at 6:00am.
Great show!

[Heavy Metal 1]

The show Dallas had the bunch shooting clay pigeons on one episode. I found that a breath of fresh air for the very reason of the OP.

[PoisonPancakes]

Last Man Standing with Tim Allen. Works at an outdoor store, has guns mounted in his home, and offices. Lots of talk about hunting and guns.

Sent from my shooter using Tapatalk 2

[Samuel2011]

Early on in American Choppers the OCC guys used to go shotgun shooting. Sporting clays I think.
Mikey even got a custom AK/saiga shotgun from the Red Jacket guys in one cross over episode.

[Webleymkv]

In the film Seconhand Lions, both Robert Duvall and Michael Caine use guns frequently (mainly shotguns) for purposes such as fishing (Rober Duvall's character doesn't have the patience for a rod and reel), trap shooting, sorting lions out of their garden, and scaring off unwelcome salesmen (not the most responsible portrayal of gun ownership but it is amusing).

Also, in the film Independence Day, Judd Hirsch's character answers his front door with a double barrel shotgun due to the nearly riotous panic over the presence of an alien ship over NYC.

McClintock features John Wayne and various other characters using guns for various purposes. The only person who gets "shot" in the film is Patrick Wayne's character who is unharmed because the gun was loaded with blanks.

Finally, in the film Jerimiah Johnson, Robert Redford uses two Hawken rifles and a muzzle-loading pistol for hunting, defense, and other miscellaneous uses.

[Stressfire]

Somebody brought in a holster or something that fit a 1911 in one episode.
Rick drew a 1911 out from inside his back waistband to stick in the holster or whatever it was.
His comment when the custmer's eyes sort of widened @ the sight of the gun was "Hey, I work in a pawn store, what do you expect?"

Yeah, that one got me chuckling - the door man at the shop carries as well, Browning HP I think

[Double J]

I liked the movie "Tremors". I'm thinking of the part with Reba and the big worms.

[youngunz4life]

reality tv centered on the south, your basic swamper on 'ax men' as an example who isn't hunting(he collects old logs in the water to sell) who carries

most cop shows(as in: it is normal off-duty to have a weapon off duty and/or when getting ready to go out, etc

[HiBC]

I was going to say "Tremors" Reba and Bert? Seem like us salt of the earth types,don't they?At least they aren't strange or anything.Those Dillon case tumblers do have some action...

[Pond, James Pond]

There is a really great film festival in Estonia, every November. Lots of variety. Some utter crap and some real gems I'd never have watched otherwise.

One such gem was Winter's Bone. It is set in Missouri, IIRR.

It is not a cheery film.

Actually it is quite harrowing at times, but it does show guns in normal, mundane aspects of daily life: eldest sister teaching young siblings to shoot with a .22 to get squirrels for dinner (even teaches them one of the 4 rules in that scene). Later there is a scene where the girl's pretty intimidating uncle is cleaning a HP (again, IIRR) at table whilst they discuss her dilemma (repo of her home following father's disappearance).
Basically the guns in these scenes were props: added details about these people's lives, but not even remotely central to the plot.

Later that same uncle goes for a semi rifle in his pickup when he confronts the not so legit sheriff. No shots fired....

Good movie, but not if you aren't in the mood for a bit of gritty realism!!

[wayneinFL]

Showed guns being used in anger frequently, often illegally.

Not all of them. There was Little House on the Prairie. I don't remember any kind of negative use of firearms there. Didn't The Walton's have a gun?

There were other shows in that time period too... On Gentle Ben, I remember Dennis Weaver played a game warden, and carried a gun, but I don't remember him ever using it. Then again I haven't seen it since I was a kid.

[BlueTrain]

There have been a few movies, mostly set in Africa, that were centered around hunting or capturing wild animals, in which guns appeared in a normal way, not that going on safari is particularly normal. Easily the best is John Wayne's Hatari from the early 1960s. That one was about people capturing animals for zoos but there's some shooting, though not at animals. Interesting scene of shooting at bottles, just to see how well someone could shoot. They don't make movies like that anymore. Come to think of it, don't remember any like that earlier, either.

The first Tarzan movie with Weismueller was based on a safari and there is also some shooting but guns don't otherwise enter into the storyline, as I recall. Tarzan, of course, never uses a gun, his knife being sufficient, and neither did Weismueller's reincarnation as Jungle Jim, even though his enemies (it is enemies that make life interesting) always had guns, if only very ordinary guns. A couple of them even had big gunfights and in one he promised to teach the female lead how to shoot.

[anothernewb]

Just thought about it, Last Man Standing (not the Bruce Willis movie) has guns in nearly every episode. The guy works at a sporting goods store, and there are several that can bee seen in many of the scenes. There's even one I remember where he's cleaning the gun like it's an every day chore.

[weblance]

The Waltons show firearm ownership, and usage, in intelligent ways.

[4EVERM-14]

There was an old Laurel and Hardy film in which Stanley's wife comes in the back door of her neighbors house carrying a double shotgun. She had been duck hunting and gave the neighbor [Hardy's wife] a few ducks. This, of course was in the early 1930's so duck hunting was a normal event but I thought the story line interesting that it was Stanley's WIFE who had been hunting.

[DaleA]

As has been mentioned Dallas (the original) had trap shooting portrayed as a normal recreational activity and in one episode it showed one of the families, (Ray Krebs I think) out on the ranch shooting a .22 for fun.

The Big Bang Theory had Leonard take Penny to a shooting range on a date.

[Rifleman1952]

Some of my favorite movies that feature the value of firearms, in no particular order:


Zulu, Dirty Harry, Death Wish, Black Hawk Down, Quigly Down Under, McQ, Gran Torino, The Magnificent Seven, Sargent York, High Noon, Tombstone, Outlaw Josey Wales.

[Hal]

This, of course was in the early 1930's so duck hunting was a normal event but I thought the story line interesting that it was Stanley's WIFE who had been hunting.

Do a search for the New Jersey shark attacks.
There's a few pictures that show women toting shotuns in New Jersey (of all places!) "hunting down" the killer sharks in backwater creeks.
It's pretty funny looking at them today since othe odds of that happeing now are slim and none - and slim just left town!


RE: TV.
I swear one episode of Leave it to Beaver showed a rifle of some kind propped in the corner of Wally and the Beave's bedroom.
And wasn't there one episode where some uncle was supposed to buy Beaver a gun and he never showed up at the deparment store to buy it?

Original War of The Worlds movie has some stupid kid dressed up like a cowboy shooting his cap gun at the alien spaceship. Kinda funny...kid may have started the carnage .

[Double Naught Spy]

Not all of them.

LOL, no not all of them, but frequently they did. My real, maybe too subtle point was that showing firearms normally on a show is not the same as showing normal use of firearms, as desired by the OP.

What I'm talking about is a movie/tv show where having and using firearms is just a normal part of life, not related to the main story at all.

That is, the characters are shown as owning firearms for recreation and defense, but the guns are never used for a story-related purpose (shooting the badguy, shooting a stalker, etc.)

Let's exclude hunting as well, as that is the only "legitimate" reason for owning guns in a lot of minds.

Just like in real life, 99.9% of firearms are never fired or displayed in anger, but they're an integral part of a lot of peoples' lives - what media shows this?

So we can rule out most of the shows listed so far because they do show illegal acts with guns, guns displayed in anger, or guns fired in anger. Gunsmoke and The Rifleman are fairly egregious to the OP's request, LOL.

Do a search for the New Jersey shark attacks.
There's a few pictures that show women toting shotuns in New Jersey (of all places!) "hunting down" the killer sharks in backwater creeks.

Link? Google revealed no such images based on the criteria you gave.

[southjk]

A quick google brought up this image.


Page here.

[drail]

There would seem to me to be nothing "normal" about TV and movies anymore. I would rather read a good book than put up with all of the video/audio sync errors and the obnoxious LOUD digital noise and "music" they use. TV was better in the 60s than it is now. At least the video and audio were in sync.

[Hal]

Yep - that's one of the pictures.
I believe there's two or three more that appear to have been taken in that same spot.
I can't find anything right now but that one picture.
Next time "Shark Week" airs, I'll try again and see if more come up.

[44 AMP]

Check out any of the "family" shows made during the 50s, 60s, and some in the 70s, there is nearly always a gun(s) in the house. ON the wall, in a case, leaning in the corner,etc., as part of the background.

One even sees a rifle (.22?) on the bedroom wall of the boys room in shows like Ozzie & Harriet!

And there isn't any show set on the frontier (including when the frontier was Kentucky) that doesn't have a gun in the set somewhere, usually over the mantle...

Best gun related line I know, from Tremors, when they are going to ride for help, and have a .30-30, Reba hands up her rifle and says, "here, take mine, its only a .375 H&H..." ONLY

[monkybrainz]

northern exposure?
andy griffith show?
gomer pyle?