# Do gangsters and thugs etc. commonly take target practice? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 31, 2022, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684 "2022-01-31T14:53:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684/21 "2022-01-31T20:44:07Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > I used to set up “stimulating” scenarios for our competition. I once required competitors to use the gangster hold with the gun held sideways for one stage. Hilarity ensued. I don’t think anyone hit anything. Follow up shots were so poorly controlled because of the odd recoil I had to intervene several times. Mythbusters tested this also, with the same results. I am so old fashioned that I was trained with the sideways single hand method, which is not so bad. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2022, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684/22 "2022-01-31T20:46:20Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I always thought gun training for home protection should simulate real world home situations. The gun is locked up or otherwise secured, the ammo is stored separately, the lights are very low and you are woken up after a few hours of sleep. In a home with kids you keep a loaded gun in a biometric gun safe. The other firearms should be in a safe. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684/23 "2022-01-31T20:47:32Z")
There’s a scene in _The Wire_ where some young “street soldiers” are mentored in shooting skills - I think they used Airsoft guns and/or paintballs - in an abandoned building. That show has a reputation as being meticulously researched and drawn from real life, so it seems plausible enough to have been a real scenario that they learned about. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2022, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684/24 "2022-01-31T20:52:24Z")
It may be well researched, but even if so, it was lousy training. Part of getting used to using guns is the recoil and the noise. Even with GOOD hearing protection you notice it, and the last time I was at a range and someone popped of a late round after the marshal declared safe it left an ear-ringing that was lingered for days. (yes, he got chewed out and kicked off the range) Airsoft and paintball might be good for situational awareness, but the weight, recoil, volume and everything else that actually applies to use, would be lousy. Now if they were doing it for fun and ‘claimed’ it as training, I’d believe. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2022, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684/25 "2022-01-31T20:56:57Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > I would say that one should not look to Hollywood to get _any_ of their information about guns, shooting, cops, gangsters and thugs, …doctors, lawyers, the law in general, truck driving, hackers, helicopters, street racing, spies, scientists who are super smart, tv news shows, am radio stations, motorcycle gangs, how to find your way around LA, nanobots, EMP guns, or how many times you can get a 69 Charger airborne without totaling it. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2022, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684/26 "2022-01-31T21:05:03Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Maybe this explains why, in movies and TV shows, the bad guys shoot at the good guy dozens of times and miss, while the good guy will hit his target the first time with a pistol 50 yards out. Only the good guy bothered to spend any time taking target practice. Not really, that is explained by it being fiction. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2022, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684/27 "2022-01-31T21:19:20Z")
I know my sense of humor has been described politely at times as ‘subtle’, and not so politely at other times as ‘lacking’, but I was making a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2022, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684/28 "2022-01-31T22:55:55Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Not really, that is explained by it being fiction. I’d like to go with solost’s explanation, otherwise, the last part of No Time To Die is dumber than a FPS video game. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2022, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684/29 "2022-01-31T23:17:33Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I always thought gun training for home protection should simulate real world home situations. The gun is locked up or otherwise secured, the ammo is stored separately, the lights are very low and you are woken up after a few hours of sleep. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but when I took a CCL class, the instructors really drilled into us the importance of practice\*. For example, if you’re going to keep the gun in your nightstand, you should regularly practice reaching over, grabbing it, making it ready (if it’s not already) and pointing it towards where an intruder would be and understanding where the bullet will go when you miss (kid’s room? neighbor’s house?). You don’t want to have someone break in and get yourself in even more trouble trying to grab your gun because you got tangled up in your sheets. And if goes further than that. They mentioned there’s cases where someone couldn’t get their gun out of their holster fast enough because, well, they’d never actually practiced and didn’t realize that their shirt/jacket/coat etc would be in the way. One other thing they did was to take several different types of combination and key locks. IIRC, some were cable locks, some where gun safes. He brought one person up for each of the locks and gave them each the corresponding key or combination and told them that on the count of three, they each need to unlock their lock. When he got to ‘3’, him and the other teacher started banging on desks, flashing the classroom lights and generally making a lot of noise. It was probably a good 30 seconds before anyone got their lock opened. Also, something really important, if you’re going to keep your gun locked by a key, don’t leave the key in your purse/coat by the front door while you’re sleeping or you likely won’t be able to get to it. \*Don’t practice until you can do it right, practice until you can’t do it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2022, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684/30 "2022-01-31T23:26:31Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Mythbusters tested this also, with the same results. Which episode was it? I would love to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2022, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684/31 "2022-01-31T23:36:23Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > I once required competitors to use the gangster hold with the gun held sideways for one stage. Hilarity ensued. I don’t think anyone hit anything. Follow up shots were so poorly controlled because of the odd recoil I had to intervene several times. I always hesitate to bring this up because I have no way to prove if it’s even true. However a friend of mine that was a shooting instructor once mentioned to me that the only time the sideways/gangster grip works is if you’re doing it while running. The reason being that the recoil will push your arm (if you’re right handed) to the left. If you’re running in that direction the recoil and your body moving will sort of cancel each other out and bring the gun back to about where it needs to be. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2022, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684/32 "2022-01-31T23:41:03Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > > [@DrDeth](#): > > > > Mythbusters tested this also, with the same results. > > Which episode was it? I would love to see it. > **[MythBusters Episode 177: Wheel of Mythfortune](https://mythresults.com/wheel-of-mythfortune)** > > The MythBusters test the Monty Hall Problem, try to figure out how to survive a grenade, and try to re-inflate a tire with starting fluid. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2022, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684/33 "2022-01-31T23:45:37Z")
Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2022, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684/34 "2022-01-31T23:52:12Z")
Re: self defense. I don’t know if this is taught. Shooting a firearm in an enclosed space like a bedroom without hearing protection is going to be STUNNINGLY INCREDIBLY LOUD. Not like it is at the range. Last fall I had to scare some bears away with a .357. I was outside, and I warned my Wife (inside) how loud it was going to be. My neighbor. 1/4 mile away inside his house heard it. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2022, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684/35 "2022-02-01T02:04:03Z")
How transferable is shooting practice from one gun to another? I wonder just how familiar any gangster is with the weapons they actually use in crimes. Don’t smart gangsters usually ditch their guns after a hit? They may have a personal protection firearm they are used to, but that’s not the one they would use for premeditated murder. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2022, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684/36 "2022-02-01T02:30:38Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > In a home with kids you keep a loaded gun in a biometric gun safe. **The other firearms** should be in a safe. Emphasis mine. Tell me you’re American without actually telling me you’re American 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2022, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684/37 "2022-02-01T02:43:12Z")
My husband’s uncle used to have a house in the Catskills. The next door neighbors were Mafia. And the teenage boys liked to shoot in the backyard. I assume they shot cans or other cheap targets. But we often heard them shooting. (And could see a little through the loose hedge that separated the properties.) Like uncle David, they lived in NYC, and just visited their country house on weekends and vacations. But I’m going to say that some gangsters and thugs practice shooting. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2022, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684/38 "2022-02-01T04:26:06Z")
My Canadian relatives have a farm, they had a .22 rifle, a couple of shotguns and I think three deer rifles. Farms have pests and they hunted for deer and ducks. They had no handguns, nor any use for one. The .22 was kept out and loaded for foxes in the henhouse, the rest locked up. They were pretty normal for rural Canada… or pretty much rural any free country that has game. Canada ranks 7th in guns per capita, but I will bet most of those are rural, not urban where most of the people live. Nor do I have enough guns to keep them in a safe. _Tell me you’re a city dude without actually telling me you’re a city dude._ Are you gonna try and turn this into another gun control debate? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2022, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684/39 "2022-02-01T05:11:13Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Tell me you’re a city dude without actually telling me you’re a city dude. Grew up in a Moshava which is a type of farming community actually. Never felt the need for a gun though. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Are you gonna try and turn this into another gun control debate? We’re in FQ so definitely not. Just a bit of lighthearted humor. > [@DrDeth](#): > > pretty much rural any free country 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2022, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684/40 "2022-02-01T05:34:43Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > How transferable is shooting practice from one gun to another? I wonder just how familiar any gangster is with the weapons they actually use in crimes. Don’t smart gangsters usually ditch their guns after a hit? They may have a personal protection firearm they are used to, but that’s not the one they would use for premeditated murder. It depends. A marksman carefully aiming might find some slight differences in hitting the target between two copies of the same model of gun. Two similar models (full/large frame vs. compact), same caliber, same material (metal vs. polymer/resin/plastic) from different manufacturers should have similar firing/recoil characteristics after firing so not be very different at all. On the other hand, watch [this](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2022/01/31/florida-man-captured-on-dash-cam-firing-on-another-driver-in-road-rage-incident) video on a news story from the other day. It’s of an inward-facing dashcam showing a driver shooting from his moving car on I-95. He’s just pointing his gun in the general direction of where he wants to shoot & fires, he’s not aiming, he’s not even _looking_ where he’s shooting. Judging by the news stories you see where there are 15, 20, or 30 shell casings on the ground, my guess is that the ganstas look a lot like him when shooting someone, doing a little spray & pray, it which case it doesn’t matter at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-gangsters-and-thugs-etc-commonly-take-target-practice/958684.md?page=3)