# Guns n' stuff **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 28, 2000, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-n-stuff/6789 "2000-01-28T19:01:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-n-stuff/6789/41 "2000-02-02T17:51:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by whc03grady: > \*\*I don’t mean to hijack this post, but it just occurred to me: do they make “lefty” guns that kick the spent cartridge out the other side? > \*\* I’ve seen a lefty 1911 clone that’s a virtual mirrir image of the original but in the case of semi-auto handguns lefties can get by quite well with ambidextirous safies, slide releases and reversable magazine latches. Ejection is usually not a problem. Ejection is a different matter in rifles since it happens close to your face. I think there may be a bullpup rifle that can be configured to eject left or right. The sniper in _Saving Private Ryan_ seemed to do just fine with his righty '03 even reaching over with his left hand to work the bolt. ---
**Author:** ![Bobby\_O](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Bobby\_O](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobby_O)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-n-stuff/6789/42 "2000-02-02T19:07:00Z")
I am a lefty, and my Kimber 1911 is ambi safety. I don’t think the ejector is a problem for me, I practice both Weaver and isosceles, and either way the gun is pretty much in front of me. Maybe if I was in a movie with two .45’s I wouldn’t want the spent brass from my left gun arcing in front of me. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-n-stuff/6789/43 "2000-02-02T19:18:00Z")
## I think I’ve seen some smaller calibre Barettas where the case is ejected up rather than to the right. **R** anger **J** eff \*The Idol of American Youth \* [Riders In The Sky](http://www.ridersinthesky.com) ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-n-stuff/6789/44 "2000-02-02T20:35:00Z")
My father, strongly left-eyed, used to come back regularly from the Army firing range with a bloody nose. (WW2) * * * John W. Kennedy “Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays.” – Charles Williams ---
**Author:** ![ignatiusjreilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@ignatiusjreilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignatiusjreilly)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-n-stuff/6789/45 "2000-02-02T20:40:00Z")
I think the cops would know which guns are popular with street gangs. Just ask a cop. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-n-stuff/6789/46 "2000-02-02T20:50:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by MaxTorque: > \*\* John Woo more or less invented the ‘gun opera’. You can see a lot of the style in his gunfight scenes in Face/Off, which he directed. \*\* You are kidding, right? How about Sergio Leone? How about Sam Peckinpah? Woo may rock in the 90’s, but he SURELY didn’t invent the “gun opera”… ``` Cartooniverse, film fan and avid pacifist..... ``` * * * If you want to kiss the sky, you’d better learn how to kneel. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2000, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-n-stuff/6789/47 "2000-02-03T03:49:00Z")
Ya got me there. How about ‘re-invented’? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2000, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-n-stuff/6789/48 "2000-02-03T04:11:00Z")
Back to the Colt 1873 we used to see all the time in westerns. Didn’t you hate seeing them show up in Civil War movies? I liked “The Outlaw Josie Wales” depiction of actual muzzle-loading model 1851s and 1849s. On the Beretta. While it wasn’t a mod. 92, James Bond had one in “Dr. No”, although he was told to trade it for a Walther because the Beretta was only fit for “a lady’s handbag”. Although I live in L.A. I don’t feel any need to go about armed… even if it were legal. On my rare trips to a range I like to use my Beretta 92, Colt 1991 (not a typo), Ruger .45LC Blackhawk and Ruger .22 Mk. II auto. Outside, I enjoy my Uberti Colt 1851 Navy replicas and the AR-15s. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2000, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-n-stuff/6789/49 "2000-02-04T06:18:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by johnnyharvard: > \*\*I think the cops would know which guns are popular with street gangs. Just ask a cop. \*\* Cops are as prone to believing apocrypha as lawmakers or any of us. That’s why things such as the so-called assault weapons ban that define “Bad guns” by what they look like get passed. * * * My Jesus fish can beat up your Darwin fish but forgives it instead. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2000, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-n-stuff/6789/50 "2000-02-03T19:45:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Cops are as prone to believing apocrypha as lawmakers or any of us. That’s why things such as the so-called assault weapons ban that define “Bad guns” by what they look like get passed. -snip- - Padeye - - - Police know firsthand what laws are likely to produce wanted results, and which won’t. After all, they see the type of incidents that the laws are trying to address, every day. Many police organizations do not support many of the more recent (read “Clintonian”) gun laws that have been passed. Usually when Clinton announced a new gun law and there were rows of police on the capitol steps behind him, it was because they were _ordered_ to be there, usually not because they wanted to be there. - - - As to how would I know, I can only guess, really, not being in a street gang. The newspaper does occasionally publish photos of guns taken in raids of some sort; usually it’s pretty sad hardware - pawn-shop stuff. Mostly small caliber revolvers and break-open shotguns (sawed off), all in poor condition. Also the three guys I was best friends with in high school ended up as police officers in the St. Louis area - they have commented that if you’re a gun enthusiast, the weapons they take off these types of people is stuff you probably wouldn’t want even if it was free. - MC ---
**Author:** ![special](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/special)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2000, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-n-stuff/6789/51 "2000-02-04T00:35:00Z")
mc, am i missing something here? in one post it sounds like you’re saying the punks go for the fancy, sexy guns they see in the movies & then you’re saying they actually use junk. clarify, please. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2000, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-n-stuff/6789/52 "2000-02-04T01:02:00Z")
That’s kind of the same thing I got from it Special. I can understand gangs going for increadibly cheap guns such as Lorcin/Davis/Raven and others of that ilk because they’re quite compact but not a Beretta 92. If you’ve handled a Beretta 92 or Taurus PT-92 (a virtual clone of the pre-84 Beretta) you know it’s extremely bulky which makes it one of the worst possible choices for concealement. That’s one reason I thought it was a ridiculous choice for Mel Gibson’s undercover cop character in _Leathal Weapon_. ---
**Author:** ![ignatiusjreilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@ignatiusjreilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignatiusjreilly)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2000, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-n-stuff/6789/53 "2000-02-04T01:04:00Z")
Man, if they got tha jack, then they buy the nice pieces. Until they can get the jack, they can’t afford the gucci pieces and hafta use the ghetto pieces. Or they might swipe a gucci piece if they get the chance. WORD! (Similarly, I would go for a BMW, but until I earn the money to buy one, or have the good fortune to steal one, I’m stuck in my Chevy.) Note that the phrase “good fortune” is used loosely… ---
**Author:** ![special](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/special)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2000, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-n-stuff/6789/54 "2000-02-04T01:31:00Z")
word? & what part of the houston ghetto are _you_ from, johnny? ---
**Author:** ![Lauralee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lauralee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lauralee)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2000, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-n-stuff/6789/55 "2000-02-04T15:40:00Z")
That sounded enough like my brother-in-law to truly scare me… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-n-stuff/6789.md?page=2)