# How useful would a pistol be against terrorists shooting at you from a distance? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 30, 2008, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-useful-would-a-pistol-be-against-terrorists-shooting-at-you-from-a-distance/475005 "2008-11-30T02:54:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-useful-would-a-pistol-be-against-terrorists-shooting-at-you-from-a-distance/475005/41 "2008-12-01T21:22:23Z")
In this situation, your best bet is to flee madly away, while maybe taking a couple wild shots to make the bad dudes jump a little. You only take a shot at relatively close range, preferably by surprise, and when you have little other choice. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-useful-would-a-pistol-be-against-terrorists-shooting-at-you-from-a-distance/475005/42 "2008-12-01T21:35:38Z")
> [@astro](#): > > The scenario reminds me of the heavily armed [North Hollywood bank robbers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hollywood_shootout) some years ago who seemed to fire at will a giant a massive police response until snipers were brought in to take them down. Not true. One of them shot himself after being hit in the hand and the other bled to death after being hit in the legs from close range. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-useful-would-a-pistol-be-against-terrorists-shooting-at-you-from-a-distance/475005/43 "2008-12-02T08:49:54Z")
[QUOTE=OP] How useful would a pistol be against terrorists shooting at you from a distance? [/QUOTE] Not very, but I think that a lot of people were killed in their rooms. A pistol could have been very useful in those situations. Actually, now that I look into it, maybe a pistol would have been useful. Look at 1:10 [in this video](http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/video/Mumbai-Terror-Attacks-Suspect-Ajmal-Qasab-Captured-And-Beaten-Following-Massacre-In-Indian-City/Video/200812115168164?lpos=video_News_in_Video_Home_Region_0&lid=VIDEO_15168164_Mumbai_Terror_Attacks%3A_Suspect_Ajmal_Qasab_Captured_And_Beaten_Following_Massacre_In_Indian_City). The man was brave enough to peek his head around the corner with a camera. That shot looks doable. ---
**Author:** ![davekhps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@davekhps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davekhps)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-useful-would-a-pistol-be-against-terrorists-shooting-at-you-from-a-distance/475005/44 "2008-12-02T15:16:54Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Of course none of the above applies if your name is “Jack Bauer” or “James Bond”." Off-topic, but glad someone made this point. I’ve always been a fan of “24” (mostly because I try to forget when they have bad seasons), but the one thing that I’ve _never_ gotten over is how Jack Bauer always brings a pistol to a gunfight-- even when he has time to prepare/grab a better gun. Seriously, I think he’s used a sniper rifle a few times, but the rest of the time, it’s Jack and his pistol against half the terrorists in the world using AK’s and MP-5s. I’ll never understand that. Having the bigger gun is no guarantee you win the fight, _but it always helps_. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-useful-would-a-pistol-be-against-terrorists-shooting-at-you-from-a-distance/475005/45 "2008-12-02T20:21:43Z")
> [@davekhps](#): > > Off-topic, but glad someone made this point. I’ve always been a fan of “24” (mostly because I try to forget when they have bad seasons), but the one thing that I’ve _never_ gotten over is how Jack Bauer always brings a pistol to a gunfight-- even when he has time to prepare/grab a better gun. > > Seriously, I think he’s used a sniper rifle a few times, but the rest of the time, it’s Jack and his pistol against half the terrorists in the world using AK’s and MP-5s. > > I’ll never understand that. Having the bigger gun is no guarantee you win the fight, _but it always helps_. The way you hold a rifle is to sort of hunch around it. Hunching is sort of the opposite of emoting, and emoting is the point of film. Actors need to be able to move freely and, in film, to be able to jump over a railing and do a roll when they hit the ground. That’s easiest done with free hands, which is easier to get away with when working with a pistol than a rifle. Use a rifle and everyone will spot it. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-useful-would-a-pistol-be-against-terrorists-shooting-at-you-from-a-distance/475005/46 "2008-12-03T06:35:23Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > In this situation, your best bet is to flee madly away, while maybe taking a couple wild shots to make the bad dudes jump a little. You only take a shot at relatively close range, preferably by surprise, and when you have little other choice. Or, if you are cornered or very brave, you could hide and wait to engage them in as small a space as possible in order to neutralize their advantage. If you remembered to bring your pistol that is. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-useful-would-a-pistol-be-against-terrorists-shooting-at-you-from-a-distance/475005/47 "2008-12-03T06:37:42Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > The way you hold a rifle is to sort of hunch around it. Hunching is sort of the opposite of emoting, and emoting is the point of film. Actors need to be able to move freely and, in film, to be able to jump over a railing and do a roll when they hit the ground. That’s easiest done with free hands, which is easier to get away with when working with a pistol than a rifle. Use a rifle and everyone will spot it. I remember seeing a scene in a western in which the protagonist owns the town by bringing a 30-30 to a pistol fight. I don’t remember which movie though. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-useful-would-a-pistol-be-against-terrorists-shooting-at-you-from-a-distance/475005/48 "2008-12-03T13:44:16Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > bringing a 30-30 to a pistol fight. I don’t remember which movie though. It plays a role in _Hombre._ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-useful-would-a-pistol-be-against-terrorists-shooting-at-you-from-a-distance/475005.md?page=2)