# In movies, why do they... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 31, 2002, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-movies-why-do-they/111713 "2002-05-31T12:38:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![meezer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9c0ed/32.png) [@meezer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meezer)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-movies-why-do-they/111713/1 "2002-05-31T12:38:15Z")
hold guns sideways? What’s the deal with that? ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-movies-why-do-they/111713/2 "2002-05-31T13:00:02Z")
It looks cooler. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-movies-why-do-they/111713/3 "2002-05-31T13:00:51Z")
It looks cool, plain and simple. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-movies-why-do-they/111713/4 "2002-05-31T13:00:54Z")
It’s a ghetto thang. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-movies-why-do-they/111713/5 "2002-05-31T13:08:17Z")
And in ten years you’ll never see it anymore. It’s a fad thing. There’s a terrific scene in “the Sopranos” where one of Chris’s buddies and two black guys - all three of whom are maybe 20 years old and are obviously scared and new at this sort of thing - are holding up a truck. They come out of their car, and one of the black guys has his gun tilted way over sideways, gangsta-style. Chris’s buddy looks at him, sighs, reaches over and turns the gun right side up. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-movies-why-do-they/111713/6 "2002-05-31T13:54:09Z")
Blame John Woo. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-movies-why-do-they/111713/7 "2002-05-31T14:54:04Z")
Lou: Hey chief, can I hold my gun sideways, like they do in the movies? Wiggum: Sure Lou, whatever you want. ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-movies-why-do-they/111713/8 "2002-05-31T15:20:03Z")
You’d understand if you had street cred. Word. ---
**Author:** ![Chekmate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@Chekmate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chekmate)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-movies-why-do-they/111713/9 "2002-05-31T16:34:04Z")
[off topic] I’ve always wondered why they never seem to say bye when they are on the phone. [/off topic] ---
**Author:** ![Neptune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@Neptune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptune)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-movies-why-do-they/111713/10 "2002-05-31T16:48:23Z")
How does sideways versus upright compare in terms of actual accuracy or other measures of firearms accuracy? When I put my hand out in front of me, I naturally hold it palm-down. Wouldn’t it be easier and more comfortable to hold and aim a gun in that mode? Have there been tests comparing the two methods? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-movies-why-do-they/111713/11 "2002-05-31T17:10:37Z")
I am not an expert on handguns by any means, but I do have a good friend who knows a thing or two about them. According to my buddy, guns are held in the upright position so that the shooter can better aim; holding the gun uoright allows the shooter to match up the gun nozzle (roughly) with his /her line of sight. Holding a gun sideways would only work in a situation where someone simply wants to spray bullets wildly at a wide terrain and doesn’t care where the bullet hits. To hit a specific target dead-on, you’d have to hold the gun in the upright position. He also states that either way a gun is held, either palm-down or upright, the movies portray gunshots is inaccurate. In most cases, if the movie characters were firing live rounds (instead of blanks), they would need to hold the gun in the upright position in one hand (the “firearm” hand) , but also hold the forearm of their other arm down on the firearm hand to brace it. Otherwise the inertial effect of shooting a bullet would cause their firearm hand to jerk backwards and (most likely) the shooter would inadvertantly clock him/herself in the head with their own pistol! ---
**Author:** ![Banger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@Banger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banger)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-movies-why-do-they/111713/12 "2002-05-31T18:26:24Z")
It appeared to me that Amidala was shooting gangsta style in a couple of scenes from The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-movies-why-do-they/111713/13 "2002-06-01T01:24:41Z")
Backing up what **Art Vandelay** ’s friend said. According to a book I have called _Combat Guns_, Chinese warlords of the 1920s and 30s used to arm their bodyguards with versions of the C/96 “Broomhandle Mauser” automatic pistol. The bodyguards would compensate for the massive recoil of firing bursts by turning the pistols on their side to produce said wide horizontal arc of gunfire. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-movies-why-do-they/111713/14 "2002-06-01T01:57:37Z")
Because that’s the way it comes out of the box. ---
**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:** [June 1, 2002, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-movies-why-do-they/111713/15 "2002-06-01T03:14:28Z")
According to the Armorers I’ve dealt with in scenes where I’ve filmed gunshots ( or, been shot at…) a full-load blank has almost as much recoil in a handgun as a full-load cartridge with some lead dangling at the end of it. Having been face to face, sadly, with people shooting full-load blanks, I can testify firsthand to the fact that they do make the gun recoil very hard. It is extremely frightening to be shot at, even under those circumstances. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-movies-why-do-they/111713/16 "2002-06-01T03:37:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Art Vandelay, Architect \* > **He also states that either way a gun is held, either palm-down or upright, the movies portray gunshots is inaccurate** In a similar vein, a friend of mine who learned this from a Police Officer (I think) told me that holding both arms straight out in front of you when shooting is a really stupid way to do it, as it gives you no control. If you hold one arm out with the gun in hand, and the other arm braces that arm, elbow into chest, you can keep your arm rock solid, and twist your torso to aim straight ahead incredibly accurately. That’s meant to be the right way to do it, but actors always do it the X-Files way. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-movies-why-do-they/111713/17 "2002-06-01T08:01:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Art Vandelay, Architect \* > \*\* In most cases, if the movie characters were firing live rounds (instead of blanks), they would need to hold the gun in the upright position in one hand (the “firearm” hand) , but also hold the forearm of their other arm down on the firearm hand to brace it. Otherwise the inertial effect of shooting a bullet would cause their firearm hand to jerk backwards and (most likely) the shooter would inadvertantly clock him/herself in the head with their own pistol! \*\* As anyone who has ever fired a handgun knows, this is simply not true. The only time you really need to use two hands with a handgun is if you’re shooting a hand cannon (.44, .357…etc), and even then I seriously doubt a grown man’s arm would recoil enough to hit himself in the face if he only used one hand. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-movies-why-do-they/111713/18 "2002-06-01T14:34:06Z")
I agree with **Cisco** , and I’ve fired a hand cannon (well, a .357 magnum). The closest I’ve ever come to being hit in the face with a firearm’s recoil is when I fired a 12-ga. shotgun loaded with No. 1 buckshot, and that was because I didn’t have the butt nestled securely enough in the crook of my shoulder. God damn, did that ever have some kick to it. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-movies-why-do-they/111713/19 "2002-06-01T14:45:57Z")
I fired a Desert Eagle (.50cal) at a range once and the damn thing was so heavy, it practically absorbed its own recoil. It was more accurate than the Colt Python I’d fired earlier, though I still preferred the 9mm Sig Sauer. ---
**Author:** ![Chekmate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@Chekmate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chekmate)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-movies-why-do-they/111713/20 "2002-06-01T16:49:32Z")
I too have fired a few rounds of a Desert Eagle, and I was surprised at how little recoil it actually had. I was expecting to to be shotgun-like, but I could fire pretty fast (about 1 shot/second) and hit the target. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-movies-why-do-they/111713.md?page=2)