# "Leave the gun. Take the cannollis." **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 8, 2008, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-gun-take-the-cannollis/455711 "2008-07-08T16:38:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-gun-take-the-cannollis/455711/1 "2008-07-08T16:38:41Z")
“The Godfather” has two scenes where after a mobster kills someone he leaves the gun behind on purpose. When Micheal is planning his assassination of the police captain and the other mobster, he is advised to drop his gun in an unobtrusive way and just walk away. The other is the famous line quoted above. Now, the guns used for the murders are supposedly “ice cold”, and untraceable back to anyone connected to the mob. But what exactly is the purpose behind leaving the murder weapon at the crime scene? It would seem that if you just put the gun in a paper bag and toss it in the nearest public trashcan or into the river you’d be depriving the cops of a lot of forensic information. Once the gun gets into the waste stream it’s pretty much gone forever, barring some incredible fluke of luck. Obviously, if you’re walking away from the crime scene and get stopped by a cop and you’ve got the murder weapon in your pocket, then you’re done. But if you get stopped that quickly after the crime, you’re probably in big trouble anyway. I have to imagine that these scenes were included in “The Godfather” because that’s the way real life gangsters behaved. But why? What’s the advantage of not disposing of the gun? Does it still happen that killers sometimes leave the murder weapon behind on purpose, if they ever really did? ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-gun-take-the-cannollis/455711/2 "2008-07-08T16:43:02Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] I have to imagine that these scenes were included in “The Godfather” because that’s the way real life gangsters behaved. But why? What’s the advantage of not disposing of the gun? Does it still happen that killers sometimes leave the murder weapon behind on purpose, if they ever really did? [/QUOTE] Couple things. Gun in question cannot be found in your possession. Can’t get a search warrant for a suspects home looking for the murder weapon. The gun isn’t easily connected to them by any other way. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-gun-take-the-cannollis/455711/3 "2008-07-08T16:47:50Z")
Fingerprints? ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-gun-take-the-cannollis/455711/4 "2008-07-08T16:51:14Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Fingerprints? [/QUOTE] Clemenza told Michael that me put some kind of special tape on the grip and the trigger that would repel fingerprints. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-gun-take-the-cannollis/455711/5 "2008-07-08T16:54:41Z")
I do like the search warrant angle. If the cops already have the murder weapon, they don’t have an excuse to come into you and your associate’s homes looking for it. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-gun-take-the-cannollis/455711/6 "2008-07-08T16:56:45Z")
[QUOTE=BMax] Clemenza told Michael that **me** put some kind of special tape on the grip and the trigger that would repel fingerprints. [/QUOTE] _You_ did, or Clemenza did? I don’t want you to incriminate yourself! ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-gun-take-the-cannollis/455711/7 "2008-07-08T17:00:42Z")
The other thing is the gun then won’t be used in any subsequent mob crimes, thereby attatching it to the killer. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-gun-take-the-cannollis/455711/8 "2008-07-08T17:11:33Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] _You_ did, or Clemenza did? I don’t want you to incriminate yourself! [/QUOTE] I know they want to solve the murder of a police captain, but come on, 1945? I wasn’t in New York then. I have a birth certificate from 1964 that can prove it! ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-gun-take-the-cannollis/455711/9 "2008-07-08T17:13:43Z")
Plus, a guy carrying a box of pastries looks even more innocent than an empty-handed guy. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-gun-take-the-cannollis/455711/10 "2008-07-08T17:15:22Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Fingerprints? [/QUOTE] Gloves? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-gun-take-the-cannollis/455711/11 "2008-07-08T17:19:14Z")
[QUOTE=drachillix] Gloves? [/QUOTE] Pretty sure Michael wasn’t wearing gloves at any point during that murder…would have looked suspicious if he’d worn them to the restaurant or if he’d come out from the bathroom wearing them, no? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-gun-take-the-cannollis/455711/12 "2008-07-08T17:48:44Z")
[QUOTE=picunurse] The other thing is the gun then won’t be used in any subsequent mob crimes, thereby attatching it to the killer. [/QUOTE] Right, which is why I thought to wrap the gun in a bag and ditch it in the nearest trashcan. The gun is gone, and even if through some unlikely circumstance it turns up again, it’s guaranteed to show up if I just drop it at the crime scene. And BMax is correct that the gun Michael used had tape over the handle and trigger so it wouldn’t take fingerprints. But I’d be worried about leaving a print somewhere. Even if you clean the gun thoroughly, how can you be sure that you didn’t accidentally touch it somewhere and leave an incriminating print? Too risky, especially when it seems that there are so many easy ways to get rid of the gun. Since the movie is set in the late 40s, maybe this was SOP back when forensics wasn’t so advanced? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-gun-take-the-cannollis/455711/13 "2008-07-08T18:22:35Z")
Another thought: Even if you’re going to ditch the thing very quickly, you’re running that much more of a risk of a witness seeing you with the gun. If you don’t have the gun, even if a witness positively id’s you leaving the scene, all that it proves is that you were there and split when the shooting started. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-gun-take-the-cannollis/455711/14 "2008-07-08T18:32:24Z")
[QUOTE=yabob] Even if you’re going to ditch the thing very quickly, you’re running that much more of a risk of a witness seeing you with the gun. [/QUOTE] Besides, you can never count on finding a trash can when you need one. You’d look pretty silly wandering around outside the murder scene with a gun in your hand, looking for a place to dump it. Incidentally, one of our favorite Italian restaurants locally is a smallish place with layout and decor eerily reminiscent of the joint where Michael Corleone shot McCluskey and Sollozzo. When I eat there, I always try to get a seat facing the front. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-gun-take-the-cannollis/455711/15 "2008-07-08T18:35:23Z")
Nowadays, even if you were stopped without the gun, the police conceivably could test your hands for powder residue, couldn’t they? That’s what _CSI_ suggests, anyhow. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-gun-take-the-cannollis/455711/16 "2008-07-08T18:46:59Z")
The police always search the nearby trashcans, sewer grates, and riverbeds until they find the murder weapon, which will always contain recoverable prints, if not actual DNA. On Law and Order they do, anyway. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-gun-take-the-cannollis/455711/17 "2008-07-08T18:49:21Z")
Here’s the thing about fingerprints: they’re only a problem if the police (or other law enforcement agency) already has 'em. If you’ve never been fingerprinted before for any reason, you’re not “in the system”. So they find a gun with fingerprints on it, so what? Since Michael was “clean” (hadn’t been arrested for anything before), there weren’t any prints on file for the cops to match the gun to. Sure, they’ll keep the prints they lift off the gun on file, but back in the days before computers, once things grow cold they’ll just sit in a basement drawer somewhere. And since the whole plan was to ship Michael off to Sicily immediately after the hit, the cops wouldn’t even be able to bring him in, fingerprint him, and make a comparison right away. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-gun-take-the-cannollis/455711/18 "2008-07-08T18:53:17Z")
I’ve read somewhere (no cite, sorry) that guns don’t actually hold fingerprints all that well, despite what CSI and other cop shows want you to think. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-gun-take-the-cannollis/455711/19 "2008-07-08T19:00:47Z")
[QUOTE=BMax] I know they want to solve the murder of a police captain, but come on, 1945? I wasn’t in New York then. I have a birth certificate from 1964 that can prove it! [/QUOTE] That didn’t stop the police from suspecting Beavis [QUOTE=News Announcer] Authorities are saying tonight that they believe they’ve finally found the killer in the infamous “Inna Gadda da Vida” slaying some 25 years ago. When asked how a high school student could be involved in a murder nine years before he was born, the police replied, “He is very clever.” [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![TJVM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@TJVM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJVM)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-gun-take-the-cannollis/455711/20 "2008-07-08T19:09:42Z")
I’ve always thought that the main reason for this is to avoid being caught with the gun. Gunshots tend to attract attention. If you’re fleeing the scene of a crime and encounter the police, having the murder weapon with you is very incriminating. On the other hand, if you’ve left the gun behind, you can claim to be an innocent bystander. (There might be other evidence against you, of course, but at least you’re not carrying the gun.) > [@Max Torque](#): > > Here’s the thing about fingerprints: they’re only a problem if the police (or other law enforcement agency) already has 'em. Or if you become a suspect after the crime, at which point the police can take your fingerprints and see if they match the ones on the gun. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-gun-take-the-cannollis/455711.md?page=2)