# That's not 'a large handgun' **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 5, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-a-large-handgun/520118 "2009-12-05T19:24:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [December 5, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-a-large-handgun/520118/1 "2009-12-05T19:24:18Z")
[This article says](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34274458/ns/technology_and_science-security/): > [@](#): > > Some time after the robbery, she received a photo of a young man holding a large handgun to his head. A ‘handgun’ is commonly understood to be a firearm. The ‘large handgun’ in the photo is actually a [Crossman 1377C BB gun](http://www.crosman.com/img/products/full/1377c-2.jpg). Not a firearm. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-a-large-handgun/520118/2 "2009-12-05T19:41:37Z")
He looks like an extremely bright young man. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-a-large-handgun/520118/3 "2009-12-05T19:51:03Z")
Oh God – all I need in my old age is a return to “deadly” water pistols and my world will indeed have come full circle. ---
**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:** [December 5, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-a-large-handgun/520118/4 "2009-12-05T19:51:43Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > He looks like an extremely bright young man. Maybe he had an itch. (Or he’s a fan of [_Plan 9 From Outer Space_](http://www.badmovies.org/movies/plannine/plannine2.jpg).) . ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-a-large-handgun/520118/5 "2009-12-05T20:16:18Z")
Enough about hand guns and BBs, and whatever. I need to program my phone to send me information about the douche nozzle that is using it. I once left my phone in a cab in Philly, and by the time I could report it stolen, the MFer racked up something like $800 in phone calls (that I did not pay for, of course) to Algeria, Mali, France and whereverthefuck else. ---
**Author:** ![LIONsob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/76d3ee/32.png) [@LIONsob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LIONsob)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-a-large-handgun/520118/6 "2009-12-05T23:20:46Z")
A]nybody else have a [Blazing Saddles](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upvZdVK913I) flashback looking at that picture? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-a-large-handgun/520118/7 "2009-12-05T23:47:03Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > The ‘large handgun’ in the photo is actually a [Crossman 1377C BB gun](http://www.crosman.com/img/products/full/1377c-2.jpg). Not a firearm. The mass media is ignorant on all manner of topics from public policy to technology, but on no topic moreso than that of firearms. More to the point, most journalists resist any attempt at education on this or any other topic they deem to be offensive or esthetically displeasing, and deflect by pointing out that they only report the news, not interpret it. (Never mind the prevailing trend of advocacy journalism and journalistic punditcy.) In other words, don’t expect anything like fact emanating from the 24 hour news channel of your choice, or amid the department store ads of your newspaper. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-a-large-handgun/520118/8 "2009-12-06T01:08:31Z")
Most people who see that picture will say, ‘holy shit look at the size of that hand gun!’ But peope who know guns also know that the reason that the wood stock below the barrel is so long, is because it it actually a pump handle. The wood stock part swings down and you work the lever a couple times and charge the air to send the little BB out. That BB pistol might sting you in the butt, might even get a BB under your skin, but can’t hurt you much. He can shoot you once with a BB that might penetrate your skin, then he has to pump it up again about 10 times and maybe shoot you again. He is lucky he is not dead. This is a good example of why some people who are against guns think they don’t really need to know anything about guns to just say they are all bad. How would you feel to be held at bay, terrorised, by that dumbshit with a BB gun? You should really learn about guns even if you never intend to own one, knowledge is power, even if you never need the knowledge. He is lucky he didn’t get shot by someone with a real gun. Cops do not wait to test your gun when you point it at them. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2009, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-a-large-handgun/520118/9 "2009-12-06T01:25:29Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > He can shoot you once with a BB that might penetrate your skin, then he has to pump it up again about 10 times and maybe shoot you again. Lasky: That’s not a real gun, is it Clark? Clark: Are you kidding? This is a Magnum P.I. Lasky: It’s a BB gun! Clark: Don’t try me. I could put an eye out with this thing. Lasky: You couldn’t even break the skin with that thing. Clark: It could! It could! It could break the skin! It could lodge under the skin and cause a very bad infection. Lasky: That’s an old wives tale, Clark. I’m telling. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-not-a-large-handgun/520118/10 "2009-12-06T08:15:46Z")
I own one of those exact BB guns and just 3 days ago showed my kid how to operate it (5 pumps, not 10). And I referenced this article yesterday in a [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=542620) asking how to program cell phones to send photos automatically. And I never noticed it was the same gun. My daughter recognized it right away, though.