# Whatever happened to the Uzi? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 21, 2006, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485 "2006-07-21T15:01:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485/21 "2006-07-22T08:43:52Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] . . . [_choke_] . . . Do . . not . . . rise . . . to . . . bait . . . Do . . . not . . . rise . . . to . . . bait . . . My Og! It’s a 192[bites off typing fingers] [/QUOTE] aw, cmon, now, …it’s okay…everybody does it…you don’t have to hold back…don’t bottle it up til it explodes later…it’s okay to express what you’re feeling… And anyway— the picture it that cite looks like it was taken before 1920.So it’s not the old clichee–it’s a genuine, _original_ 1910 -style…you-know-what. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485/22 "2006-07-22T09:26:09Z")
[QUOTE=Terrifel] Why no Uzis? The answer is simple: _no ninjas_. The '80s were all about ninjas, and the simple fact is that the Uzi was the firearm best suited for combat against ninjas, insofar as any firearm is suited for combat against ninjas. This has been scientifically determined, using measurements. But today, look around! What is there for you to see? Yes, exactly so! _You see no ninjas!_ Admittedly, this is also what you would be seeing if there were ninjas. However, what you are seeing now is a total absence of ninjas, rather than the presence of ninjas that you would not be seeing if there were ninjas to not be seen. '80s technology confirms this. Ah! There is a ninja! No, I kid; do not be alarmed. Therefore, with the ninja threat in abatement, the Uzi has taken its place alongside the Tommy gun in the armory of defunct themed cinematic weapons. [/QUOTE] Not coincidentally, City of Villains has ninjas . . . AND thugs with Uzis. More evidence for the ninja - Uzi link. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485/23 "2006-07-22T14:40:12Z")
[QUOTE=Declan] I don’t know exactly why or when , but I wonder if one could document the appearance of the Tomphson submachine gun, with optional violin case in movies ,and the passing to get a comparative reference. Other than the rocketeer, I can’t remember the last time I seen one in a flick Declan [/QUOTE] Road to Perdition ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485/24 "2006-07-22T15:05:47Z")
[QUOTE=Declan] I don’t know exactly why or when , but I wonder if one could document the appearance of the Tomphson submachine gun, with optional violin case in movies ,and the passing to get a comparative reference. Other than the rocketeer, I can’t remember the last time I seen one in a flick [/QUOTE] There’s one in _The Matrix Reloaded_ (in the scene in the Merovingian’s staircase), and pretty much every WWII movie ever made features someone with either an M1A1 or M19281A1 Thompson SMG in it. _Road To Perdition_ also had the M1928A1 featuring quite prominently, and they were also used in _Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow_, too. > [@Bobotheoptimist](#): > > Wait a minute… The Bren has an Enfield connection, don’t it? Yes, I understand now. I have to counter with either a .308 or .45 ACP. How about the Thompson? Timeless classic! Agreed! If they were legal here, I’d have one of the Auto-Ordnance M1927A1 Semi-Auto Thompsons. I also would have accepted “Lanchester” “PPSh 41”, “Suomi”, and “L2 Sterling” SMGs as answers… 😃 You know, I have to say that the Vz-61 Skorpion or the Mauser M1932 would be a better weapon against the Ninja Menace, what with their ability to be wielded John Woo style and general coolness of appearance… ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485/25 "2006-07-22T19:58:57Z")
[QUOTE=Declan] I don’t know exactly why or when , but I wonder if one could document the appearance of the Tomphson submachine gun, with optional violin case in movies ,and the passing to get a comparative reference. Other than the rocketeer, I can’t remember the last time I seen one in a flick Declan [/QUOTE] Didn’t Picard shoot some Borg up with one ? ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485/26 "2006-07-22T23:27:25Z")
[QUOTE=Der Trihs] Didn’t Picard shoot some Borg up with one ? [/QUOTE] Not sure , but I remember Kirk used one back in the sixties TOS , concrete galoshes , indeed Declan ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485/27 "2006-07-22T23:44:46Z")
Picard killed robots (Borg?) with one in the Holodeck in the movie where they all go to Earth and James Cromwell is there. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485/28 "2006-07-23T00:10:06Z")
[QUOTE=Palooka] Picard killed robots (Borg?) with one in the Holodeck in the movie where they all go to Earth and James Cromwell is there. [/QUOTE] _First Contact_ The holodeck scene program is from a noir style private dick series of interactive stories based in (iirc) the 1930s. My Uzi weighs a ton. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485/29 "2006-07-23T00:34:53Z")
[QUOTE=Declan] I don’t know exactly why or when , but I wonder if one could document the appearance of the Tomphson submachine gun, with optional violin case in movies ,and the passing to get a comparative reference. Other than the rocketeer, I can’t remember the last time I seen one in a flick [/QUOTE] Didn’t Tom Hanks have a Tommy gun in that one show? And there was at least one in Band of Brothers, but I can’t remember the last time I saw an Uzi. Shot an Uzi once… Armenian fella I used to know had one, but he was more than a little paranoid so I only got a couple single shots - no idea how he got it into the country, and I didn’t ask. This was back in '88 or so, seems like an entirely different world back then. I’d take an H&K over an Uzi, but I wouldn’t turn it down if I got a line on one. A guy my BiL knows has a Class III license and let my BiL shoot his Thompson. Said it was one of the coolest things he’d shot, but not worth the $20k + that the gun and the government licensing cost the first guy. This was after a Service Rifle match that I usually shoot at, missed out on this because of a Cub Scout campout. Wouldn’t miss time with my kids, but I’m a little bummed about the timing. I would have been happy to pitch in the 200 rds of .45 I usually carry with me for a chance to shoot a piece of history. ---
**Author:** ![Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485/30 "2006-07-23T00:43:49Z")
> [@](#): > > the 200 rds of .45 I usually carry with me :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485/31 "2006-07-23T02:45:18Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist] the 200 rds of .45 I usually carry with me [/QUOTE] To the range! Just to the range… Even though it’s a rifle match, I’ll have some .45 with me just in case I want to do a little pistol practice after. I’m not prepared for an extended firefight just running back and forth to work. I usually only have 16 rounds for day to day stuff 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485/32 "2006-07-23T04:23:37Z")
But what if a diabolical evildoer tries to take over the world on your watch? ---
**Author:** ![BraheSilver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@BraheSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BraheSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485/33 "2006-07-23T05:13:54Z")
If he’s on my watch, then I can get rid of him with a flick of my wrist. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485/34 "2006-07-23T05:16:41Z")
I didn’t say he was small enough to fit comfortably on your watch. Think Kingpin, for example. Are you a steady shot with your other hand? ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485/35 "2006-07-23T06:20:06Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] I didn’t say he was small enough to fit comfortably on your watch. Think Kingpin, for example. Are you a steady shot with your other hand? [/QUOTE] Well sure! I’m right handed, so my watch is on my left wrist - no problem. Why I remember one time back in 19 aught 8 me and Teddy Roosevelt was takin’ turns shooting each others watches! Well, we all had pocket watches back in those days and so we got ourselves a few holes, like that couger we ran across in ‘98. HA! 98, that was a wild year, I was runnin’ with twitchy Joe down on the border trying to keep them crazy Arizonans from invading… 12:20, why? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485/36 "2006-07-23T07:17:03Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist] Well sure! I’m right handed, so my watch is on my left wrist - no problem. Why I remember one time back in 19 aught 8 me and Teddy Roosevelt was takin’ turns shooting each others watches! Well, we all had pocket watches back in those days and so we got ourselves a few holes, like that couger we ran across in ‘98. HA! 98, that was a wild year, I was runnin’ with twitchy Joe down on the border trying to keep them crazy Arizonans from invading… [/QUOTE] All this reminds me of my wild days in Zululand, back in '79- gosh, the little blighters seemed to be everywhere, didn’t they?- and then a bit later on in the Cape Colony, before we headed north into Tanganyika and British East Africa in '81 or '82, and I remember Lady Fotherington insisting we should head onto Khartoum… that would have been about '83, I suppose, and aside from another spat with the locals there, I found the place entirely too dull by half, so I ended up back in the Cape Colony around… oooh, I think it would have around '96 or '97, since Lord Downtrousers had just bought himself one of those newfangled Maxim Guns, and then there was that unpleasantness with the Boers a few years later… Sir Winston and I could certainly tell you some stories about that, including how we defeated the entire Boer army with nothing but a revolver, some fencing wire, and half a pound of Earl Grey tea, but you’d have to buy me another drink first… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485/37 "2006-07-23T08:46:36Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield] … Agreed! If they were legal here, I’d have one of the Auto-Ordnance M1927A1 Semi-Auto Thompsons. … [/QUOTE] You are clearly a person of impeccable artistic taste with an eye for beauty in function. IMHO, the sexiest subgun ever made. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485/38 "2006-07-23T08:49:13Z")
Dang it! Once again I have clicked on “Submit Replu” instead of “Preview Post!” Sorry. I meant to add one more thing: The only thing being better is an orginal, full-auto Thompson, with the ribbed barrel and drum magazine. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485/39 "2006-07-23T09:10:28Z")
[QUOTE=LiveOnAPlane] The only thing being better is an orginal, full-auto Thompson, with the ribbed barrel and drum magazine. [/QUOTE] With the cost of .45ACP ammo here, and it’s near impossibility of obtainment, I’d need a semi-auto to make sure I didn’t fire off a week’s pay worth of ammo in a few seconds. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485/40 "2006-07-23T17:19:35Z")
I think I just saw an Uzi in Beverly Hills Cop III. Looks like the movie is from 1994, but that’s the best I can do on a Sunday morning. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-uzi/365485.md?page=3)