The “porcelain gun” in the 1990 film Die Hard 2 (Die Harder). I am a huge fan of the Die Hard film series. (And yes, the first one is a Christmas movie, thanks for asking.)

At one point during the DH2 movie, LAPD lieutenant John McClane (played by Bruce Willis) tells airport police the “Glock 7” is an expensive porcelain gun made in Germany that can be easily smuggled through x-ray machines. 

Ahhh, wrong, wronger, and wrong with a vengeance (keeping with the Die Hard theme of Die Hard, Die Harder, and Die Hard with a Vengeance)! 

While there were a lot of misconceptions about Gaston Glock’s firearms when they first came to the US in the mid-eighties, there was no such thing as a Glock 7. And early Glocks were made in Austria, not Germany. Finally, Glocks are relatively inexpensive: In 1990, a new one was about $300-400. 

The made-up gun may have been a nod to the Glock 17, a 9mm semi-automatic pistol. The Glock 17, by weight, is 83% steel, and another major component is a dense polymer—but it is definitely NOT made of porcelain. Lastly, Glocks can be detected by airport security, as all legal firearms can. 

Counsel, don’t be subject to misinformation like Lt. McClane. Register now for our September 21 CLE, Firearms Laws and Work Environments. Space is limited, so don't wait too long.

The MAC-10 in True Lies. In this 1994 Arnold Schwarzenegger film, housewife Helen Tasker (played by Jamie Lee Curtis) drops a fully automatic MAC-10 down a flight of stairs after getting spooked by its recoil. Every time the weapon hit another step during its downward trajectory, more bad guys got eliminated by the resulting shots.

Now, True Lies was an action comedy, so this was done tongue in cheek. The MAC-10 is a real gun, but modern firearms are not likely to discharge when dropped, absent some manufacturing defect. 

Counsel, you will never be surprised by recoil again if you stay for the optional range time after our September 21 CLE. For details and registration, click here.

Trigger discipline in Pulp Fiction. Okay, Quentin Tarantino’s work is outstanding. His movie dialog may be the best in all of cinema.*

In the 1994 movie, a minor character named Marvin is sitting in the back of a car with Vincent Vega (played by John Travolta), who keeps his finger on the trigger of his firearm while Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) drives the vehicle. Due to poor trigger discipline and a bump in the road, Marvin gets shot accidentally by Vince. Covered in blood, the two men then have to go to “The Wolf” (Harvey Keitel) to clean up their mess. 

We will give Quentin as pass as Pulp Fiction may be among the best movies ever, but even as a young shooter, I was taught to never put “your booger hook on the boom switch” until you are ready to shoot. Vince should have kept his finger off the trigger until he was ready to use his weapon. (It is funny how that discipline transfers to other things: I keep my finger off of the switch on drills and other power tools, too. It has become a habit.) 

Firearm safety is important. Even if you don't own a gun, you should still know how to safely handle and remove the ammunition from one. If you attend our September 21 CLE and stay after for the optional range time, you'll learn how.

* Guy Ritchie also deserves a nod for outstanding dialog (see Snatch, for example), that is not an unreasonable opinion. We can discuss our thoughts on this further over lunch after our Sept 21 CLE.

Overly silencing silencers. The silencer was invented by Hiram P. Maxim, who also developed car mufflers. Interestingly, he was the son of Maxim gun inventor, Sir Hiram S. Maxim. The Maxim gun was the first fully automatic machine gun. 

Yes, a silencer (or suppressor) does make a firearm quieter, but the “pew pew” sounds featured throughout the James Bond movie series, irrespective of era or the actor playing 007, are a serious overstatement relating to the efficacy of a silencer. 

The un-Hollywood reality is that a silencer brings a typical pistol’s report down from 160 decibels to about 120 decibels. To put that in perspective, 140 decibels is the sound of a jackhammer, whereas 120 is close to a rock concert. That is not a cute “pew pew” sound, at least not when I saw the rock bands Rush or The Who play live as a young man, for sure. 

Speaking of silence, should your employee handbook remain quiet on gun carry policies? This is one of many concerns that will be discussed at our 1.0 CLE on Saturday, September 21. Click here to learn more and register.

Shooting a firearm out of someone’s hand. This used to be a staple in Westerns both on television and on the big screen. The most over the top example is found in the brilliant 1974 Mel Brooks’ comedy, Blazing Saddles. 

In the movie, the Waco Kid (played by Gene Wilder) shoots the revolvers out of the hands of eight men in less than the blink of an eye. Not one gun remained in any of those eight men’s hands. None.

Of course, it was pure Hollywood storytelling, but you can certainly work on polishing your target skills during the optional range time after our September 21 CLE.