Don't Pull That Trigger Yet!

by Elizabeth Dearl

As a former police officer, I am often asked by fellow mystery/suspense writers for technical advice. Invariably, the first question is: "What mistake do you most frequently find in mystery fiction?" Answer: The use of handguns. More specifically, an author's lack of basic knowledge bleeding through into his/her character's use of a handgun.

Allow me to offer a few tips:
• Don't rely on a small caliber handgun, such as a derringer, to fatally wound a victim who is standing more than a few feet away. Private eyes in novels are often armed with a .25 caliber semi-automatic pistol because such a weapon is easily hidden in a pocket or boot, but keep in mind that .25 caliber bullets are tiny and also that accuracy of the shot will diminish with distance. These weapons don't pack much of a punch. There is a documented case of a man who sustained over two dozen gunshots from a variety of small caliber handguns, with most of the wounds to his upper torso and head. He lived.
• Don't refer to a "safety" on a revolver. Semi-automatic pistols have safeties, revolvers do not. Stephen King made this mistake in a famous novel and, recently, so did an author in a large-circulation mystery magazine. Gun collectors may point out that some older (19th century) revolvers were so equipped, but your standard .357 Magnums or .38 Specials aren't. If your character is carrying an antique revolver, you'd darn well better mention it before he begins fumbling for the safety.
• Don't (as Dean Koontz once did -- I laughed so hard I dropped the book) show a revolver ejecting "brass." While semi-automatics do eject the bullet casing as each shot is fired, the casing remains in a revolver's cylinder until manually ejected later.
• Don't equip a revolver with a silencer. Yes, silencers are sold to fit revolvers, you'll find ads for them in gun magazines. Why? Beats me. The Texas expression (slightly altered) "useless as mammary glands on a bull" springs to mind. Here's how a silencer works. In a semi-automatic pistol, an explosive blast of hot gas from the muzzle creates the noise of the shot being fired. A silencer captures and dampens this gas. On a revolver, instead of capturing the muzzle blast, a silencer will force most of the gas back down the barrel to the cylinder. There will be a very slight reduction in noise, but not enough to make a difference. And, if the shot is fired in the dark, it will be even more noticeable, because the gasses expelled at the cylinder will cause a bigger flash of light.
If you plan to use a handgun in your fiction, please take the time to research the basics. Unless you're willing to use an extremely generic description, such as: "the gun went boom," it would be wise to pay attention to detail.

Search the Internet. On-line gun clubs abound, most with message boards where questions can be posted. Many firearms manufacturers (Smith & Wesson, Colt, and several others) also boast web sites, where you can view photos of various weapons. Or check out a local gun shop, preferably a small "mom and pop" business. The owner will likely be a collector him/herself, and probably won't mind showing you various makes and models of firearms.

A visit to a gun shop will open your eyes to many things you might not know about handguns. For instance, if you've never held a gun, do so. Heavier than you thought, I'll bet.

When I started police academy, I had been target-shooting for many years, but the very first firearms class brought a revelation. We were lined up and instructed to hold our (unloaded) weapons in a standard two-handed grip, straight out from our bodies. The instructor said he'd let us know when to drop the stance.

Piece of cake, or so we all thought. The first 60 seconds were easy. By the fifth minute of the exercise, our hands were numb, our wrists ached, and our arms quivered. A steel pistol weighs about 40 ounces, while the new polymer-frame handguns average 29 ounces. Doesn't sound very heavy, but try this. Lock your hands together in a fairly tight grip (you don't want a loose grip on a gun, do you?) and hold them straight out in front of you, elbows locked as if you are aiming. Time yourself. When does this position begin to tire you? It won't take long, even with empty hands and no stress.

Now think how many times you've seen a bad guy (or perhaps a good guy) in a movie point a handgun at someone. Actors make it seem effortless -- it isn't. Throw in emotions like anger or fear and consider how much harder will it be for someone to hold a weapon steady with trembling hands and sweaty palms. Remember that when it comes to your characters.

A final word: Despite the title of this article, never "pull" a trigger. Squeeze.

Gun-related links:

Smith & Wesson
http://www.smith-wesson.com/

Colt firearms
http://www.colt.com/html/a_products.html

Glock: not the "official" Glock site, but a good one for weapons specs and pictures
http://isa.dknet.dk/~goran/

Guns.com: has forums, chat rooms, product reviews, and a reference library
http://www.guns.com

-- ED
© 1998 Elizabeth Dearl