Fired a gun for the first time today. It was a blank-firing Glock with quarter-charge ammunition and was for Steve and Idi at Rattlestick. Even with only a quarter-charge of gunpowder, it was really loud.
Alas, the Glock throws the spent casings in a twenty-foot arc, which lands them squarely in the audience. I’m taking it back in the morning for a revolver.
As part of the rental package, they give a tutorial on handling the gun. Included in the tutorial are instructions for what to do if stopped by a police officer while carrying the gun to the theater.
If stopped:
Keep your hands clear and visible. State calmly, “I have a blank-firing gun in my bag. I will let you open it. The receipt is in the case along with quarter-charge ammo. The gun is not loaded.” And then, don’t move until given the okay.
I’m hoping I don’t have to use those instructions.
I’m just shocked it came with the rental package (as if saying “hey, since you’re in this kind of neighborhood, you’d better be prepared for this…”).
Well, it is New York and the cops do random checks of bags if you are heading for a subway.
It’s also a verbal instruction, not like they had it printed up on a piece of paper.
Wow. I hope you don’t get to use those, either.
(I once had a bit of a narrow brush with a security while carrying a holster, and it was not fun–so I don’t want to imagine what they’ll do if you have a gun)
No kidding. This is more stressful than the axe, which was kind of fun.
And what does the tutorial say you should do if stopped by a mugger?
No, but that would be an interesting question to ask.
And, the casing that is ejected in that lovely twenty foot arc is also quite hot. I discovered just how hot casings could be when I was doing the last round of qualifying (with my own Glock) when I went through the police academy. I was on track to win the shooting trophy, and midway through one of the sections where the shooter has to fire 7 rounds in 6 seconds (with accuracy, of course,) one of the casings ejected back, bounced off my safety glasses, and dropped right down my shirt, lodging in my cleavage. I shrieked, grabbed the front of my shirt to try and get the searing metal away from my flesh (unsuccessfully) and kept shooting. I ended up with two very small burn scars in my cleavage area (which have since faded) and the shooting trophy.
With quarter-charge it’s just warm, but still. It was asking for an audience member to have a heart attack. Gun fires, piece of metal flies at audience…
The picture of you with hot casing in your cleavage is hilarious.
My first thoughts were, “that would be a cool play: bullet shell casings flying into the audience; talk about the added excitement!”
…the the lawyers showed up. 🙁
Yeah, it looks great but… lawyers.
That’s pretty smart of them to include those instructions. I also hope you don’t need them (you’ve never said you’re prone to being stopped by the police, but there is the irony of it happening when you’re carrying a blank gun).
Most people don’t realize how loud a gun sounds when fired indoors, what with all those sound waves bouncing around. When I crewed a Michael Reed play years back, I used a Ruger .22 with blanks, which didn’t have enough power to cycle the slide, but still made an impressive bang. Ah, good times….
It was shocking, and only a quarter of the sound that a bullet would have made.
When dealing with any firearm, and ammunition, hearing protection should always be used. Unfortunately, I have tinnitus, as a result of a gunfight inside a building, without benefit of ear protection.
For Diana, when using a semi-automatic firearm, a good choice of clothing would be something with a tight neck to keep those casings away from such delicate areas. 😉
In a play, unfortunately, the actors won’t be able to wear hearing protection because it would hamper them for the rest of the scene.
Oh. It’s for a play. Well, sounds to me like you need one of those Hollywood guns, similar to what I saw used in an episode of “The Closer.” It looked like a Beretta M9, 9mm. But, something about it struck me funny as I was watching the police character shoot the bad guy. Fortunately, I had taped it, as I usually work nights when that show is on, and so I re-ran that scene a few times until I realized, that when there was flame from the gun, the slide did not cycle, through about 2-4 shots from this “pistol.” Too bad you can’t get one of those, then there’d be no issue with a shell casing.
Well, it’s not like I was wearing something extremely low-cut. (I was, after all, going through the Academy!) I think it was just a v-neck t-shirt, but the casing took on a very freakish trajectory after hitting my glasses (and that, boys and girls, is why you always wear eye-protection!) and plunged straight down.
But yes, from then on I always made sure to wear a high-necked shirt. 🙂
And you still took the prize. You are wonder woman.
I have to say, I am amazed that you still managed to take the top shooting prize, under such circumstances. My hat is off to you. 🙂
In re the casing, you could always flip the blocking around so that the casing is ejected upstage rather than down. …Okay, just getting a revolver sounds like less of a hassle. With a casing upstage, you’re just cruising for it to lie flat and ready to roll the instant an actor steps on it. Which would be hilarious! But probably not the sort of hilarious that’s appropriate for the work in question.
We tried a couple of different options before giving up on the gun. He fires it stage left and stage right, so there’s no good way to avoid the casing. We even tried “gansta” style, with the gun held sideways, but the casing just ricocheted into the audience then.
I hope you don’t have to use them either….then again, if you’d been a guy, you wouldn’t even have read them.
I do get routinely stopped at the airport for additional security screening. I guess people can just see my evil.
I’m not sure the exact laws regarding transporting of firearms in NYC on public transportation— but isn’t it technically concealed-carry?
It’s been modified so it’s not a firearm but it looks like one.
“No officer, I’m in theatre I SWEAR!”
At least I wasn’t traveling with the gun and a dismembered body part. THAT would have been interesting.
“At least I wasn’t traveling with the gun and a dismembered body part. THAT would have been interesting.”
You meant a dismembered body part prop right? Of course you did…
*suspicious*
Heh, I was referring specifically to this not-safe-for-work post.
First firearm? I thought you were a Southern girl 😉
One assumes that the barrel is mostly plugged, thus providing the pressure to cycle the action.
I don’t like them. Loud. Dangerous. You know…
There’s a stop in the barrel and the chambers to prevent fragments from exiting, but which allows it to vent fire and gas so you get the muzzle flash.
>> I don’t like them. Loud. Dangerous.
Southern girls?
Sounds intriguing. . . .
Puppeteers with Guns would be a great name for a rock band. 🙂 I can just imagine getting caught with that by the police. Even with the instructions I would think it would be a scary situation.
That would be a good name. If you form it, I’ll come listen to you.
So, you fired a Glock, Mary? Was it a Glock 18 or Glock 17? I heard they can carry a lot of ammunition.
Lordy, I’ve got no idea. The clip did look like it would have held a lot, but we only put three bullets in at a time, because that’s all that would have been fired onstage during the show. And they were also only quarter-charge blanks.