Gangsta Style: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

* Kirika in ''[[Noir (anime)|Noir]]'' occasionally holds her Beretta M1934 Gangsta Style. (The image on the page for ''[[Noir]]'' shows her doing so.) She fires her gun right-side up most of the time, but holds it horizontally when she runs or is going to run sideways.

* Mukuro from ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'' wields his pistols in the Gangsta style. Notable because the series takes place in feudal Japan the style is [[Anachronism Stew|super anachronistic]]. Of course, the entire show is fully intended to be an [[Anachronism Stew]].

** Even after dying and reanimated, he still does it—and capable of destroying enemies [[Offhand Backhand|without even turning around]] [[Gun Kata|to aim]].

 

* In "Up is Down and Black is White", a [[Story Arc]] in the comic book ''[[The Punisher]]'', Frank Castle (the titular crimefighter) is fired upon by a hoodlum in true Gangsta Style—and each shot misses him by a mile. Once the criminal's magazine is exhausted, Frank calmly walks up to him, says "They put the sights on top for a reason" and shoots him in the head.

* The page illustration is from the ''[[Gen 13]]'' arc "Grunge: The Movie", where writer/artist [[Empowered|Adam Warren]] parodies the tropes of Hong Kong [[Wuxia]] and [[Heroic Bloodshed]] through Grunge's [[Her Codename Was Mary Sue|fantasy movie script]], featuring other Wildstorm characters in supporting roles.

* A dime-store crook tries this in ''[[Ultimate Spider-Man]]''. He misses completely despite being mere feet from Spidey, who actually complains that he didn't get the chance to show off by dodging.

 

 

* In an early example from the [[Western]] film ''[[The Good, the Bad and the Ugly]]'', Tuco finishes off a baddie using this technique, during the famous "When you have to shoot, ''shoot'', don't talk!" scene.

* In ''[[The Mask]]'', when the [[Big Bad|Mafioso]] and one of his mooks fire shot after shot at Ipkiss as The Mask, the mook holds his gun gangsta style while his boss holds it in traditional style. It doesn't make much difference, because the closest either of them gets to hitting him is grazing his pajamas.

* Chris-R does this in ''[[The Room]]'', like any stereotypical Gangster.

* ''[[Battlefield Earth]]'''s villains use guns that are apparently ''designed'' to be shot Gangsta Style. Not surprisingly, they're all [[Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy|terrible shots]].

* In ''[[Date Night]]'', when the Gang Member turned his gun sideways at the couple, the guy who is unfamiliar with this, believes that means its a kill shot.

* The police in ''[[RoboCop]]'', when shooting the titular hero after his brawl with ED-209. This was done (with ''sighted'' weapons, to be precise) in order to prevent hot brass cartridges from flying at the actors.

 

* A street thug employs this style when threatening Jack in one of F. Paul Wilson's ''Repairman Jack'' books. Jack informs him that it's not a very secure grip ... and proceeds to prove it to the hapless lowlife.

* In Roberto Saviano's non-fiction book ''[[wikipedia:Gomorrah (book)|Gomorrah]]'', about the businesses, influence and actions of Camorra (a mafia-like organization active in southern Italy and particularly powerful in Naples) the author explains that one reason for the awkward length of some gang gunfighting throughout the city is that gang members, imitating movies, hold the guns sideways, resulting in poor aim (which combined with fighting behind cover results in nobody hitting each other for a quite long time).

* A character in Christopher Farnsworth's ''The President's Vampire'' turns his gun sideways, counter to what his instructor told him again and again, and the hot casing is ejected into his eye.

* In ''[[1632|1635: A Parcel of Rogues]]'', some of the good guys need to keep the enemy chasing them, but not getting too close. So they're deliberately shooting to miss, and one of them sprays off several shots Gangsta Style, thinking cheerfully, ''Sure, you can't hit shit that way, but if you don't'' '''want''' ''to, it surely is fun.''

 

* Jimmy attempts this in ''[[The Walking Dead (TV series)|The Walking Dead]]'', causing [[Lampshade Hanging|T-Dog to tell him to "cut out that gangsta shit."]] Jimmy stops missing his target after he turns the pistol the right way.

* In an episode of [[Burn Notice]], Michael infiltrates a gang in order to help a member get out without putting his family in danger. When Michael is given a gun in order to rob a dry cleaners, his associate corrects his handling of it, turning the gun sideways. Michael, who is certified on pretty much every firearm known to man, winces appreciably.

* Played with in an episode of ''[[Diagnosis: Murder]]''. [[Dick Van Dyke]]'s character Mark Sloan is at a gun range being shown how to use a pistol. He fires off a few rounds normally (with realistic loudness and recoil) and then asks the man who was showing him whether he could fire it sideways "like on TV", twisting it to the side to show him what he meant. While the instructor starts saying why it's a bad idea, Mark fires the gun anyway by accident and the recoil flings it out of his hand with great ease and force - which creates a big enough diversion for another character to sneak past.

* Ryutaros/Gun Form from ''[[Kamen Rider Den-O]]'' sometimes uses this. Perhaps because this is his preferred style, his aim is terrible. Considering his Chinese Dragon motif, this may actually be a reference to the Chinese example above, rather than Gangstas.

* Daiki Kaito/Kamen Rider Diend from ''[[Kamen Rider Decade]]'' shoots gangsta style just as frequently as he shoots properly (though only out of suit)--his aim is impeccable, either way.

** As it is shown by Decade and Diend, the guns have no recoil so it has no real way to affect your aim other than your own aiming skills. However, what is to be noted is that the Kamen Ride : Blast effect allows those shots to become homing which means that he could fire while pointing anywhere and STILL hit on a dime.

* Ethan in ''[[Power Rangers Dino Thunder]]'' often does this, but no point is ever made of it.

* The leader of the short-lived series "Acapulco Heat" had a variation on this. He held two pistols at once, but fired one normally and the other horizontally, lining them both up at once at a 90-degree angle. This is probably very unwieldy and not at all recommended for use in real life, but it's also the only way you could conceivably try to aim down both sights of two pistols at once while dual-wielding.

* Sometimes done on ''[[The Wire]]'', but anyone (cop or criminal) who actually knows how to use a gun will fire it properly, image be damned.

** Particularly notable in the ''Stray Rounds'' episode when gangsters use their pistols in the most haphazard ways possible (frankly, one of them uses it professionally, up to the point of keeping aim while moving). The result is a prolonged gunfight with a single casualty - {{spoiler|the innocent bystander kid}}.

* On ''[[Party Down]]'', Kyle tries to hold a gun sideways and Roman immediately tells him "no one holds a gun like that".

* In the ''[[Community]]'' episode "[[Community/Recap/S1/E23 Modern Warfare|Modern Warfare]]" a continuity goof has Britta holding a gun Gangsta Style whenever the camera's on her and right way up when it's [[Over the Shoulder]].

* One episode of ''[[Numb3rs]]'' showed two gangsters firing their guns like this. They missed.

 

 

* When [[LEGO]] first released their ''[[Star Wars]]'' line of toys, the battle droids had arms with only sideways hands, which caused them all to be holding their guns in gangsta style. It wasn't until the release of ''[[Revenge of the Sith]]'' that LEGO finally corrected this, but seeing a literal army of "gangsta" battle droids was pretty amusing.

 

* ''[[Phantom of Inferno]]'': Drei holds her pistols like this, owing to her love of dumb action movies. While the man who trained her actually notes that it's totally useless as a marksmanship technique, Drei later moves on to giving her opponent a chance to shoot her, twirling her guns and yelling out catch phrases in the middle of a gunfight, so she's clearly not at all concerned with anything but [[Rule of Cool]] gun-handling techniques. She's sixteen, which might explain it somewhat.

 

* In ''[[Unreal Tournament]]'', the secondary fire of the default Enforcer pistol is to increase the rate-of-fire and turn it sideways; the manual specifically calls it [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|"gangsta style"]]. Pick up a dropped Enforcer, and you can [[Guns Akimbo|double the fun]]. Realistically, (if anything in UT can be called realistic) this does decrease your accuracy.

** The beloved Enforcer returned in ''[[Unreal Tournament 3|Unreal Tournament III]]'' and while there's no dedicated Gangsta Style mode, keeping an opponent in the crosshair long enough will make your character automatically turn his gun(s) sideways.

* In ''[[Rainbow Six]]: Vegas'' and it's sequel, characters do this when using a ballistic shield, so it's not as awkward to fire.

* This can be done in ''Jurassic Park: [[Trespasser]]'', since the game lets you rotate the objects in your hand (including guns) in any manner you liked. It serves no practical purpose and absolutely kills your long range accuracy (assuming you don't line the sights back up), but it does look cool.

* In ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'', the user-created randomizer mode randomly assigns you a class and weapons. If the Medic gets a gun, he holds it this way due to the way he usually holds his [[Healing Shiv|Medigun]].

 

* ''[[The Whiteboard]]'' has Doc customizing a marker so that a customer may shoot in this style.

 

* [[Loading Ready Run|Crapshots]] episode 69: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbhVKbYQv6g The Aim]. Also features increasing amounts of crouching.

* A hilarious video on "how not to shoot" [http://firearmshistory.blogspot.com/2012/10/how-not-to-shoot-firearm.html here], demonstrating the "gangsta grip", the "modified gangsta grip" and the "super modified gangsta grip". The latter also requires to raise the hand as high as possible without major risk of a dislocation from the very first shot's recoil, move it back and forth as if you tried to throw the bullets rather than fire them (it's an important part), use the other hand as a codpiece and [[I Shall Taunt You|shout insults]] - presumably so that ''something'' would have a good chance to hit the target.

 

{{quote|'''Chief Wiggum:''' You can do whatever you like, birthday boy.}}

* In ''[[The Boondocks]]'' Riley is seen doing this with two guns during the opening for seasons 1 & 3.

* R2 shot down a TIE Fighter with a sideways gun in ''[[Family Guy Presents Laugh It Up Fuzzball]]''.

 

* On [[YouTube]], you will actually find several videos of people wielding guns sideways, from [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQM8sEjtr_s random guys with dual 9mm pistols] to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owKowHKhpxQ experts doing it one handed.]

** Also, the expert actually points out that you want to only tilt it slightly sideways, and not completely to the side, and not to have your arm outstretched because it leaves your vital organs open to be shot.

* Occasionally police officers using armoured shields will hold their pistols like this so they can see their sights through the window in the shield. That's about the only time you will see someone competent doing this in real life.

* Members of the United States military are trained to hold their rifles sideways when wearing gas masks, as the design of the mask is too bulky for standard sighting. The M16 has a selectable rear sight with a larger peep hole designed for quick acquisition of targets at shorter ranges or in low-light conditions, however it also makes it easier to use when looking through a gas mask.

* The [[Darwin Awards]] gave an Honorable Mention to a man who attempted to fire a high-power pistol Gangsta Style at a firing range, the recoil causing it to fly back and smack him in the mouth, knocking out several teeth.

* [http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/side_show_doomed_thug_vct6JLQrWau8DRZpdvdaFO December 10, 2009]: fleeing from police through crowded Times Square, scam artist and sometime rapper Raymond "Ready" Martinez draws an Ingram machine pistol, holds it sideways in the best "gangsta" fashion, flips the selector to full auto, and pulls the trigger. The weapon jams after two shots, neither of which hit anyone; police return fire and "Ready's" criminal career comes to [[Suicide by Cop|a swift conclusion.]] Had he held the gun correctly, the jam would have been averted and the loss of life could easily have been much worse.

* The [[Nerf]] N-Strike Deploy CS-6 gun has its targeting light flipped to the ''left'' of the barrel, which may necessitate this. Sure it's got regular sights, but being sponge darts launched at safety speed, the drop in the trajectory makes a targeting light ''below'' the barrel more practical.

** Also, a number of Nerf guns such as the Maverick are cocked using a pistol-style slide after every shot. If the shooter wishes to increase the rate of fire while holding the gun at arm's length, the logical thing to do is to hold it in a gangsta grip, giving the left hand easy access to the slide.

* There actually exists a shooting system in which the firer cants their pistol 45 degrees or more to the side. It is known as Center Axis Relock (CAR) and it is used by many law enforcement, security, and armed forces groups as a method of close quarters shooting. The technique is actually extremely effective for trained shooters and can be applied to rifle and shotgun shooting in close quarters as well. Watch a demonstration [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SASDcZFCXzQ Here]. This technique is SCARY effective at helping the shooter cope with recoil, as seen [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y70mxsqTxrs Here] where a shooter fires a 12-gauge shotgun as though it were a pistol. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_e18qAbQpo Here's] an explanation of the physiological flaws of Gangsta Style and the strengths of CAR.

* Another consideration is that many techniques for disarming a guy with a handgun are meant to be used when the opponent is holding it vertically, and need to be adapted and practiced in order to deal with an opponent holding it in this manner.

 

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