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In movies and television, a locked door, or a padlock on a cage is never an impediment so long as the Hero has bullets to spare. One or two shots is generally enough to destroy the lock, allowing the door to open.
 
Unfortunately, in real life—as shown by the ''[[Myth BustersMythBusters]]''—this requires a high powered gun (such as a massive .357 Magnum pistol) at close range, which causes lots of very dangerous shrapnel. Only SWAT teams and soldiers ever do this in real life, and it involves a shotgun, Kevlar body armor, specialized ammunition (a powdered metal breaching round, often jokingly referred to as "Avon Calling"), and full face protection. Even then, the goal is not specifically to destroy the lock, but to destroy the surrounding door or the hinges. The old standby "entry tool" (a small battering ram) is a better choice in most situations. That or a good, hard kick on an especially flimsy door. (The [[Myth BustersMythBusters]] have done that one, too.)
 
Attempts to shoot the lock mechanism itself tend to leave the distorted metal jammed in place while the bolt or latch remains closed. In effect, it is actually ''more'' locked than if you had left it alone.
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== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* The above-mentioned ''[[Myth BustersMythBusters]]'' episode, where they determined that the average handgun would not destroy a lock, and that doing so with higher-powered guns was not particularly safe.
* Called out by ''[[MacGyver]]'' in "The Wish Child", where Mac, being a [[Technical Pacifist]], explains that shooting a lock won't work. Instead, he empties powder from a cartridge into the lock, then clubs the shell casing with the gun to blow up the lock from the inside.
** And the Mythbusters recently demonstrated that this won't work either. There isn't enough powder in one cartridge (or even six) to sufficiently damage the lock.
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* ''[[The Goodies]]''. In "UF-Friend or UFO" Bill is being chased by what he thinks is an alien, but Tim won't let him in the door, so he orders Graham's robot to open it. The robot promptly disintegrates the door, so Bill can't lock it after him.
* Jack Bauer does it in the premiere of the eighth season of ''[[24]]''.
* Used in the ''[[Flash Forward 2009|FlashForward]]'' series - to be fair, it was a padlock, and it was shot from point blank range, so it was quite realistic.
* Done somewhat ridiculously in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' new series episode "Partners in Crime". A couple of guards try to chase Donna through a locked door. It should be noted she's well out of the way at this point, so it's definitely the door they're shooting. Armed with high-powered assault rifles, they just unload randomly on the door, perforating the entire middle section. They succeed in managing to shoot the handle off... then the door just falls off like they blasted the hinges.
* ''[[Kojak]]'' used a shotgun to blow off the hinges.
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[[Category:Guns and Gunplay Tropes]]
[[Category:Guns Do Not Work That Way]]
[[Category:Shoot Out the Lock]]▼
[[Category:Tropes Examined by the Mythbusters]]
▲[[Category:Shoot Out the Lock{{PAGENAME}}]]
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