Pants-Positive Safety: Difference between revisions

'''Samantha Caine:''' It makes a bulge, people can see.

'''Mitch:''' Ya want me to stick it in my pants and [[Groin Attack|shoot my damn dick off]]?

 

When a character stores or conceals a weapon, typically a gun, in a place which is not suited for such a purpose, typically the waistband or sometimes pocket of his/her pants. There, or loose in a civilian briefcase. Anywhere but a holster. Often as not, the safety isn't on and the gun is loaded, too. Perhaps it's another source of the term [[Double Entendre|"going off half-cocked"]].

 

Subtrope of [[Artistic License Gun Safety]]. See also [[I Just Shot Marvin in the Face]], [[Hidden Weapons]], [[Trouser Space]], [[Unorthodox Holstering]], and [[Victoria's Secret Compartment]].

{{examples}}

* In the ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' manga, Edward Elric spends an entire arc with a borrowed handgun shoved into the back of his belt. There are no mishaps, {{spoiler|although it's so [[Squick|clotted with blood]] by the time he gets out of Gluttony's stomach-dimension that Hawkeye has to take it apart completely and clean it. In retrospect, this may at least have helped prevent misfires.}}

* Heero in ''[[Gundam Wing]]'' usually keeps a pistol tucked into the back of his bicycle shorts. Oddly, although the top half is often visible, [[Trouser Space|the barrel rarely makes a visible bulge in the tight material]].

** The smuggling pilot that knows the location of where he dropped off a russian that wanted to kill Michael did this. Fionna then calmly walks over to him, grabs his gun, and orders him to come with her or "you will lose your two closest friends". It worked.

* Hoobler in ''[[Band of Brothers]]'' had been trying to get hold of a Luger for months. He was pretty excited when he finally managed to commandeer one, only to go and shoot himself in the leg with it a bit later and bleed to death. While the series was [[Based on a True Story|based on true stories]], it is more commonly believed that the real Hoobler died when his service rifle snagged on barbed wire.

* A lot of characters regularly keep their guns concealed down the front of their pants on ''[[The Wire]]''. One episode in particular features Omar Little, having to go out first thing in the morning but unwilling to go to the effort to get dressed, attempting to conceal a handgun in his baggy, silk pyjama pants, before apparently realising that this won't work, and deciding against bringing his gun at all.

* Dr Watson in the BBC's 2010 ''[[Sherlock]]'' sticks the [[Chekhov's Gun|gun he keeps in his desk drawer]] in the back of his waistband. He's an army doctor apparently recovering from a gunshot wound... really, he should know better. Later Sherlock puts it in his trouser pocket.