I am binge watching a TV series about a county sheriff from Wyoming, written by people from NYC and California.
In one episode, the sheriff notices a woman carrying a gun on her hip. She notices him noticing. She explains: It’s Registered.
NO. It ISN’T. Wyoming doesn’t have gun registration. and open carry there is legal without any sort of permit.
Later in the same show, they make a big deal about finding an unregistered handgun under the bed. Again, perfectly legal in Wyoming.
In a previous episode, the murder weapon is assumed to be some variation of 45-70 Govt caliber rifle. It is then described as a caliber from a rare old sniper rifle made by “Sharps”. It was also described as a “Horse Killer” NO! That’s NOT what it is. It’s a common caliber for hunting. It is widely available in every gun shop in Wyoming, not just Antique dealers. You can get them in brand new guns from Marlin and Remington. You can even get pistols chambered in 45-70 (expect a huge fireball). And not a “horse killer” round. Cowboys don’t shoot their horses, unless the horse stops being good at “horsing”. It’s a Buffalo gun. They shot buffalo with it in the old West.
I can understand that California douchebag writers making their big break in Hollywood wouldn’t know about such things. But the internet is right there at their fingertips. If I can look up this stuff up, they can too. And a TV show about enforcing the LAW should take a few basic editorial steps to get it right.
EDIT: They did it again last night. Episode where a cattle truck was highjacked. The highjackers sprayed the truck with bullet holes. the deputy saw the shell casings on the ground and said, “looks like five-fifty six caliber”. No. It isn’t. You can say it as “five point five six” or “Five-five-six” or even “Tow-Two-Three”. But NOT “Five fifty six”. Moron actors just reading the lines on the script and not having any clue at all how to read the numbers they see. Stupid directors don’t correct them because they are reading the same script and it looks right to them. The whole lot of them don’t know anything about guns, Wyoming, or living in the country and should probably hire someone who does.
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I noticed all that too, but I still enjoyed the show. I briefly caught another TV crime drama where some feds were in TX bemoaning the fact that the murder weapon was an un-registered firearm so they couldn’t trace it…or some crap like that.
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As if they ever bemoan not being able to trace knives and blunt objects. Or lack to tracing gunshot wounds when the perp decides to not leave the gun at the scene because they are worth $500 and they might want to use it again some day. Or as if “tracing” doesn’t ever result in talking to a guy with an iron clad alibi who can show he sold the gun or it was stolen from him YEARS ago, because criminals ALWAYS register their guns when the law requires it.
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Still thought it was a good show. I’ve given up (almost) caring if they get the gun issues right, so long as they aren’t blatantly anti-gun but just ignorant.
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Yup, if you swear off all tv shows that get things wrong with respect to guns, you may as well use your TV as a target on your next range trip.
If a show has a good plot and is entertaining, I can forgive a couple of stupid mistakes. I liked Longmire, even though I did notice those things.
I’m also a military (Navy) retiree and it annoys me when they do stupid things related to military stuff as well, but I can forgive them if they aren’t too egregious and the show is otherwise entertaining.
Basically, unless it’s a TV show about making TV shows, I just don’t expect them to get it right regardless of the subject. It’s entertainment, not real life.
But that’s just me. I “get” that some people just don’t like their interests, jobs or history portrayed inaccurately.
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Yes, those errors are annoying. Despite that , I still enjoy the show. One other “gun thing” that bothers me is that Longmire carries his 1911 in condition 2.
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I think 2 is a perfectly valid carry condition for a 1911. I carry in condition 3. I don’t consider condition 4 (no magazine, no round in the chamber) to be a valid carry condition. It is a “transportation” condition. If you add, “locked in the trunk” you can call it “California Carry”. Or DC Carry condition is, “no round in the chamber, no magazine in the well, still in the box at a gun store in Virginia”.
I don’t like condition 2 because to get a round chambered you have to cock the weapon. Then to move the hammer forward, you have to pull the trigger. I instinctively don’t like pulling the trigger on a loaded gun when i am not intending to shoot something. But for those people who like to live dangerously, I say, Go for it:.
Obviously, Longmire isn’t carrying in condition 2 since he is just an actor using a prop pistol with no real ammo. There will always be a cut scene between him carrying his gun and his shooting his gun for him to resolve any lingering disconnects between carry condition and bullet launching.
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Could be worse. I saw this in reality. In Florida, a county sheriff’s department issued a press release about a shooting in which they noted that the handgun was registered to the shooter.
In Florida, registering firearms is a felony. I pointed that out to them, and mentioned I sent that press release to the state AG.
The department explained it away as “No, we don’t have a registry. We just thought that was the best way to describe it as lawfully owned.” And they edited the press release on their web site.
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