Here are some additional ones that I run into:

* Machine guns are illegal.
* Silencers (suppressors) are illegal.
* Shooting a propane tank will make a giant explosion.
* Civilians are less competent with firearms than government employees.
* Shooting out a window on an airliner will take down the plane.
* Teflon coated pistol rounds will penetrate a ballistic vest.

Another myth - guns are edible...



Wait, these are made of ice, so I guess they are edible!

Re: #2. A friend of mine goes to a shooting farm where they practice what might be typical in a gun fight. He also competes in these types of things.

I love those, especially the ones about the suppressors (handguns and rifles with them are still loud), the propane tank (lots of folks think that) and the window on the airliner (that one's been a staple of movies since at least 1970's "Airport," though it actually was more grounded in physics than other depictions of a decompression event. I mean, look at that Aloha Airlines flight in 1988, in which the top forward third of the fuselage's skin peeled away. And a lot of folks believe that gag about teflon-coated bullets. Nope, give me Hydra-Shok hollow points any day of the week. They're really good for zombie Olympics events. ;-)

Both 6 and 2 are certainly not inaccurate, dropped guns can fire and guns are deadly.

Yes and no. Any supersonic bullet will still break the sound barrier and make a crack sound. However, it will do it at the point of impact for the target and point of origin for the shooter. The gas escaping will not make the boom, only the action will make a sound at the source of the gun fire. This prevents triangulation for locating snipers. Now if you have subsonic loads, they are virtually soundless. But most 9mm, some .40 and almost all rifle loads that get you distance are supersonic.

Well, you fight like you train, so the more real-world simulation you can get the better for you if you're in a real gunplay type situation. Adrenalin, confusing tactical pictures, the lack of cover and concealment and so forth all comes into play in these kinds of deals so I can see why #2 would apply. Out in the field we used to secretly laugh at the doctors and nurses running around with their sharp-looking M9s in their nicely polished black leather shoulder holsters because, man, if it ever got down to where we were going to need the help of the nurses with their 9mms to regain the initiative from the enemy putting pressure on their position then we also should think about teaching them all how to throw the damn things at the bad guys because that would probably do more damage. ;-)

* Shooting a propane tank will make a giant explosion.

I was really into 3-gun shooting until I got addicted to triathlons. You adjust to it accordingly. The first few matches and the adrenaline can be overwhelming. But soon you committ your movements to muscle memory. Like fighting in the ring. People always wonder why we taught combinations. Well when you get hit and your plan goes to shit, your primal instincts kick in and go to programmed moves. Funny thing was I started boxing at 8 and got in the ring for the first time at 12. At the age of 16 - 18 I got into kickboxing and then did nothing for a couple years. When I got back in the ring, I went on autopilot and did fine until I got grappled. A legal but annoying move in boxing. Instead of letting the ref break us up, knees and elbows slipped into the action. I was penalized, but it was uninentional. I've always if I was attacked while carrying, how much would all that training and muscle memory take over.

I would generally agree with you about the dropped gun - except I think you should qualify that the gun is at factory settings. I used to shoot ISSF, and you could mod the trigger pull down to 2.25 lbs - about half of a factory setting. I have seen semi-autos dropped and have a single round go off when settings are that light - again safety off, round in chamber and cocked. However that is not your typical setting.

Once when I was doing my first free pistol competition (now there is a tough sport in its own right) I saw a guy lose a round downrange when he set the gun down too hard on the firing table - mind you the trigger pull was under 1/4 lb.

And totally agree with you an the range vs life. I was a good target shot, but god knows you wouldn't want to rely on me in a firefight for all the reasons you mentioned. Maybe after a lot of practice, but not out of the box.

#6 Maybe so but the scene where Walter drops the Uzi in the Big Lebowski is still funny as shit.

The other one I like on the old cops shows: Bad guy with a scoped rifle takes careful aim at the hero, misses, hero pulls out out a .38 with a 2" barrel and drops the bad guy.

Please add "holding a pistol sideways "gangsta style" makes you a killing machine. Even Steven Segal fell for that one.

I've seen low speed .22 bounce back of that particle board stuff when somebody used it as a backer for their target at 25 yards. That was some scary stuff. I heard them shoot and then I heard pings behind my head. I once recall hearing that a propane can or even a fire extinguisher can send a bullet in the wrong direction if the angle is just right/wrong. I know if you hit a full fire extinguisher dead on, it will blow the contents out of the entrance hole. I've seen the aftermath.