Gun Control: A Gun Play Primer
No this is not a political article about gun laws in the US. We’re going to talk about gun play in a BDSM scene.
For those not familiar with it, gun play is typically a subset of fear play. It can refer to any time a gun is used in a scene but there’s not much reason to use a gun other than fear or at least roleplaying fear (such as in a CNC rape play scene). The term gun play applies whether it’s a real gun or a toy/replica/dummy gun. Common ways that guns are included in scenes are as a means to threaten someone and “force” compliance (obviously don’t actually force a non-consenting partner, that’s not BDSM), to instill fear in someone even if they are already bound or otherwise helpless, or sometimes the top might even use the gun to penetrate the bottom.
Most of you probably don’t know this but I’m a bit of a gun enthusiast. I’ve shot everything from single-shot guns to RPGs and machine guns. One of my goals in life is to have my own tank at my house. The reason I mention this is that despite all of that, I have severe reservations about gun play with a real gun.
Pictured Above: A poster for gun safety. Image uploaded by Flikr user Mike under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.
There are four rules that are considered the essential core of gun safety practices:
Treat every firearm as if it were loaded. I know some gun enthusiasts that dislike this wording and prefer to say “Every gun is always loaded.” Either way, the basic idea remains the same.
Never point a gun at anything you aren’t willing to destroy.
Keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to fire.
Be sure of your target, your line of fire, and what is beyond your target (because misses happen and bullets punch through many objects).
Because of those rules, there are some of the problems that I have with using a real firearm:
If you would point a loaded firearm at your partner or anyone who doesn’t present a threat that requires the use of armed self-defense, you should not own a gun.
Most gun play involves pointing the gun at your partner. Are you willing to destroy (i.e. kill) your partner? Though I will say that gun play could be done by displaying the gun without actually pointing it at any part of your partner.
Again, you can have gun play without putting your finger on the trigger (see pic below for the most common trigger control technique) but I think a lot of people would be tempted to put their finger on the trigger to get a stronger reaction.
This kind of goes hand-in-hand with #2. If your partner is not a target then the gun should not be pointed at them. Also, don’t point it at something that is in front of your partner. Bullets will go through a lot more material than many people expect.
Pictured Above: A common way to safely hold a gun while keeping your finger off the trigger. Uploaded by Flikr user Mr.Smashy under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.
You’ll notice that there is nothing in the rules about using a gun safety. There’s a reason for that. Actually there are several reasons for that:
Some guns don’t even have safeties or they have grip and/or trigger safeties that only stop the gun from firing when dropped but do not stop you from pulling the trigger.
It’s extremely rare but there’s always a small chance that a safety could fail.
In the course of moving around, you could accidentally dislodge the safety. Despite being extremely familiar with firearms, this has happened to me on more than one occasion. Fortunately, everything was ok because thanks to following the rules of gun safety, the gun didn’t fire and if it had fired no one would have been hit.
In any case, the gist of it is that while you can certainly make use of a built-in gun safety, you should never rely on it. Always, always, always fall back on the basic rules of gun safety.
So if you shouldn’t use a real gun, how are you going to employ gun play? The most obvious answer is not to use a real gun. Let’s examine some other options:
The absolute safest option is to get a non-firing inert replica. Obviously, you’ll want to go for one that looks somewhat real, not a bright orange plastic toy (though some toys can look pretty real with a coat of paint).
Airsoft guns are probably the next safest option. Airsoft was popularized in Japan where firearm laws are very strict. They fire plastic pellets. Many airsoft guns are replicas of real firearms. Some are plastic but others are metal and are almost indistinguishable from the real thing. However, airsoft pellets can still be painful, can cause damage to the eyes, and can sometimes break skin depending on how powerful the gun is. For this reason, do not point them at the face or particularly sensitive area. Remember, treat the gun as if it is loaded (even if you have unloaded/cleared the weapon).
However, airsoft guns are designed to be shot at people so this is something you can safely point at most parts of the body. You might not even have to pretend that it’s a real gun. Since they are painful they can be used for both pain and fear play. If you are shooting them at a human target, especially a naked one, ensure that sensitive areas like the eyes and groin are protected (eye protection is very cheap and you can find safety glasses at most hardware stores or sports stores).
Next up are BB/pellet guns. These are guns that shoot metal projectiles. While less dangerous than conventional firearms, they aren’t exactly safe, either. They can easily penetrate the skin, they can blind, and they can kill. Another issue is that many models are even more difficult to unload/clear than a conventional firearm. If you use a BB gun or pellet gun, I would suggest that you abide by the same safety rules as you would with a conventional firearm.
https://www.newsweek.com/woman-allegedly-used-pellet-gun-murder-cousin-police-1761144
But some people are going to want to use an actual firearm no matter what I say. So instead of just saying “don’t do it” which isn’t very helpful, I’m going to offer some warnings and tips to make the experience safer:
Any use of a firearm in a scene is edge play. There is no safe form of gun play with a firearm, only varying degrees of more or less safe.
Never ever ever knowingly use a loaded firearm for gun play. You’re already taking a risk by using a firearm, don’t increase that risk with live ammo. At the same time, always remember to treat the gun as loaded even if you have cleared it.
As always, negotiations are key. Make sure that if you intend to use a gun in a scene you explicitly mention that it will be a real gun. Conversely, if you are the bottom and are negotiating gun play, always ask about whether or not the gun is real.
I highly recommend that if you want to use a real gun, have it disabled by a professional gunsmith first.
After having the gun checked, cleared, and disabled, keep it separate from your other guns and do not store it with live ammunition.
Do not use blanks in lieu of live ammo. Blanks are not safe. Blanks can launch debris in the barrel to create projectiles, some have cotton wads that can be dangerous at some ranges, and at close ranges just the pressure and flash from the powder can cause burns or puncture skin. People have died from accidents involving blanks.
Know the gun laws in your area. Gun laws vary all over the world and even within a given country they can change from one jurisdiction to another.
Know how to unload/clear your gun. A very common mistake with magazine-fed weapons is that people will remove the magazine and forget that a bullet is still lodged in the chamber.
No matter what specific item you use as your prop, here are a few simple tips that can help make your play safer and more enjoyable:
Negotiate clearly ahead of time. I’ve included some key points to discuss during negotiation later in this article.
Try to avoid using an actual firearm but do try to find something that resembles a firearm.
Do not mix prop/disabled firearms with real firearms.
Don’t get a prop/disabled gun that mimics a real firearm in your inventory. You don’t want to create the opportunity to mix those up.
Always double check your prop before starting the scene.
Do not pistol whip people. It looks great in movies but it’s not going to go well in real life. Guns are not designed for safe impact against people. You can easily break bones, give someone a concussion, cause tissue damage, etc.
Do not mix alcohol/drugs/anything that impairs your judgment with gun play. This is a common rule for BDSM anyway but it is especially true anytime a gun is involved (or could become involved if you grab the wrong item).
Negotiation
Here are some key points that should be addressed during any negotiation involving gun play:
Will there be an actual firearm involved?
How exactly will the gun be incorporated into the scene?
What effect is the gun intended to achieve? I.e. fear, compliance, pain, prop to enhance role play, penetration.
What safety measures will be in place to mitigate the risks?
Incidents
Never get complacent with a gun. There have been serious incidents even from professionals. Here are some sample cases:
