Freeze!

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Why do people, when a gun is pointed at them, just aim a gun back? Wouldn't they just shoot?

Is this an NT thing or just a movie thing?

Don't know. I don't. But then I don't own a gun.

I feel like if I ever wound up pointing a gun at someone, I might think twice before shooting. I don't know, I would probably hesitate. Hopefully the other guy wouldn't shoot, either.

Logically, I guess unless you shoot the other person in the perfect way to immediately incapacitate them, they could shoot you back. So it's kind of a stand-off at first to see if someone will back down.

I've never even touched a real gun though, so what do I know?

In Walker Texas Ranger on at least a couple occasions Chuck Norris did just that.

I would say reasoning for waiting is to get your aim. If you shoot first and miss you likely aren't going to get a chance to shoot back because negotiation/begging/mindgames are over. Other reasons are probably just the thrill of having power over someone's life, letting them take in that they messed with the wrong guy.

I can't really tell you.

It's really just a movie thing, for drama. If you've got a gun and someone else is pointing one at you, damn right you're going to shoot. Otherwise you're giving them complete control of the situation and they can kill you later with no risk to themselves. If you shoot first, you MIGHT die. If you don't shoot, you might still die, but at least with the first choice you have a modicum of control over the situation and you've got the initiative which gives you an advantage.

This is good logic, but for the most part, the whole 'Mexican Standoff' is just a Hollywood cliche - more common on television than in movies.

If you're a bad guy and a cop points a gun at you and tells you to freeze, he's doing so because he is trained not to shoot people impulsively and to give you every opportunity to surrender peacefully. He also understands that if he hesitates too long, it can cost him his life. If you stop running, you have three choices:

1) Pull a gun on a guy who's probably a better shot than you and has already taken aim at you, and take your chances that you can hit him first without aiming at all.

2) Pull a gun on a guy who's already aiming at you and hope you can point it at him before he kills you dead. Then maybe you can stare him down and intimidate him into dropping his gun so you can double-cross him and shoot him.

3) Surrender.

Most people stupid enough to draw on an armed officer get dead. When an armed cop gets shot its usually because he was outnumbered or just didn't see it coming.

In all honesty, most cops are pretty lousy shots, but they're still better than most criminals who have had no training whatsoever. Statistics from police shootings show a police hit average of something like 20-30%. This is because they actually get very little actual shooting practice. The most important thing, though, is that cops are trained to react and are quick on the draw. What they lack in accuracy, they make up for in reaction time and volume of fire.

suspense-building device, like the villain character when cornered 1. confessing everything the protagonist has figured out, and 2. escaping

it's at this point that i usually scream at the protagonist "kill him!!"
they never listen though.

I always thought it was because you're afraid the other person will have time to pull the trigger before you're done shooting them. Like maybe they'll see you tense up or start pulling the trigger and they could have fast reflexes and shoot first, or you'd end up shooting each other at the same time. Or yeah.. if you miss, that would be baaaad.

If someone put me in a situation where I had to point a gun at them then I would not hesitate to shoot them. I would aim for center torso hoping to take out a major organ with the first shot. The only way I would shoot someone would be in defense of family, dogs, or property. God help anyone if they go for any of my collections. If they dropped their weapon I still would shoot them. The only reason they dropped their weapon is because you got the drop on them. If you let them run away somewhere down the line they may harm someone with another weapon. Letting them go I would be plagued with the thought the criminal might have harmed someone else making me somewhat responsible for not ending their reign of thievery and violence preventing the injury or death of some random stranger.

They like to give people time to just stand there and do nothing instead of just killing them. If people stand there totally still, they might not shoot them. So, they yell "Freeze". Nowadays, it might be just a movie thing more than a real life thing. Cops might not warn people at all. They just shoot.