What about “Non Guns” and Cap Guns?

There are replicas of firearms that can make a sound but do not use blanks. Known generally as non-guns, they were supposed to be the final savior for all performers needing to safely fire a weapon. For film use, they’ve been acceptable. Unfortunately for theatre, the hype was greater than the reward, so I don’t carry them.

Non-guns are battery operated devises that electronically ignite pre-packaged squibs within the housing of the replica. Squibs are very small explosive charges used for a variety of pyrotechnic effects. In the case of a non-gun, an electric circuit is completed when the trigger of the replica is squeezed, causing the squib hidden inside to explode. Depending on the manufacturer, there might be some flash visible from the barrel.

Because the squib can be packaged using a very small amount of explosive, non-guns are considerably more safe than what has been the film industry standard – using unmodified real guns loaded with blanks. Film makers want the muzzle flash, so have no use for block-barreled guns that are standard for stage. But non-guns have five big drawbacks:

**  They are not safer than using block-barreled stage replicas firing blanks. The general rule always applies – if you can see a flash, you are exposed to hot expanding gases. Hot expanding gases push solid things out of their way, and if that is the skin of your arm or your partner’s retina, that flesh is going to lose. And the flash can also propel an accidental pebble or splinter, turning it into a projectile as dangerous as a bullet.

**  Squibs are explosives, and most fire marshals require someone to have a pyrotechnic license in order to handle them. Squibs are also more dangerous than blanks when not inside the replica, and explode more easily when exposed to high heat or static electricity.

**  Non-guns are less expensive to rent than real guns, but far more than block-barreled stage guns. Non-guns are, for the most part, financially out of reach for most theatres.

** Electrically activated squibs are prone to failure at any time, and nowhere more so than in non-guns. All of the components need to be made smaller than for regular pyro effects, for the charges, the wiring, and the battery must all fit inside the replica. So the thin wiring can crack, the connections loosen, and the battery lose its charge. The non-guns are temperamental enough that they are used only for the scenes where the film actor actually has to fire the gun. For running around, drawing from the holster and general use, identical dummy guns are used.

**  In the event that a mis-fire from a non-gun takes place, the actor has no recourse. On a film set, it simply means that they can take a break, fix the problem, and do another take. Not possible on stage, of course, and the actor can’t just pull the trigger to go to the next blank the way she could with a stage firing revolver.

Non-guns also have limitations for film. The replicas are solid shells with no moving parts, so there is no way to pretend to load the gun, no brass cases ejecting after each shot of a semi-auto or automatic weapons, no movement of the carriage of a semi-auto or turn of the chamber on a revolver, etc. For many productions, four sets of guns are needed – a completely inert solid model (for dropping, etc.), a hollow replica (for running around, so it doesn’t pull on the holster), a non-firing working prop (to pretend to load, cock the hammer, work the action), and then the non-gun (for firing and muzzle flash). After an initial excitement, the major studios are are turning away from non-guns and going back to real guns. Younger directors will often go with completely inert replicas, feeling comfortable with computer-generated imagery adding muzzle flash and sound in post-production.

Cap guns are toy guns. They fire differently than do real guns, or blank-fire guns, or even percussion “ball and cap” guns. They are also not intended for stage use.

For some reason, many people have gotten the idea that cap guns are a safer alternative to blank guns, possibly because they assume that something that is given to children to play with is automatically safe. Sorry, not true.

Cap guns fire a small amount of a fulminate material – not gunpowder, but close. Sometimes it is set off by direct friction, and other times by striking a very small primer. As such, the term “cap” is actually a misnomer, for they really are small blank charges. A real cap is supposed to have only the primer, no explosive compound. By calling the toy gun explosives “caps”, they (and the toys used to fire them) are not restricted by the many laws meant to ensure user safety.

Some theatres have misunderstood the dangers of firing guns onstage and have implemented rules requiring only the use of cap guns instead of blanks. Whenever and wherever I go I try to get these theatres to immediately change such a stupid rule before an actor loses an eye and the theatre is faced with a multi-million dollar lawsuit. Cap guns should be banned from all use, and certainly should never be fired for a show.

It is true that, because these toy caps are packaged using a very small amount of explosive, the level of hot burning gases is very small compared to many blanks. But cap guns have a few big drawbacks for stage:

** They are not safer than using block-barreled stage replica guns firing blanks. Unlike other guns, toy cap guns fire their explosive right at the point where the hammer strikes the gun frame, rather than inside a thick walled chamber. The explosion can and does go in many directions, including back toward the face of the shooter.

** Toy caps themselves are made of very weak materials, usually thin plastic or paper. These can fragment on firing and continue to burn, and the small explosion can propel them quite a distance.

** The cap guns from which they are fired are also made of weak materials, and break down quickly, leading to misfire rates much higher than that of blank-fire guns.

** Metal from the hammer and gun frame can also fragment and splinter. When they get caught in the expanding force of the cap fire, they turn into tiny little pieces of shrapnel.

Scare yourself some day and look online at the permanent injuries caused by toy cap guns. Why in the world these things are considered safe for children is beyond me, but that is not my concern. I do know that they should never be put in the hands of actors.