Throw Up Your Hands, We Want Your Bullets!

Battle reenactments occasionally attract some intelligent history buffs. They also tend to attract irresponsible, mindless dolts.

A reenactment of an Old West street gunfight got a bit too real in a US town. The incident went down on Sunday in Tombstone, as members of the Tombstone Vigilantes played out a gunfight before some 1,000 tourists.

Tombstone Marshall Bob Randall [said] one of the actors had arrived late for the show and failed to have his gun checked - to make sure it had blank bullets - before he faced off with a fellow actor.

"When Tom Carter fired his gun, Ken Curtis fell to the ground," Randall said. "He was shot in the lower groin area."

A woman watching the show was also grazed in the neck by a bullet but refused medical care and additional bullet fragments struck nearby buildings.

Thanks to this jackass, the gunfight reenactments have been suspended until further notice.

We were in Arizona in 2006 visiting my friend Kevin. The weather was gorgeous - hot, sunny days. All I wanted to do was see the reenactment, and when we went to Tombstone, it was canceled... because of rain.

5 Great Movie Gunfights

I'm in a movie kind of mood today, and I've been thinking about some of the more entertaining film gunfights. (After all, this blog is called Support Your Local Gunfighter.) I have a few favorites I'd like to share, but I also have a caveat: these scenes are total Hollywood. I did not discriminate between what is realistic or what is pure bunk. Entertainment value is my main concern here. So, fill your magazine and have your eye and ear protection in place. Here we go . . .

Heat, The Bank Robbery - The penultimate gunfight in all of cinema (in my humble opinion). DeNiro and his gang are leaving the bank at the exact moment Pacino and his cops arrive. Mayhem ensues. Strangely enough, a real-life version of this battle took place on the streets of L.A. not too long after.

The Matrix, Lobby Scene - Is there a person alive who hasn't watched this scene a hundred times? I can quote dialogue verbatim and let you know the exact moment that Carrie Anne Moss walks up the wall. Bonus points for wanton destruction before the elevator bomb goes off!

The Professional, Serving The Warrant - At the end of the film, psycho cop Stansfield (Gary Oldman) takes Natalie Portman hostage and brings the entire NYPD to Leon's apartment to serve a warrant. Leon, a hitman, plucks off Oldman's men one by one until they release Portman - just in time for the SWAT team to fire a missile inside the building! Classic!!

Stansfield: "Manny, bring me everyone."
Manny: "Everyone?"
Stansfield: (Screaming) "EVVVRYYYONE!!!"

Black Hawk Down, Sniper Rescue - Okay, this whole film is a gunfight, but there is one scene that stands above the rest. Delta snipers Gordon and Shughart volunteer to secure Mike Durant's chopper crash site as the entire city rains upon him. The snipers know it's a suicide mission, but they do it anyway. What makes this so extraordinary is that the story is true. Gordon and Shughart lost their lives saving Durant, and were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously.

Tombstone, Holliday Versus Ringo - I know. The gunfight at the O.K. Corral was terrific, but I like this showdown better. Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer) and Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn) finally get the chance "to play for blood." Although the scene is short, it is totally kickass!

Well, there ya go. I'm sure I missed some great ones, and if I did I'm sure you guys will let me have it.