Deliberately Avoiding Guns

I know, this sounds totally ridiculous. I'm writing a murder mystery! But I know absolutely nothing about guns, aside from the fact they shoot people, and maybe some forensic stuff gleaned from Bones. Actually, everything I know is about gunshot wounds and bullets, not guns themselves. And even the bullets I don't know by name.

And I know a bit about snipers, but that's also not relevant to my novel.

And although I'm bludgeoning, strangling and stabbing as opposed to shooting, I do want to know if anyone else thinks this is weird? That I don't bring up guns in a mystery novel? (Incidentally, does anyone know what my detectives would be carrying? They work at Boston PD.)

In seven years of NaNo mysteries, I've used a gun only once, and it was a very unusual sort of gun -- an automatic revolver (yes, they do exist, but there were only about six models ever made). I've used a photocopier, an anvil, a Sikh ceremonial knife, and various other devices, but only the one gun.

It's up to you, if you use guns or not. Like Carol, I don't use them as murder weapons either. I've had people starved, beaten to death, stabbed with scissors, etc. In this year's NaNo, for example, the victim surprises intruders who knock him out, ransack his place and finally set his place on fire where he burned. Yes, I'm a cruel little bugger this year. ;)

Also, you can "kill" people very effectively without even physically killing them, by making them victims of the most heinous crimes, sexual crimes. There, the perpetrators aren't as merciful to kill them, and they have to deal with the aftermath for the rest of their lives. That can be worse than death, for both survivor and relatives, friends, etc.

I think of guns respective shooting someone rather as acheap trick, as it's just so easy to aim and erase a life.

I don't know if that's valid for you, but my detectives (NYPD) use a Sig Sauer P226 respective a Glock 19 as duty weapons. There's a third model for the New Yorker Police, a Smith & Wesson model. But being German myself, I wanted them to use German(Austrian) quality. *innocent smile*

If you call a local gun club or retailer, I guarantee you will get more information than you need. Gun people love to talk about guns.

I, too avoid guns. I use other avenues of death in their place.

Well in my mystery this year the kill uses a knife. I think killing by a gun is so overdone and anyone can do it. I think in my next novel there will be some guns but for this book its knifings :)

Last year I had various murder weapons, from the proverbial blunt object to the gilded picture frame to a bronze statuette. This year is much more hands on, quite literally as the noise of a gun, even with a so-called silencer is too much and my killer (I'm not too certain who it is yet) prefers to make a quiet exit after having done the job more subtly. I also figure that with guns themselves there is often so much more of a focus put on the type and caliber that I would much rather have the results be the issue rather than the gun.

I avoided guns in mine, other than having my police detectives carry them. All my kills except the very first one were knives.

I don't think you need to use guns in your story. My murder weapon was a rock and a dog collar. The person catching the "bad guy" had one, but I didn't describe the type or look, just said that he had one. I didn't think it was necessary, and I do know about guns.

You don't need to be a gun expert to work guns into your stories. A character doesn't have to refer to his "Smith and Wesson .45-caliber Uber Deathdealer Deleuxe with hollow-point bullets and steel-jacketed shells coated in silicone and hot sauce." He could just say, "I took out my .45." Readers will know what a .45 is (and how powerful it is). A little bit of gun research on common websites should answer a lot of questions.

...Or it can just be a menacing looking hand gun.

I have a lot of knives and strangulation. Only one time is a gun used and that is the very end. I just didn't go into detail about what kind of gun. It just becomes clear the guy is shot.

I have a lot of my characters carry guns, but I just refer to them as "his favorite .45" The only person who gets shot is near the end, and he gets sniped, so you don't even see the shooter or the gun.