"I've got a gun, and I'm not afraid to use it!"

Mon Jul 5 20:59:51 UTC 2004

   Calm down.  Just a phrase.  I don't have a gun.  Actually, I've got 
Microsoft Windows and I'm completely afraid to use it.    

(GOOGLE ANSWERS)
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=369023

Subject: for pinkfreud-ga only, "I've got a gun and..." 
Category: Arts and Entertainment > Movies and Film 
Asked by: mathtalk-ga 
List Price: $50.00  Posted: 02 Jul 2004 12:38 PDT 
Expires: 01 Aug 2004 12:38 PDT 
Question ID: 369023 

"...I'm not afraid to use it."

This line has been used to humorous effect, but my aging brain cells cannot 
recall its original context.  I think it was an action movie,and the villain, 
who is getting the upperhand on the hero, is threatened by the heroine with 
this line.  (I believe it turns out sheis too afraid to use the weapon 
effectively, but somehow the momentary distraction turns the tide.)

Please, pinkfreud, recall for me my lost (suppressed?) memories &soothe my 
anxieties...

deepest,
mathtalk-ga 

Subject: Re: for pinkfreud-ga only, "I've got a gun and..." 
Answered By: pinkfreud-ga on 03 Jul 2004 14:28 PDT 
Rated:      
Dearest MT,

Sometimes a Google search can become an obsession.

Yesterday, today, and even as I slept, I have tried to track down a filmic 
source for the line "I've got a gun and I'm not afraid to useit" (or variants 
such as "I have a gun and I know how to use it.")

While I found umpty-jillion references to the line, not one was fromanything 
resembling an original source such as a classic film noir, anold radio drama, 
or a Sam Spade-type hard-boiled detective novel (oreven a Nero Wolfe-type 
deep-fat-fried detective novel). Doggone it, Iwas hoping for Dashiell Hammett or 
Raymond Chandler. Woulda settled for Mickey Spillane. But, as far as old 
sources go, I came up withzilch. El zippo. Diddly. Zeroni. Bupkis. Nada. To sum up, 
I got plenty o' nuttin'.

It is my belief that "I've got a gun and I'm not afraid to use it" isa recent 
coinage that *sounds* like a line from an old movie, but isn't. Rather, it is 
a condensation of the sort of stereotypicalutterances that one associates 
with vintage melodramas of the Bogartilk. Campbell's Cream of Mock Cliché. 
Mmmm-mmmm good.    (...)

Recent coinage?

Why do these guys always look on Google?  Are they not allowed to use books 
or to check databases?  Doesn't the correct answer come before the Google 
product plug?

It pre-dates the movies...By the way, $50 is about half of my etymology earnin
gs FOR MY ENTIRE LIFE.

(WWW.NEWSPAPERARCHIVE.COM)    
 Syracuse Herald    Sunday, February 18, 1906 Syracuse, New York    
...was since. in her pocket and was not AFRAID TO USE IT.' Who Jimmy the But 
he.....TO his fancied you promise TO explain TO IT was. TO do that you came 
here TO..  
Pg. 6, col. 3:  "But that was absurd, too, since, admittedly, she had a 
pistol in her pocket and was not afraid to use it."

   Indianapolis Star    Friday, July 11, 1913 Indianapolis, Indiana     
...revolver in my pocket and I'm not AFRAID TO USE IT.' was then that 
the.....Winters of .Newcastle, wITh fraudulent USE of the miills, IT IS charged 
thai..
(The date appears to read 1918, not 1913--ed.)
Pg. 5, col. 1:  "At this the young man in front said: 'I am not looking for 
trouble, but if you want it I warn you that I have a loaded revolver in my 
pocket and I'm not afraid to use it.'"

 Van Wert Daily Bulletin    Wednesday, March 30, 1932 Van Wert, Ohio    
...extra guard. I have a gun and I'm not AFRAID TO USE IT." Mr. Sands 
smiled.....by advance' by employment and USE of materials, TO aU the country. The.. 
(DAILY SHORT STORY  "CALL ME POP" by Francis Paul Pyne--ed.)
Pg. 4, col. 2:  "Please, if you don't mind, Mr. Sands, I'd like to do this 
last job myself and without an extra guard.  I have a gun and I'm not afraid to 
use it."

 Monessen Daily Independent     Friday, November 22, 1935 Monessen, 
Pennsylvania  
...gun wITh a silencer and that he's not AFRAID TO USE IT." He began TO pace 
the.....on the floor and then fired a shot at IT TO slow that he's got a..   
Pg. 13, col. 1:
(From THE LEATHER MASTERS by John Nicholas--ed.)
"He sneaked into this room, put the paper on the floor and then fired a shot 
at it to show that he's got a gun with a silencer and that he's not afraid to 
use it."

   Council Bluffs Nonpareil     Thursday, November 27, 1952 Council Bluffs, 
Iowa 
...read: "I have a gun and I'm not AFRAID TO USE IT; Put 10s, 20s and 100s in 
this.....orally: "Put in more 100s; I'm not AFRAID TO USE this Teller 
Josephine.. 
Pg. 10, col. 6: 
_Grandma Strikes_
_Again; Gets $267_
_from Bank in L.A._
   LOS ANGELES, AP--Grandma has struck for the third time, pulled another 
bank holdup and made a clean getaway.
   Los Angeles gray-haired, cap pistol-totin' bandit shoved a note into a 
teller's cage Wednesday.  It read: "I have a gun and I'm not afraid to use it.  
Put 10s, 20s amd 100s in this sack."  And Grandma added, orally:  "Put in more 
100s; I'm not afraid to use this gun."

 Lowell Sun     Tuesday, May 12, 1953 Lowell, Massachusetts     
...TO me. I have a gun and I'm not AFRAID TO USE -IT." Not believing what she 
read.....presented TO the enemy "shortly and I USE the word advisedly." Pope 
Calls for..  
Pg. 1, Col. 3:  Miss Aldrich took the proffered note and becaem 
terror-stricken when she read its contents.
   "This is a stickup," it read, "put the money in the folder and hand it to 
me.  I have a gun and I'm not afraid to use it."   

   Edwardsville Intelligencer   Tuesday, November 22, 1955 Edwardsville, 
Illinois 
...she stared, not understanding. I'm not AFRAID TO USE IT; bul I don't want 
any.....days. I've kept IT well hidden. Here USE Dan TOok the gun He held IT, 
felt..    
 Nevada State Journal   Sunday, August 01, 1965 Reno, Nevada    
...LOOK vou TAKE THIS, JUST IN CASE YOU KNOW HOW .TO USE ONE OF THESE? 
WHY.....MINT HUH GIT PAROLED. FREE. 'FOR6 KNOW IT.' STRAHGE. TWASmesmC STRANGE..   
LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE
POLICEMAN (handing a  gun to a grandma):  LOOK!  YOU TAKE THIS JUST IN CASE!  
YOU KNOW HOW TO USE ONE OF THESE?

 Walla Walla Union Bulletin     Thursday, November 18, 1965 Walla Walla, 
Washington   
...of public 'I've go a gun and I'm not AFRAID TO USE IT-' Fired Mora 
Shots.....Robinson, 16, who said he wanted TO go TO Cuba TO help anti-Castro..  

   Fond Du Lac Commonwealth Reporter    Thursday, November 18, 1965 Fond Du 
Lac, Wisconsin    
...he said: 'I've got a gun and I'm not AFRAID TO USE IT.' "Then he fired 
three.....1.35-50; Wisconsin medium yillow jwhat IT was supposed TO be TO i room 
and a..  

 Stevens Point Daily Journal    Thursday, November 18, 1965 Stevens Point, 
Wisconsin  
...he said: I've got a gun and I'm not AFRAID TO USE IT.' "Then he fired 
three.....just north of the village and plans TO USE the FHA funds TO construct a 
nine..   

(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)
   WELL DONE, SHERIFF WHITLOCK.
Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1963). Chicago, Ill.: Jul 27, 1903. p. 6 (1 page) 
:
   A Danville mob is quite as dangerous as a Belleville one, but it ran up 
against a determined sheriff who had a riot gun and who was not afraid to use 
it.

   LAWYER RAVES IN CELL.; FEDERAL ATTORNEY BECOMES VIOLENT AND ATTACKS MAN. 
Attacks Man in Street. Threatens a Policeman. 
Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1963). Chicago, Ill.: Feb 24, 1905. p. 2 (1 
page):
   "'You don't look good to me,' he said, and caught me one under the jaw.  
'Look out, ' I says; 'I've got a gun here, and I'm not afraid to use it on you, 
either.'"