Dear "Castle" writers:

[agilebrit]

You know I love you.

But.

I'm pretty sure that a guy who's been committed numerous times would not be able to legally buy a firearm in a regular gun store under Federal law, not to mention New Jersey's much more stringent firearms laws. You have to actually possess a state permit to purchase a long gun (or any kind of gun, for that matter) in NJ.

If I look them up for a recreational roleplay line (and, yes, I had to look up the laws, specifically, of New Jersey, since that's where our characters traveled to), and can find the information in five minutes, surely you guys can also look them up for your professionally-produced TV show.

Just sayin'. I hate when TV shows are sloppy like that, especially when they're spreading misconceptions over an issue that there's enough misconceptions about.

Comments

[bojojoti.livejournal.com]

Hollywood and guns in general are not an intelligent mix, like shooters who are shoulder to shoulder emptying their magazines while they calmly talk to one another in a conversational tone. One, they would have to shout to hear one another; two, they would be deaf in no time at all; and three, there is never any kickback from the largest caliber weapon.

[werewolf-hacker.livejournal.com]

One of my favorite parts of my novelthing is when Alex grabs his gun case, and there's a note he left inside for himself that says "hearing protection, dumbass." That stuff is serious and it is always always ignored.

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

I love it!! :-D

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

There was a lot that was sloppy about that episode, I thought. Exciting, but sloppy.

[werewolf-hacker.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was more about Beckett's inner conflict than the technical aspects of buying a gun in NJ, but still. If I can look up the laws for an RP line, and then make it work anyway (by the simple virtue of having my guy not buy a gun when he got to NJ), then so can they--especially since they have a team of writers who can work through knotty plot problems together.

Yes, I realize I'm logged in as Ben. :p

[dragonflymuse.livejournal.com]

I thought it was established that the actual crazy guy wasn't the one who bought the gun, but rather, it was the driver in disguise. Plus didn't they discover from the gun shop that all the information provided was false? Considering the person financing the hit, it is plausible to conclude that a credible amount of falsified identity info could be created to procure a gun, in order to create the frame for said crazy dude.

As for issues with the factuality of how things are done in Jersey to get a gun, there is a long established precedent in the creative arts of taking reality only so far and not showing everything that it takes to make a bomb, buy a firearm illegally, and so forth, so that viewers cannot copy what they see onscreen and get functional devices/guns/etc.

But then again maybe I missed something whilst watching the episode. Maybe the flaws were there intentionally to create the reasonable doubt with Beckett that they had the right bad guy.

[werewolf-hacker.livejournal.com]

I think it was the driver who'd done all that, but he still used the other guy's identity to do it (because they traced the purchase to him), and the mandatory background check would have caught the fact that he'd been committed. The impression I got was that he'd purchased the gun legally (which is not difficult in the US once you jump through a couple of hoops, so there's no need to fudge anything there), and that just would not have happened.

I'm more irritated with the sloppy writing than anything else. These writers are supposed to be professionals, and I expect more out of them, I guess.

...and I just realized that I'm logged in under Ben's account, and I'm too lazy to switch now.

[dragonflymuse.livejournal.com]

I think it was the driver who'd done all that, but he still used the other guy's identity to do it (because they traced the purchase to him), and the mandatory background check would have caught the fact that he'd been committed.

Maybe I misinterpreted that; I thought driver guy just dressed like crazy guy and all the info was false, as in never used MacManus' name. I thought they only got a name on crazy guy from tracking the hat, which led them to his former place of employment, where I remember is the first time they use crazy guy's name.

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

... now I need to re-watch the ep. I could have sworn that they got the guy's name from the gun purchase.