In 1974, John Wayne made a film, ‘McQ’ (1974). In it he plays Lon McQ, a Seattle police detective who crosses paths with the mob and their drug operation and dirty cops.
What’s this have to do with the Second Amendment? Bear with me a moment and I think you’ll see. As I watched this the other night- it’s my favorite detective film, and some things occurred to me.
Without giving the whole movie away, in the beginning, Duke’s leaving his home, and is ambushed by a hit man. Duke draws his duty side arm, a Colt Python 4″ barrel, using two hands, and cocking the hammer, taking aim… One shot, and the hit man falls dead, but Duke cocks the hammer again, keeping his aim on him for a moment.
Duke checks to see he’s dead, and the patrolmen show up. He’s forced to turn in his 4″ Python for the inquest. And we see him grab his duty backup side arm, a 2.5″ Python from his car, he pulls back on the cylinder release and checks to see it’s loaded, and then stuffs it in his holster on his belt.
Later, due to the police bureaucracy getting in the way of solving murders, Duke resigns. He turns in his badge, his cuffs, and… His 2.5″ Python.
Later we see him, at his home, grabbing and a S&W M36, and as before, he pushes on the cylinder release and checks to make sure it’s loaded and stuffs it in a different holster. And he goes hunting, under the cover of being a private detective, working for a friends agency.
There’s a shootout with the mob. Duke uses his M36, no one gets shot, but the police confiscate the M36 anyway and tell Duke his “permit’s been revoked”.
So, Duke undeterred goes to a gun store, and buys a Browning Hi Power. We actually see him filling out a 4473, and insert a magazine. The gun store owner appears and asks what he’s doing, with a smile. Duke says “Buying a gun,” and holds up the Hi Power, and “this one.” And then holsters it.
The owner asks him to come into the back, where they have a indoor range. He tells Duke they have “a little equalizer here, we’re trying to sell to the department”. They call it the Ingram, what we know today as a MAC-10, and Duke looks at it, picks it up, “Six or seven pounds?” The engineer, says 6.25 and screws on a gun muffler and says, “The silencer makes a nice handle.”. He hands the Ingram and a magazine to Duke, the owner says to empty it into a water barrel. Duke inserts the magazine and fires.
They tell him, “Those thirty two 9mm rounds came out in a second and a half.” Duke looks at the barrel, the Ingram, then the barrel again, and is clearly in awe.
He walks to the gun bench, stuffs the Ingram into a leather bag, along with a handful of loaded magazines and the gun store owner tells Duke he can’t take it, “Lon, it’s not licensed.” Duke says with a grin, “Jack, neither am I.” And walks out.
A little while later, there’s a car following Duke. He tells the driver to pull off down a dirt road. The driver does. They stop. The car which is tailing them pulls down the dirt road and stops. The driver betrays Duke, hollering at the pursuer Duke’s behind the car, which he is, Browning Hi Power drawn. The pursuer gets out, starts to open fire. Duke, using two hands, and aiming opens fire, very fast, he empties his magazine, and we see him reload, and fire a few more rounds, killing the pursuer.
Then two more cars show up. Car chase. They open fire on Duke, who’s now driving. Duke reaches into the bag, pulls the Ingram, rests it on his arm, on the window frame and opens fire, riddling one car, and it rolls. His car and the other car stall out. Eventually we see Duke spray a… I won’t give it away. And reloads. Then, one bad guy from the rolled car comes to and tries to shotgun him in the back, Duke hears him, spins around and sprays him, and then spins around and spray the other two bad guys from the stalled car who are now about to open up on him.
Duke wins.
Now what’s all this have to do with anything? A police detective, involved in a shooting, has to turn in his duty side arm for the inquest. Standard. He replaces his duty sidearm with a back up duty sidearm. Then due to resigning, as to turn the back up in too.
Then what? Another shootout, and the police take his privately owned revolver and revoke his permit- no hearing, no judge, nothing. They just tell him. And he’s disarmed.
What’s he do? Buys a pistol, legally. Carries it illegally, and “borrows” a sub machine gun with a gun muffler and has to use both to defend himself against outlaws.
I know it’s a movie, but consider the implications. A policeman’s forced to turn in a department issued back up sidearm upon his resignation. Ok. Yet, his privately owned revolver gets taken and his permit’s “revoked” without a trial. Sound familiar? Like a red flag law perhaps? Or a “may issue carry permit”? And why do so many states require a permission slip to carry a gun anyways? How does one defend himself, if he’s not allowed to carry a gun, because some bureaucrat tells him his permit’s revoked?
Then legally buying a pistol, which he cannot carry legally, and he “borrows” the sub machine gun with a suppressor. Who’s he kill? Outlaws. No innocents are harmed by him. The film ends, and there’s no details on what happens about illegally carrying a pistol, and the Ingram with its gun muffler, yet, think how far we’ve come?
It’s now 2025, the film, 1974, but we still must fill out the 4473. And while concealed carry is an issue, in some states, and not an issue in others, yet fully automatic weapons, which were legal to make, buy, own, and bear in 1974, providing one went through the NFA process, are now a BANNED EVERYWHERE. And just ask Pam Bondi’s DOJ, which says they’re not covered by the 2nd Amendment.(Yes, I know about pre ban full autos, I’m talking about buying a new one). And, what about the suppressor? STILL an NFA item… Thanks Republicants, we give you the White House, Senate and House, and gun mufflers can’t be de-listed? B.S.
See how much Second Amendment “progress” has been made since John “Duke” Wayne was cleaning up the streets of Seattle? Not as much as some would like us to believe.
Give the trailer a look, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071824/?ref_=mv_desc
And source for the films firearms details, https://www.imfdb.org/wiki/McQ (They say the film uses a 45ACP MAC-10, yet, when looking at the loaded magazines, the top cartridge looks more like a 9mm to me than a 45ACP).
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