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9[[quoteright:350:[[Film/MenInBlack https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/noisy_cricket.jpg]]]]
10[[caption-width-right:350:"Feels like I'm gonna break this damn thing!"[[note]]Keep in mind that "this damn thing" is actually one ''hell'' of a subversion.[[/note]]]]
11
12->''"Oh, I'm queer? From the guy whose tiny gun came with a matching purse."''
13-->-- '''Conway Stern''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}''
14
15A character treats a small firearm, or another character armed with a small gun, with contempt. The firearm will likely be physically small and will probably fire small-caliber ammunition, which is considered by some fiream users to be weak.
16
17There is [[JustForFun/TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs a common perception]] that any round smaller than a .38 Special is essentially a joke bullet unable to do any real damage. The truth is that GunsDoNotWorkThatWay. Guns, by definition, are weapons that are designed to kill. Just about any gun made today can inflict a mortal wound in one shot, though a small-caliber bullet probably won't kill you ''quickly''. Even the oft-mocked .22 Short can tear deep enough into a human body to tear major veins and arteries, and if the bullet reaches the throat or vital organs the damage ''will'' be severe. Even pneumatic weapons firing small pellets at low speed, like airsoft guns or BB guns, can inflict lethal injuries if they hit someone in a critical area such as the temple or the heart. This is exactly why airsoft events have very strictly enforced safety rules about minimum engagement distances and protective equipment. It's also why it's both frequently forbidden and a bad idea to use [[AbnormalAmmo frozen paintballs]].
18
19The idea that small-caliber and/or low-powered weapons are useless in combat probably comes from the somewhat vague notion of "stopping power" and that BiggerIsBetter in this regard.[[labelnote:*]]And the notion of "bigger" meaning "better" itself likely goes back to the pre-repeating days of firearms; early firearms shot with a much lower muzzle velocity and required manually reloading the projectile and the propellant with every shot. As a result, projectile diameters tended to be in the .50 to .70 caliber range to provide the best stopping power at those velocities, so that the target would be downed or incapacitated in a single shot, and anything below .30 caliber was considered useless for any sort of lethal effect. When smokeless powder and repeating firearms became popular, bullets could be fired with higher muzzle velocities and multiple times within a short span, thereby making it possible to have a smaller projectile with the same stopping power as a larger one.[[/labelnote]] Even wounds that are fatal will generally not result in an InstantDeathBullet, and it is not unknown for a target to keep going after having been shot, sometimes not even noticing. So the theory goes that larger caliber weapons are more likely to ensure that a target will actually stop in fewer shots. The ''other'' side of the argument is that most of the "evidence" for stopping power is almost purely anecdotal and no scientific mechanism for its function has been confirmed. Furthermore, many comparatively smaller guns can have [[MoreDakka twice the rounds (or more) per magazine]] versus a massive HandCannon as well as far less recoil and weight, and so are "more likely" to be accurate. While size certainly does matter in ballistics, the debate mostly centers around weapons of the same type (pistols vs pistols, rifle vs rifles), not a Derringer next to a [[{{BFG}} .50 BMG sniper rifle]], thus the differences are comparatively small.
20
21On the other hand, small-caliber firearms, such as .22 rimfire "Purse Guns", are ineffective against most forms of ballistic armor, which will stop a small caliber round ''flat''. Literally, the bullet will flatten to the width of a coin, or thereabouts. Higher caliber pistols like the .45 and 9mm are more likely to get through lighter armors but aren't guaranteed to do so, while rifle rounds like the 5.56 require modern heavy-duty armor to have any chance of stopping them. Even then, some bruises or even broken bones will result from the force of the shot. Some have even mentioned this as an ''advantage'' that non-penetrative shots have over penetrative ones--a bullet that pierces the vest but in a (relatively) nonvital area might be ignored for the moment, but it's a ''lot'' harder to attack someone if you're gasping for air from broken ribs caused by a bullet smashing your chestplate in.
22
23On the ''other'' other hand, there's also the issue of "Over-penetration"-- when a bullet goes straight through a target. The result is that (1) you wind up hitting things you didn't intend to (like innocent bystanders), and (2) you wind up preventing the bullet from transferring all of its energy to the intended target.
24
25Since you can't exactly subject live humans to rigorously controlled lethal testing, it's doubtful this debate will end any time soon.
26
27Often popular as a {{Hidden Weapon|s}} stored in VictoriasSecretCompartment. It is also occasionally seen as the so-called "holdout pistol", a common stereotypical weapon for the LovableRogue or TheGambler. Both are often characterized as preferring a perceived low powered purely defensive weapon to avoid lethal force.[[note]]Even in reality, pistols (as opposed to dedicated assault weapons such as rifles) are more often used defensively as a distraction in order to discourage serious pursuit, allowing the user to escape relatively unchallenged. Also, a rifleman generally needs to stop moving in order to take any meaningful aim, a sure way to increase the probability of being hit even by desperate defensive fire.[[/note]] For the opposite end of the spectrum, see HandCannon and {{BFG}}, with PunchPackingPistol in-between. In shooter games, a Little Useless Gun tends to be a RangedEmergencyWeapon.
28----
29!!Examples:
30
31[[foldercontrol]]
32
33[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
34* ''Manga/{{Akumetsu}}'': The eponymous character states that .22 slugs aren't good at doing a lot of damage. Later despite several bodyguards' successful shots to various parts of his body, he powers through to kill one of his targets.
35* Subverted in ''Manga/BlackLagoon.'' While Fritz Stanford is bragging about the enormous handgun he plans to use to kill Revy, a custom-built gold-plated Luger chambered for .454 Casull, she's loading her regular handgun, a custom-built 9mm Beretta, and shoots him before he can finish speaking. Before she finishes him off, she tells him that "if you can hit your target, pretty much any gun will do the trick."
36** Later on, Balalaika is negotiating with some Yakuza and demands they let her examine the bodyguard's gun. Then she insists he also hand over his backup gun and she begins to mock him for having such a little weapon. However, she then opens fire and kills the two men with that gun, stating that perhaps it wasn't so useless after all.
37* As [[ShownTheirWork the author took care of learning about guns and become a passable shooter before making his manga]], ''Manga/CityHunter'' averts it:
38** Ryo's usual sidearm is a Colt Python in .357 Magnum, not for the stopping power against people, as he has shown himself just as deadly with his .38 Special spare gun, but because he occasionally has to face vehicles; a .357 Magnum ''will'' take care of it with one shot, and [[CrazyPrepared he loves being prepared for anything]]. It also backfired on him on one occasion, as a criminal with a hostage had the presence of mind to put himself with his back at a glass window - Ryo's .357 is powerful enough that the bullet would go right through both the criminal and the window to kill some bystander (Ryo solved it by shooting through his own hand to slow the bullet down, also [[ImprobableAimingSkills shooting between the bones so he wouldn't cripple himself]]).
39** Kaori's .38 Special is useless... because [[ATeamFIring she's a horrible shot with it]], and [[spoiler:when she started getting better, Ryo had it modified without her knowledge to throw her aim off and make sure she wouldn't kill anyone]]. She's better with bazookas because she can't handle the recoil, so the shots come close enough to just knock enemies out with the shockwave, and machine guns, because her attempts to use them leave everyone completely terrified of her.
40** Umibozu uses a gigantic [[HandCannon .44 Magnum]] because he's so big that ''nothing else fits in his hands''. One straight usage of this was also because of him when someone shot him with a .38 Special and he shrugged it off (the shooter in question later came back with a proper Magnum).
41** Many other sweepers who don't specialize in shooting everything use smaller handguns as their sidearms, and are quite deadly themselves, though [[OvershadowedByAwesome not as much as Ryo]].
42* In ''Manga/DesertPunk'', Kosuna shoots one goon coming at her several times with her small handgun and he barely even flinches. Although she learns a ridiculously huge gun wouldn't be best either, Kanta does end up getting her a more powerful sub-machine gun by the end.
43* ''Anime/DoraemonTheRecordOfNobitaSpaceblazer'' has Ropporu's family heirloom, a pocket-sized gun belonging to his late father, which despite it's size can ''blow a tree into half'' by hitting the trunk. Nobita actually comments on how small and harmless looking it seems before Ropporu decides to demonstrate its power.
44* In ''Manga/MasterKeaton'', a cop tells a suicidal man not to shoot himself in the head with a .22, because it's more likely to leave him an invalid than to kill him.
45* In the episode "High School Nudical" in ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'', the ghost of the week steals Panty's... well, panties, which prevented her from summoning her gun to kill him off. She starts grabbing the underwear of all the boys in school, transforming all of them into guns to see what she can get. All of them are puny, worthless, and useless little guns fitting the same general size and shape as the trope image. A great amount of {{visual innuendo}} makes it quite clear the guns' sizes were directly proportionate to the size of the boys' dicks... When she grabs Brief's underwear, she's rewarded with a shotgun that blows the ghost away in one hit, but is only good for that one shot.
46* ''Manga/StrikeWitches'':
47** In ''Brave Witches'', Hikari carries around a tiny FP-45 Liberator pistol as a good luck charm, as it isn't of much practical use in combat. [[spoiler:It is what ultimately kills the BigBad for the season.]]
48** In the second season of the original ''Strike Witches'', Mio's worsening condition is demonstrated by having her magical shield, expected to take full-on BeamSpam from the Neuroi, fail to deflect more than one bullet from a simple pistol.
49* [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in ''Literature/SwordArtOnline''; while Kirito is weapons shopping in ''Gun Gale Online'', the gun Sinon recommends for him has a smaller caliber than a considerably cheaper gun. Sinon starts to lecture him on penetrative power versus stopping power, but Kirito is quickly distracted by a [[LaserBlade photon]] [[HeroesPreferSwords sword]]. He ends up going with the sword and using a pistol as a sidearm, the latter of which comes in handy during the climax.
50** SpinOff series ''Literature/SwordArtOnlineAlternativeGunGaleOnline'' shows that despite the realistic treatment of GGO's guns, it still runs on RPG mechanics at its core, and pistols do not get the best showing. If you miss a [[BoomHeadshot specifically lethal shot]], it comes down to the recipient's HP level vs. the weapon's damage output; Pitohui is shown firing at someone's center mass with a pistol until it's empty and failing to deplete their HP. In the second Squad Jam, Pitohui complains about how weak pistols are after a player survives about a dozen shots from a pistol. However, Squad Jan 4 has a rule specifically designed to avert this, saying that at certain times, the pistol will be one of the ''only'' usable weapons. Specifically, pistols are only usable inside the mall where the climax takes place.
51* ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'':
52** Meryl Strife gets some mockery over her [[WeaponSpecialization weapon of choice]], the derringer, both because of its two-shot capacity and its low penetration. She overcomes the former problem by carrying several dozen at a time. The justification for her choice of weapon seems to be that, in accordance with this trope, it's treated as a nonlethal weapon due to its small caliber. Thus, she can use it with impunity and not worry about deaths or serious collateral damage (which is a reasonable concern for an insurance representative).
53** Her partner Millie uses the opposite approach, a huge [[GatlingGood multi-barreled]] stun gun whose slugs spread out in to a cross pattern to reduce stopping power. This would similarly be potentially lethal in real life -- given she knocks a ''truck'' over with two shots from it at one point, it would tend to cause a lot of broken bones at least -- but in the work, it just harmlessly knocks people over.
54[[/folder]]
55
56[[folder:Comic Books]]
57* In ''ComicBook/JamesBondDynamite'', it's a RunningGag that everyone gives Bond a hard time over his Walther, calling it everything from "funny little gun" to "almost the same size as [this three-inch pocket knife]" to "prostitute's shooting instrument." Writer Creator/WarrenEllis noted in an interview that this is based on firearms expert Geoffrey Boothroyd, the basis for the Q character of the films, writing to Creator/IanFleming on several occasions objecting to the Walther PPK (and earlier the Beretta 418) being "a lady's gun". If that sounds familiar, this also inspired a scene in the film version of ''Dr. No'' discussed under Film -- Live Action.
58* In an issue of ''ComicBook/JonSableFreelance'', a woman threatens Sable with a small .22 caliber pistol. He's more disdainful of the weapon than afraid, and threatens that if she shoots him with it, he will take it off her and [[AssShove stick it someplace very uncomfortable]].
59* Gamblers in ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'' tend to have a derringer since it's easier to pull out of their sleeves or hat than a Colt, but they rarely have any success with it (of course, when Luke is present, they often [[BlastingItOutOfTheirHands don't get the chance to fire it]] in the first place). Luke's problem when he uses one is less the firepower and more the capacity and reliability. And then there is this ridiculously miniature gun a gambler drops into Luke's hand when they are threatened by a highwayman. Luke fires... and does no damage? [[spoiler:Nope. The mini bullet corks the barrel of the enemy's gun, and it promptly explodes on firing.]]
60* ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'': Discussed by Frank Castle in one of Eliot Brown's ''Punisher's Arsenal'' comics, where he mentions the practicality of the size for concealed-carry guns to use while undercover -- OK, sure, a .22 Winchester Magnum isn't a big round, but a derringer chambered for it literally fits in his wallet, and the size of the round doesn't matter when you're going for a [[BoomHeadshot point-blank headshot]]. Frank has killed several men with the aforementioned round throughout the comic doing exactly that, at least once by drawing the gun when the other guy was standing over him monologuing.
61* ''ComicBook/SinCity'':
62** In the comic ''A Dame To Kill For'', the main character, Dwight, is shot up pretty badly by the title character, a FemmeFatale to the last. As Marv is hauling him to Old Town, he comments: "...Here I am jabbering with you leaking all over the place. You're damn lucky all that dame had was a .32 -- we wouldn't even be having this conversation if she'd used a real gun on you. Even so, getting shot in the face isn't high on my list of how to have a good time." The femme fatale herself notes that she's not a great shot, adding to this trope.
63** And later, when Dwight [[spoiler: changes his faces]] and comes back to confront her, all he's able to conceal up his sleeve is "a crummy little .25", all six rounds of which are nowhere near enough to stop Manute (the bullets were used against his MadeOfIron body rather than his head).
64** It seems carrying anything smaller than a .45 Automatic or a .357 Magnum is a good way to lose a gunfight in Sin City (unless you're Wallace), as many of its denizens are, if not simply MadeOfIron, at least ImmuneToBullets.
65[[/folder]]
66
67[[folder:Fan Works]]
68* ''Fanfic/TheNextFrontier'': The only kind of sidearm [[VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram the Kerbals]] can carry onboard their spacecraft, which by their very nature tend to have lots of critically important and rather fragile equipment behind the bulkheads and overhead. Unfortunately, firearms and ammunition that won't punch holes in important bits of spaceship aren't much good against even lightweight body armour.
69* ''Fanfic/Plan7Of9FromOuterSpace''. Captain Proton isn't impressed when [[ArmsDealer Demonica]] offers him the 0.09mm Nano-Uzi, a weapon so small he can barely see it. Demonica insists the ammo makes it the exact opposite of this trope, however:
70-->"What's that for?" asked Proton. "Killing ants before they [[Film/{{Them}} mutate to man-eating size]]?"\
71"Laugh if you will," said Demonica, "but each round contains one-twentieth of a gram of AntiMatter giving a two-kilotonne yield. We take no responsibility for what might happen should you fire at any target closer than three kilometers."
72* ''Fanfic/WingsOfRebellion'': Minerva (aka [[spoiler: Sae]]) has a very tiny revolver, smaller than a toy, but it's just as effective as the guns of the others. Morgana thinks that it's small [[ExploitedTrope on purpose]] to trick enemies into thinking it's weak.
73[[/folder]]
74
75[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]
76* ''Film/EightMM''. Underground filmmaker Velvet isn't impressed when an accomplice threatens him with a .32 automatic but dies after being shot in the neck, complaining that his death should be more dramatic.
77* Invoked in ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII'', where Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen threatens Doc with a derringer specifically because it will make his death slow and painful, mentioning a guy who took ''two days'' to die of his wounds. It's implied [[AgonizingStomachWound he shot him in the belly]] to cause a death from infection and poor medical treatment.
78* Early in ''Film/BallisticKiss'', Cat uses a pocket-sized pistol hidden in his sleeve to take down some mooks. The same weapon shows up at the end of the opening shootout, with Cat holding the dinky gun to his target's head while taunting him.
79* In ''Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina'', Jack, Wang, and Eddie loot a shotgun, a submachinegun, and a snub-nose revolver from some mooks. The unwanted revolver is passed around until Eddie gets stuck with it.
80* ''Film/TheBoondockSaintsIIAllSaintsDay''. Despite holding a HandCannon in his ImagineSpot, Romeo is given a dinky little .22 caliber pistol on his first vigilante mission as a form of hazing. It's so small it can't even be used for a decent PistolWhipping.
81-->'''Romeo:''' [[SarcasmMode It's fine. Can I consider myself your girlfriend too?]]
82* At the end of ''Film/DieHardWithAVengeance'', [=McClane=] asks for a gun and is given a tiny revolver of which he is extremely disdainful, especially since the guy he's up against is toting an M60 machine gun. Subverted in that he manages to take out the helicopter attacking him with it by shooting some overhead power lines.
83* ''Film/DeathOnTheNile2022'': As in [[Literature/DeathOntheNile the novel]], Jacqueline de Bellefort shows Poirot her .22 caliber pistol (here a heavily engraved Sharps four barrel pepperbox of mid 1850s vintage) and describes it as "practically a toy". Poirot later [[IronicEcho ruefully echos]] this comment as he examines the gun after it has been used to murder Linnet Doyle.
84* In ''Film/TheEnforcer'', when asked why he carries a HandCannon, Harry explains that he's seen shots from a .38 bounce off a car windshield, something shots from his .44 Magnum have never done.
85* Subverted in ''Film/TheGuard''. When Gerry is given a tipoff from a young boy about a stash of weapons, he discovers that the boy has taken a Derringer from the stash. Gerry keeps it for himself, along with a Glock and a Kalashnikov. Later, when O'Leary pays him a visit, he has been CrazyPrepared enough to keep the Derringer [[PantsPositiveSafety stashed in his pants]] and uses it to kill O'Leary. It takes O'Leary some time to die, but even when he's still alive, the puny round is enough to keep him from returning fire.
86* In ''Film/TheGentlemen'', Matthew gives Mickey a gold-plated derringer as a peace offering. Mickey gives it to his wife Ros. When Ros eventually pulls it on Dry-Eyes when he invades her office, he is incredulous that it is even a gun. [[spoiler:Ros demonstrates how effective it can be by killing his two bodyguards with single shot through each of their foreheads. Unfortunately for her, it only has two shots.]]
87* Discussed in ''Film/GetShorty'': When Ray Bones threatens Ronnie with his little gun (an AMT Backup), Ronnie (who was sent by [[HorribleHollywood a corrupt film producer]] and probably has more experience [[WrongGenreSavvy seeing gangster films than actually killing people]]) calls it "the Fiat of guns", expecting it to [[ReliablyUnreliableGuns not work]]. [[SubvertedTrope Ray kills him with four bullets to his chest]].
88* Creator/BusterKeaton sports a ridiculous tiny gun in ''Film/GoWest''. After once being unable to retrieve it when it falls to the bottom of the holster he's wearing, he ties a string to it.
89* ''Film/{{Hanna}}''. While Marissa's Walther PP in [=.32ACP=] usually is enough to put down most people she's up against, it proves mostly ineffective against Hanna in the final confrontation. A bullet to the hip barely inconveniences Hanna more than being knocked on her ass for a few seconds and barely affecting her mobility. Although, being a genetically engineered SuperSoldier might have something to do with it.
90* The main villain of ''Film/HardBoiled'', Johnny Wong, mocks the police's .38 special revolvers for this trope. Ironically [[spoiler:Johnny is killed by Tequila at the end of the movie with [[MoeGreeneSpecial a well-placed shot to the eye]] using the very weapon Johnny mocked]].
91* In ''Film/InBruges'', Ray steals a Smith & Wesson Model 60 from Eirik and [[EyeScream shoots him in the eye]] [[CombatPragmatist with a blank round]]. When Ken comes to kill him and prevents his suicide, he compares weapons with him, lamenting that he has "a bloody girl's gun".
92* Discussed in ''Film/TheIrishman''. Frank Sheeran has to pick a couple of guns for a hit. He rejects the .22 calibre as too light, but also the .45 because you can hear it a couple of blocks away, which risks drawing the attention of police.
93-->"The cops call a .32 a woman's gun...because it's easier to handle, don't do the damage a .38 does but, y'know, [[BoringButPractical it does enough]]."
94* ''Film/TheIsland1980'': When Maynard is attacked by a pirate on his fishing boat, he unloads multiple shots from his son's target pistol into the pirate. The pirate isn't even slowed down and knocks Maynard out. Only when he wakes up does Maynard learn that the pirate had subsequently died of his wounds.
95* ''Franchise/JamesBond'';
96** Because ''Film/DrNo'' was the first film of the franchise, we never see the Beretta .25 that Bond uses in the novels; as in the book, Bond is forced to give it up for his now-iconic Walther PPK.
97--->'''M:''' This damn Beretta again. I've told you about this before. You tell him -- for the last time.\
98'''Armourer:''' Nice and light -- in a lady's handbag. No stopping power...\
99'''M:''' You'll carry the Walther. Unless you'd prefer to go back to standard intelligence duties?\
100'''Bond:''' No, sir. I would not.\
101'''M:''' Then from now on you carry a different gun. Show him, Armourer.\
102'''Armourer:''' Walther PPK. 7.65mm with a delivery like a brick through a plate-glass window. The American CIA swear by them.
103** The film ironically gets it backwards due to an inability to secure the right prop weapons; in that scene, Bond is instead turning in a Beretta 1934 in .380 ACP, which M continues to disparage as he proceeds to force Bond to use a Walther PP in the same caliber, which the dialogue insists is actually the ''lower''-caliber PPK in .32 ACP. The film provides a second justification in any case; the Beretta had jammed on Bond on a recent mission and he was wounded as a result.
104** The 4.2mm handgun used by ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun'' should be this, but since it's only used by Scaramanga, who has ImprobableAimingSkills, every shot is an instant one-hit kill (ironically, in the original novel, Scaramanga uses a HandCannon which an [=MI6=] psychiatric report suggests is because he's CompensatingForSomething). Bond-based video games frequently include Scaramanga's golden gun and a similar gold-plated variation of whichever Walther pistol Bond swears by as a MythologyGag, and they're always an instant kill, regardless of who's using it, or sometimes even ''what'' is being shot with it.
105** In ''Film/LicenceToKill'', when Bond meets up with Pam Bouvier, she asks him if he's armed. He shows her his PPK, which she derides. She shows him her {{sawed off|Shotgun}} Mossberg 500 and tells him to just stay down if trouble happens. Ironically, Pam herself uses various .25 Berettas later in the movie, one of which she lends to Bond.
106** Bond's PPK is in general a PunchPackingPistol, but ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'' provides an exception. When Bond confronts [[ArmsDealer Brad Whittaker]], Whittaker is armed with an assault rifle with a face shield. When Bond dumps his entire magazine ineffectively into said shield, Whittaker quips "You've had your eight, now I'll have [[MoreDakka my eighty]]". Fortunately for Bond, his explosive keychain is able to do the job more effectively.
107* In ''Film/KissKissBangBang'', Gay Perry has a tiny Derringer that he refers to as his "faggot gun," because "it's only good for a couple of shots and then you gotta drop it for something better". Given the film's penchant for subversion, the little gun ends up being quite lethal.
108* In ''Film/LadyInCement'', TheBrute Grossin laughs when Tony Rome pulls a .38 on him: telling Rome that .38 isn't going to stop him. However, he backs down when a {{mook}} enters with a .45.
109* In the Creator/StanleyKubrick movie of ''Literature/{{Lolita}}'', a drunk Claire Quilty giggles over the darlin' little gun Humbert is about to kill him with. [[RasputinianDeath It takes several shots to do so, too]]. Quilty's last words are a petulant, "Ow, that hurts!"
110* ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad''. Furiosa tells Toast the Knowing to inventory their ammunition. She says they've only got four rounds for their SniperRifle, then dangles a handmade .22 single-shot from her fingers, saying "but we can squirt off this little pinky here a grand total of 29 times."
111* In ''Film/TheManFromColorado'', Owen shoots Del InTheBack with a small holdout pistol when Del is attempting to flee town with Caroline and Doc. Because of the gun's small calibre and the range at which Owen shoots, Del survives and is back on his feet in a day or so, but the wound is still enough to hamper him in the final confrontation.
112* In ''Film/MenInBlack'', the "Noisy Cricket" is the size of a small, cheap water pistol, and it's dismissed as "completely useless". [[HandCannon It's capable of blowing a hole through a completely sealed door]] and sending the user [[RecoiledAcrossTheRoom flying the opposite direction]]. The funny thing is that it functionally ''is'' near-useless, but for [[AwesomeButImpractical the exact opposite reason]] of what it looks like it would be. [[AllThereInTheManual Background materials]] suggest that the Noisy Cricket's standard function is significantly toned down from what is seen; it's meant to be a [[HiddenWeapons holdout gun]]. It's given in an overpowered state to rookie agents as an object lesson... or a form of hazing. In ''Film/MenInBlackII'', Agent K [[spoiler:in his neuralized state]] is given one that does not have the comical level of overcharging, and in [[WesternAnimation/MenInBlackTheSeries the animated series]] J receives a silencer for his (which is at least twice as long as the actual gun it's screwed to), which reduces the power of each shot but also allows him to fire it without bowling himself over.
113* ''Film/MissMeadows'': ''Totally'' inverted; the .25 caliber semi-auto that Miss Meadows carries is [[InstantDeathBullet utterly lethal]] in her hands.
114* In ''Film/MrAndMrsSmith2005'', when getting guns from a stash, Mr. Smith grabs a large, long-barreled .45 automatic, then hands Mrs. Smith a noticeably smaller .38 revolver. She complains over being given the "girl gun".
115* Scaled up to vehicle size in ''Film/ThePentagonWars''. The first Bradley prototype sports but a single M2 machine gun. For comparison, the same weapon when not hooked up to an armored vehicle is the standard definition of a {{BFG}}. One of the reviewing Generals openly mocks it before ordering a turret-mounted cannon and missiles added on. Then deconstructed:
116-->"That's one hell of a cannon."\
117"That's a problem."\
118"... Why?"\
119"You go out in a battlefield with this pecker sticking out of your turret, [[DrawAggro and the enemy is going to unload on you with all they got]]."
120* In the first ''Film/PoliceAcademy'' film, the cadets are issued standard police revolvers. Tackleberry picks his up with a hugely disappointed look on his face. Cut to the next scene where he uses his HandCannon (a gift from his mother, no less) to obliterate targets on the firing range.
121* Inverted in the production of ''Film/{{RoboCop|1987}}''. Originally, like every other action hero of TheEighties, [=RoboCop=] was supposed to carry a Desert Eagle. However, once the actual suit for the eponymous character was finished, it turned out that the Desert Eagle - even with an extended barrel to take a suppressor - still looked like a toy in [=RoboCop=]'s hands. The solution ended up being to take a regular 9mm gun - a Beretta 93R - and size it up with a barrel and compensator almost double the length of the normal barrel and noticeably taller sights.
122* Bullet Tooth Tony in ''Film/{{Snatch}}'' is shown in a flashback to have been shot by an Asian gangster wielding a small pistol. After six shots, the gangster realises that Tony isn't dead and Tony just bum rushes him with a sword. [[spoiler: Later, Tony is killed when Avi accidentally shoots him with his own Desert Eagle, showing that it just takes a bigger gun to do the job.]]
123* Played with in ''Film/{{Strapped}}''. Most of the guns bought, sold, carried, and seen are Saturday Night Special-types in .22, .25, and .32 calibers, however the ones actually used for killing are in large calibers and frame sizes.
124* During the StormingTheCastle sequence of ''Film/TangoAndCash'', Cash winds up unarmed at one point and asks Tango for a weapon. Tango passes him a tiny revolver which he complains about. [[PlotHole Strangely enough, Cash seems to have forgotten about the BAP he's been carrying for half the film]]. However, in Tango's introduction, he's shown stopping a truck with a small snub nose revolver (the very same model he gives Cash), though he is shown swapping out the gun's load before he does so.
125* Inverted by ''Film/TaxiDriver''. Travis buys four guns, one .44 Magnum revolver and three smaller pistols. The guy selling him the guns tells him that the .44 is AwesomeButImpractical and, indeed, Travis only manages to use it to blow a man's hand off, while his actual kills are made with the smaller guns.
126* In ''Film/Tremors4TheLegendBegins'' an Eastern dandy shows up in a Nevada mining town and prefers to use one of these, even when confronted with giant burrowing worm-monsters. It's an additional joke in that the man's [[IdenticalGrandson previously-seen descendant]] is a rifle-toting [[CrazySurvivalist survivalist]].
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130* Downplayed in ''Literature/ElevenTwentyTwoSixtyThree''. Jake's [[WeaponSpecialization weapon of choice]] is a .38 Police Special, a snubnose revolver. He chooses it [[RevolversAreForAmateurs because it's simple]], [[BoringYetPractical lightweight, and easily concealable]]. Stopping power is not the issue, however, as while he uses it to great effect to kill Harry Dunning's father, it proves useless against Lee Harvey Oswald, as its short barrel impedes its accuracy during their confrontation in the Book Depository (it is repeatedly noted that the gun is only effective up to fifteen yards). Because Jake misses, Oswald is able to use his own rifle [[spoiler:to kill Sadie instead of Kennedy]].
131* ''The Deep'' by Creator/MickeySpillane involves the VillainProtagonist returning to his home city to investigate the murder of his former childhood friend who had become a crime boss. At one points it's sneeringly noted that TheDreaded boss was killed by a .22, the kind of thing a street kid would use. This turns out to be an important clue when he returns to the lair they used when they were street kids, looks in the place where the gang hid their weapons, and finds one of the zip guns missing.
132* Jacqueline's pearl-handed pistol from ''Literature/DeathOnTheNile'' is referred to several times as "a toy," but it's also made clear that it's a lethal weapon, and Jackie (or someone else) is perfectly capable of killing someone with it.
133* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
134** Defied in ''Literature/TurnCoat''. Morgan tries to shoot [[spoiler:Molly]] with a .22. When Harry arrives, Murphy says that such a small-caliber gun might have meant Morgan was only shooting to wound, since it would've been hard to kill anyone with it. Harry ''immediately'' shoots this down because Morgan would ''never'' shoot a [[spoiler:suspected warlock]] to wound, and points out the only reason Morgan used such a small gun is that it was all he had.
135** In ''Literature/FoolMoon'', the [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent loup-garou]] can only be harmed by [[SilverHasMysticPowers inherited silver]]. Murphy has some jewelry that qualifies, and the equipment to cast it into {{Silver Bullet}}s, but only for her .22 target pistol rather than her service weapon, to Harry's annoyance. Since the loup-garou also has a HealingFactor, she only manages to slow it down a bit, until it gets into point-blank range--[[ItWorksBetterWithBullets just after she empties her mag]].
136* No calibers are mentioned, but a small, [[BlingBlingBang ornate]] gun appears briefly in ''The Grand Ellipse''. It's compared to a bee sting.
137* Avoided in Creator/GeorgetteHeyer’s ''The Grand Sophy'' when the title character pulls out a “small but eminently serviceable” pistol.
138* [[TheDragon Wolfie]] in ''Literature/{{Incompetence}}'' carries a Derringer that Harry surmises is only good for shooting people in the eye at point-blank range. Thus, he doesn't even bother to use it against [[spoiler: Klingferm]], who is armed with something a little more useful in a firefight.
139* Literature/JamesBond originally carried a Beretta 418 (.25 calibre) before switching to his signature Walther PPK. Behind the scenes, the change happened after one Geoffrey Boothroyd--[[{{Tuckerization}} for whom the character who would become Q would be named]]--wrote to Fleming objecting to the use of the Beretta and, after some back-and-forth, suggested the Walther. Calibre size is not the only reason he has to turn it in, at least, as his Beretta had jammed on him and he was wounded as a result (in the preceding book, ''Literature/FromRussiaWithLove'', it became stuck in a holster when Bond attached a suppressor to it, allowing him to be stabbed with a poisoned knife; this was not included in the film version, as the chronology was changed between films, what with ''Dr. No'' being the first one adapted). Incidentally, Bond does carry a long-barreled [=M1911=] in his glovebox, should he ever need a HandCannon.
140* Subverted in ''Literature/KillDecision''. The smaller drones can only mount low-calibre weapons, but at close range and [[ZergRush in enough numbers]], that's enough. Indeed, several characters are badly hurt from them.
141* In the first of the Creator/TomClancy's ''Literature/NetForce'' books, a female assassin carries around a .22 pistol, favoring its discretion and concealability. She then proceeds to work around the "stopping power" issue by shooting her target in the [[EyeScream eye]].
142* In the Creator/DaleBrown novel ''Shadows of Steel'', BigBad Iranian general Buzhazi is nearly assassinated, but though he is wounded he doesn't die because he manages to get treatment in time. It is said that if the assassin had used a more powerful gun, he wouldn't have lasted long enough to get treatment and the attempt would have been successful.
143* ''Literature/TheTerror''. During TheMutiny Captain Crozier shoots [[GiantMook Manson]] with a derringer hidden in his pocket, to little effect. When Dr Goodsir examines Manson, he reports the bullets barely penetrated the heavy clothes he was wearing against the cold. It turns out Goodsir is lying, and Manson slowly dies of his injuries.
144* ''[[Literature/HonorHarrington Torch of Freedom]]'': The Kettridge Model A-3 is seen as one of these. When a mercenary asks a crime boss to sell him one, the boss wonders if the merc is really good enough to get kill-shots out of a Kettridge, or if he's a fake who doesn't want to carry a "man-sized gun" (the merc in question is a disguised Victor Cachat, and Option One is the correct answer).
145* ''Literature/TheZombieSurvivalGuide'' states that ''because'' a .22 bullet doesn't have as much penetrative power as other ammo, a headshot is likely to result in the bullet bouncing around inside the skull rather than punching through the back, doing lots of damage to the brain even if the initial shot might not have been a kill. This, it should be noted, is a common and widely held belief about .22 ammo that is ''totally wrong''. .223 rifle rounds will do extra damage by tumbling end-over-end upon striking a soft target, but that's not the same thing as claiming that a .22 round will continuously ricochet around inside someone's noggin like a pinball because they definitely don't do that in real life. A .22 LR or Short round is more likely than most to stay in a skull rather than punching all the way through after a headshot, but that's simply because the bullet has less energy than a more powerful round would, and thus it takes less resistance to get it to stop moving entirely.[[note]]The Guide still recommends .22 ammunition weapons for several other reasons, namely because they're great for packing light, comparatively easy to operate, and available at almost any gun store. Oddly, however, the author then goes on to recommend ''avoiding'' .223 ammo and guns, stating that they're not powerful enough to do damage to Zombie brains. This is in the ''face'' of the fact that the .223 is the same caliber as .22, but ''faster,'' meaning it packs more stopping power than the diminutive rounds ''on top of'' the mentioned tumbling that would reduce zombie brains to pink and grey paste. One almost has to wonder if the author did some preliminary research on calibers and then mixed up .22 and .223.[[/note]]
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148[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
149* ''Series/BlackSaddle'': In "Client: Dawes", Maggie Dawes pulls a derringer on Clay, only to have Clay contemptuously slap it out of her hand.
150* ''Series/Daredevil2015''. Averted when Frank Castle appreciates the .380 pistol that Karen Page is armed with, saying that some people buy a HandCannon, realize they "kick like a mule" and so become afraid to use it. Castle himself favors a .45 automatic but he's a large well-muscled man, so what he appreciates is that Karen's pistol has been chosen for [[BoringButPractical practicality rather than appearance]].
151* ''Film/ElCamino'': Jesse is forced to go into the final confrontation with .22 LR and .32 S&W Short pistols stolen from his parents, while his two adversaries are respectively carrying .45 ACP and 9x19 mm handguns (both of which also hold more rounds than his equivalents).[[note]]In terms of kinetic energy: both .22 LR and .32 S&W Short are at 150-180 joules for most loads, while the 9mm and .45 ACP loads both average around 500 joules.[[/note]] One of them scoffs at Jesse's sad armament. [[spoiler:It ends up not mattering much because [[CombatPragmatist Jesse is able to trick one of them and shoot him before he can draw his weapon]], after which he takes it and uses it to kill the other.]]
152-->'''Neal:''' Oh, my God, is that a .22? You brought a .22? Jesus! Where'd you get that thing? It's adorable. I know we got empty beer cans around here if you wanna do some plinking?
153* ''Series/{{Farscape}}''. Played with in "Scratch 'N Sniff" when our heroes have to StormTheCastle and the only weapons they have are their usual pulse pistols. The woman with them is not impressed.
154-->'''Raxil:''' [[YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe Two guns? You brought just two guns?]] I mean...I thought you were the [[FamedInStory Great Crichton & D'Argo!]] (''brief clip of D'Argo and John Crichton high-fiving each other on Moya'') I mean, you [[Recap/FarscapeS02E21LiarsGunsAndMoneyPlanB blew up a shadow depository!]] I mean, I thought you'd bring pelshfer charges! (''clip of detonation in space that looks like a small sun'') And a plasma bomb! (''clip of the explosion that [[Recap/FarscapeS01E22FamilyTies obliterated Scorpius' Gammak Base]]'') And a really big gunship! (''clip of nothing less than a Peacekeeper Command Carrier complete with its cloud of small fighter craft'') BUT NO! YOU BRING NOTHING! YOU BRING TWO LITTLE WEAPONS THAT WOULDN'T KILL A NEGNIK! (''clip of a negnik'')
155* An episode of ''Series/{{MASH}}'' focused on negotiating a prisoner exchange with the Chinese. One condition of the exchange was that the Americans had to come unarmed, but Margaret gave Frank a tiny pistol (a Colt M1908 Vest Pocket) to carry in case he needed it. When the Chinese realized that the agreement had been broken they were ready to call the whole thing off, but when they actually saw the pistol in question they laughed it off as a joke ("it comes in a box of Crackerjacks," Hawkeye deadpans). This is slightly [[JustifiedTrope justified]] since the Chinese soldiers are heavily armed with automatic weapons.
156* In an episode of ''Series/SledgeHammer'', the hero's iconic HandCannon is taken away from him, and he's forced to carry a pistol that is so tiny that he holds it in two fingers to shoot and it's so underpowered, the tiny bullets don't go anywhere near the target. They fall right in front of Sledge like shiny confetti.
157* ''Series/TheWire'': Omar sends Renaldo in Old Face Andre's shop with a small revolver as a distraction, so Omar can sneak in with his HandCannon capable of shooting through the plexiglass.
158* Discussed by Hank Schrader in ''Series/BreakingBad''. He considers [=9mm=] rounds to be underpowered, even the +P+ variant, noting that his service weapon is much more effective firing .40 S&W rounds.
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162* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'''s tabletop RPG spinoff ''Mechwarrior'' has this. The hold-out pistol is a bit of a joke, with a pathetic range of 10 meters, and can be out-damaged by a basic small crossbow that's even cheaper than the pistol and yet reaches 50 meters. The much more expensive Mydron Auto-Pistol actually reaches 60 meters, but does no more damage than the standard pistol, made up for slightly by its larger magazine size and ability to fire (not very accurately) in bursts. The needler gun and hold-out needler, while even weaker in terms of raw damage potential, avert this trope by being ruled as [[ArmorPiercingAttack completely going through normal armor]] and dealing their damage directly to the target, something the aforementioned pistols cannot do. The fact that needler shots are also fluffed as being incredibly difficult wounds to treat and heal can also be a problem for anyone attempting life-saving procedures, helping steer these weapons out of the 'useless' category. The same can be said of the hold-out flamer pistol. The initial damage is hardly anything speak of, but the fact that ''you are now on fire'' kind of makes up for any shortcomings--no forms of standard infantry armor provide protection against being burned to death.
163* In ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'', the .22 Short round has almost no chance of killing someone unless you shoot them a ''dozen'' times (or hit them [[SubsystemDamage in the Eye, Skull, or Vitals]]), although [[CriticalHit an incredibly lucky shot]] could be dangerous. Of course, ''with'' the bleeding rules, it is possible to die from sheer blood loss...though that takes some time.
164* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}''. In some versions, light and holdout pistols do Light damage, which, as you might guess, isn't much. It takes a decent amount of skill and additional aiming gear for the damage of a single hit to scale up into something significant. There is one exception, though: Stick N Shock rounds are, as the name suggests, taser bullets that deal nonlethal damage and it's the same amount of damage whether fired out of a sniper rifle or a holdout pistol. That means that light and holdout pistols are extremely efficient for using such rounds.
165** There are also Capsule Rounds, which can be filled with a liquid payload. [[GameBreaker DMSO, anyone?]]
166* A common belief held by the Orks of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', who follow the rules of BiggerIsBetter and named MoreDakka.
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170* ''VideoGame/Battlefield1'' has the [[JokeWeapon Kolibri Pistol]] (see the RealLife section below). It's so small that the PlayerCharacter has to hold it with only their thumb and forefinger. [[CherryTapping Also, it takes about four headshots to kill someone]]. However, it can be a [[LethalJokeItem deadly combination]] while [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg8c1IUZMuc shooting explosives placed on top of a blimp.]]
171* ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}''
172** In ''VideoGame/Borderlands1'' almost every repeater pistol certainly fits this, doing pitiful damage compared to [[RevolversAreJustBetter your average revolver]], which the wiki refers to as [[HandCannon "a hybrid of pistols and sniper rifles"]]. Repeaters that deal good damage are very rare and often unique.
173** Turned on its head in ''VideoGame/Borderlands2''. Revolvers were merged with repeater pistols into a single "pistol" class that is halfway between both in all aspects. Every pistol is a PunchPackingPistol that outdamages any assault rifle of the same brand per shot.
174** ''VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'' has Miss Moxxi's Probe, a unique pistol that does minimal damage and has such low life drain values that it is practically worthless for restoring HP. [[TropesAreTools This is by design]]: the Probe's real purpose is pissing off some otherwise peaceful kraggons so they can open a path for you. It's not a weapon for actual combat.
175* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'' manages this with a revolver, of all things, with the Executioner. Based on an unproduced 28-gauge version of the Taurus Judge shotgun-revolver, it's presumably intended to combine the upsides of a pistol (such as quick times to draw and aim, less slowed movement when aiming, etc) with the extreme power and pellet spread of a shotgun. This does increase its power to even more extremes, enough so that it's the only pistol in the game that can kill a man in a single shot, but the problem here is that [[ShortRangeShotgun shotguns are basically melee weapons]] in the ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' series - a one-shot kill requires you to be close enough to the target that you could just as well use your knife instead and achieve the same result, and being even a few inches further will require the entire five-round cylinder to kill someone. Plus, this also means it's not possible to cherry-tap people from beyond about a foot like you could with the other pistols, either, because like the full-size shotguns, the pellets disappear at their maximum range, which in this case is about 12 meters.
176** Now apply this logic to ''{{Videogame/Apex Legends}}'', but with a ''3 round magazine''. Ladies and gentlemen, behold: the Mozambique.
177* The Ladies Gun, a Remington 1886 Derringer, is the weakest gun in the entire ''VideoGame/CallOfJuarez'' series. It has poor range and does barely any damage.
178* In ''VideoGame/CrimsonLand'', the player starts with a semiautomatic pistol without especially good firepower, fire rate, reloading speed, or clip size. Generally, every other weapon is better than it, with some exceptions (e.g. the [[VideoGameFlamethrowersSuck blowtorch]], which only has a range of a few feet), so the player is generally better off taking a weapon from the first monster they kill.
179* ''VideoGame/DeltaForce'':
180** While gearing up in ''Delta Force: Land Warrior'', you might come across a weird little pepperbox-like gun called the P-11. The game would have you believe that the 7.62mm steel darts it fires are frighteningly lethal. They're really not. Even in the most realistic settings, you will need at least two shots to put down a target, and this is inside its criminally short effective range. Outside that, you might as well not bother. Its major selling point is the fact that it can be fired underwater, but this borders on utter irrelevance because of just how few missions involve water, let alone shooting people ''in'' the water.
181** The original game played with this trope with its choice of two sidearms. The .22 pistol is arguably a superior choice to the 1911 since both pistols do the same damage due to enemies being {{One Hit Point Wonder}}s and the .22 has a larger magazine and an integral suppressor. On the other hand, pistols are only a RangedEmergencyWeapon due to short range, small magazine size, and low number of spare magazines.
182* ''VideoGame/DeusEx'':
183** The [=PS20=] is an energy weapon example. A one-shot plasma derringer that you're inexplicably restricted from carrying more than one of, it can't even one-shot basic mooks from point-blank range with a headshot, defeating its purpose entirely. In early versions of the game, it actually did a more-than-respectable 40 damage (about equivalent to two shells through the assault shotgun if you're close enough that every pellet hits), but then something broke with both of the plasma weapons in the update that added multiplayer, making them both deal such low damage per projectile that the only things that deal less damage than them are melee weapons, ''if'' you don't have any training in them.
184** The assault rifle is an odd example, playing perfectly to the stereotype of "faster fire rate = weaker damage per-shot", with it dealing a base of '''3''' damage per-bullet, compared to the basic 10mm pistol doing 14 damage or so. Barring its 20mm grenade launcher, it only outdamages the pistol through volume of fire, each trigger pull letting off five bullets for 15 damage in total, the downside being that the ammo doesn't go nearly as far for the same damage. This is especially jarring since it's firing 7.62x51mm, which realistically should be in the same power class as the .30-06 used by the sniper rifle.
185** The Stealth Pistol is another example, dealing damage on par with the bugged [=PS20=] and poorer accuracy in return for an integrated silencer and a larger unmodified capacity than the normal pistol, though it's not nearly as bad since you get ten shots and then a reload rather than just one and then tossing the weapon entirely.
186* The pistol in ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' sounds like a pop gun and does about as much damage. The only reason you ever use it is to kill a shotgun trooper and get ahold of a better weapon. Especially because the chaingun makes it completely obsolete - it runs off the same ammo, does the same amount of damage, but has a far higher fire rate. Most [[GameMod user made maps]] give you a shotgun straight away so you don't have to bother with the lowly pistol at all.
187* Given the sheer range of firearms available for use in ''VideoGame/EnterTheGungeon'', there would naturally be a few duds in the mix; in fact, every gun is coded with a 'Class' variable that determines how likely you are to find another one of its type as loot, and one such class is 'SHITTY'. Each of the player characters' starting weapons are classed this way, and never run out of ammo. Others can be found such as the Peashooter, 38 Special, Derringer, and Dueling Pistol, each of which do have limited ammo and are individually weak, but may be powered up in various ways if you're fortunate enough to happen on a gun or item that synergises with them.
188* ''VideoGame/Fallout3'': the .32 pistol and the Chinese pistol have the dubious distinction of being outclassed before you can even find them. Both weapons deal less damage than the standard 10mm pistol you're given in the final introductory mission - the .32 pistol might conceivably come in handy in a pinch should stronger weapons [[BreakableWeapons degrade too much]] or run out of ammo, and you don't having a hunting rifle handy, but the Chinese pistol uses the same ammo as the 10mm and does less than half its damage with it. If you're a bad enough shot that its ability to fire more than twice as many shots before breaking might be a valuable advantage, overall you'd be better off just finding a melee weapon instead.
189* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' has only two weapons that use .22LR ammunition; a silenced .22 pistol and a silenced .22 SMG. They both have free silencers and high critical chance but do such low damage you'd be better off smacking your foe with a bit of pipe. ''[[NotHyperbole Literally]]'': these guns have base damage of 9 and 10 - a BB Gun has a base of 4, a lead pipe has a base of 22, and the high-end automatic weapons are in the 30s or 40s. The 9mm pistol doesn't fare much better, with a base of 16.
190** However, the complete silence of the .22 makes it great for assassinations, since if you can find a dark corner to hide in you can kill a target in the middle of a crowded room without anyone noticing, and the combination of high critical rate, double crit damage, high accuracy, and low AP cost means that you can take down an unarmored target with headshots almost as easily as with your big hand-cannons. Not to mention that it's the only gun that you can take in places where weapons are forbidden without a high sneak skill, meaning unless you deliberately pour most of your skill points in the first part of the game into stealth, it's going to be your only easily-usable ranged option if you decide to cause trouble in any of the Strip's casinos. There is even an achievement you get for scoring a killing blow on a deathclaw, one of the toughest predators in the wasteland, with the .22 pistol.
191** The .22 SMG, meanwhile, makes itself more useful by playing to the intended strengths of a low-damage weapon, by negating it with [[MoreDakka a high rate of fire and a very large pan magazine]]; it can deal with most low DT enemies through DeathOfAThousandCuts. The downside here is that .22LR ammo is rather scarce, since very few enemies carry it, it can't be built at a reloading bench without mods, and vendors rarely have more (though what they do have is dirt-cheap). 9mm ammo in comparison is much more common, as are other 9mm pistols you'll need to [[BreakableWeapons repair yours]] for most of the game.
192** Benny makes a reference to this if you manage to talk to him in private once you catch up to him - he asks upfront how you're still alive after he shot you in the face, and if you tell him you're just that hard to kill, he jokes that it "serves me right for using a 9mm".
193* While not exactly "little", the Klobb from ''VideoGame/{{GoldenEye|1997}}'' is infamous for being the weakest and least-accurate firearm in the game – it's the only gun in the game that requires ''two'' headshots to kill someone. It's so weak that even in the customizable [[HarderThanHard 007 difficulty mode]], it's the ''only'' weapon in the game that cannot be made to kill someone in one hit - whether you set enemy damage to the maximum so that all enemy shots kill you in one hit, or enemy health to 0% so that they die instantly from any damage whatsoever, the Klobb will still need two shots.
194* The SNS Pistol from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' actually does roughly the same amount of damage as the starting 9MM pistol, but has very poor accuracy and a small magazine.
195* The M7 caseless submachine gun in ''VideoGame/Halo2'' is mechanically almost a direct copy of the [=MA5B=] assault rifle from [[VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved the first game]], which means it has an enormous mag size but poor accuracy and horrible damage against anything more threatening than a Grunt. Part of the issue seems to have been due to the addition of GunsAkimbo for this game -- the SMG is clearly designed to be used together with another gun, e.g. stripping away shields with a plasma weapon and then perforating the meaty bits underneath with a wall of lead, so it's absolutely worthless when used on its own.
196* The [[VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries Henry Stickmin]] game ''Completing the Mission'' at one point gives you a choice between three weapons on one path[[note]]Relentless Bounty Hunter/Ghost Inmate[[/note]]: A [[{{BFS}} Big Sword]][[note]][[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Cloud's Buster sword]][[/note]], an [[StuffBlowingUp underbarrel grenade launcher]], and a "pew pew gun"[[note]]the NES Zapper[[/note]], the last of which invokes this trope. [[spoiler:Subverted; the first two choices turn out to be impractical, with the Big Sword too heavy to wield properly, and the grenade launcher breaches the hull, sucking Henry ''and'' his foes into space. The "pew pew gun", meanwhile, turns out to be surprisingly powerful, and thus allows Henry to tear through the mooks blocking his escape.]]
197* A semi-frequent appearance in the ''Franchise/{{Hitman}}'' series:
198** ''VideoGame/Hitman2SilentAssassin'' has the Makarov and .22 pistols, both of which have little stopping power. The .22 is just about the only gun in any of the games that doesn't always kill with a single headshot -- you can perforate a man's brain with this gun and it will just make him mad.
199** ''VideoGame/HitmanContracts'' has the [=SG220=], a pistol with a seven-round magazine and almost no stopping power. It is, however, very quiet.
200** The ''VideoGame/WorldOfAssassinationTrilogy'' zig-zags this with the Custom [=5mm=] pistol. Whilst its poor stopping power and nonreloadable five-round magazine make it a poor choice for an outright firefight, its integral suppressor and ability to pass through frisks undetected make it highly useful for assassinating targets.
201* In ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'', any gun that's not [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter a shotgun]] is this against the FatBastard mooks - they take time to bleed out when shot by non-shotguns, which in tight confines is usually more than enough time for them to close in on Jacket and punch out his blood.
202* Subverted in ''VideoGame/{{Indivisible}}.'' The Brahmastra (you may remember it from the "Mythology and Religion" tab under FantasticNuke) is depicted as a wee little ray gun zapper with four focusing tines. It's used to go toe-to-toe with [[spoiler: Khali, the Hindu version of the [[BeastOfTheApocalypse Rough Beast]].]]
203* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic I'' and ''[[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords II]]'' gave enemies health based on the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''-based Franchise/StarWars d20 RPG, which meant that the pitiful damage done by hold-out blasters and even the blaster pistol would wind up useless very, very quickly. In the first game, lightsabers and force powers overshadowed blasters so much that non-Jedi party members had little role in combat, becoming obsolete almost the instant you left the starting planet. In the second game, a modified HandCannon or BFG ''could'' be viable, but it required spending multiple points on gimmicky Force powers (such as the ability to deflect blaster fire with your hands) and abilities (such as a penalty reduction for shooting enemies who are in melee range) to make up for inherent disadvantages that lightsabers (or even regular melee weapons) don't have, and even with all of these would still be suboptimal.
204* ''VideoGame/NoMoreRoomInHell'' features the [=.22LR=] as the most lightweight ammo type in the game, with the drawback that it doesn't kill adult zombies ([[UndeadChild zombie kids]] drop in one bullet) in one headshot unless you focus[[note]]aim while standing still for two or three seconds[[/note]] or have "Realism" enabled. Not that it's saying much, as the same goes for the general-purpose 9mm Parabellum.
205* ''VideoGame/PhantomDoctrine:'' Zizagged by the "French DAO" starter pistol, which is the smallest and weakest gun in the game, but can still perform {{one hit kill}}s if you're sneaky. This does require a proficiency perk in the weapon to fit a suppressor, though.
206* Averted with the Judge revolver in ''VideoGame/PhantomForces'', due to the fact that the game doesn't impose {{Short Range Shotgun}}, as it would otherwise result in the above entry, besides the fact that it's the same weapon as in ''Black Ops II''.
207** Played straight, however, with both the Zip 22 and the M231. The Zip 22 is your average, low damage 22 LR pistol, which is basically the modern rendition of the Kolibri. The M231 is the complete opposite: so opposite it loops back around the spectrum and ends up being useless again, featuring a fire rate of over 1000, which wouldn't be so bad if the recoil wasn't terrible. So terrible, in fact, that you literally have to aim at the ''ground'' so the recoil can kick up and actually hit your enemy, besides the fact that there aren't any iron sights. The fact that the stock is just a ''cylinder'' explains it: firing the weapon while braced against your shoulder in real life would more than likely result in extreme pain, which is why it's ''mounted'' in real life.
208* ''VideoGame/Prey2017'': Since the game takes place on a space station, the pistol commonly found throughout the game is low-caliber and suppressed, to minimize the chance of one of its projectiles causing a hull breach. The downside of this is that it does minimal damage unless you go for headshots or upgrade it with weapon kits.
209* Bond's [=PP7=] in ''{{VideoGame/Nightfire}}'' is this, being his EmergencyWeapon with low damage and a tiny magazine. Thankfully, it can be suppressed, making it ideal for stealth kills (although the first level that encourages stealth also has plenty of suppressed assault rifles in its stealth stages). The golden upgrade helps negate the low damage. The next pistol upgrade flat-out replaces it with the more modern, powerful, and higher-capacity [=P2K=], which is definitely the preferred signature firearm. [[GameBreaker And that gets a golden upgrade too]].
210* The ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' series rarely features small-bore weapons, but they invert this whenever they do appear, instead frequently saving its ire for [[ArbitraryGunPower anything full-auto]]. The Calico M100-P guns you can find in ''Code: Veronica'' are large handguns chambered in the comparably tiny [=.22LR=], and can do slightly more damage per shot than the basic 9mm handgun (admittedly, you ''are'' usually hitting the enemy with [[GunsAkimbo two bullets at a time]]). Meanwhile, the Derringer you can find in the 2002 [=REmake=] has only one unfired [=.22WMR=] round, but it can kill ''any'' regular enemy with its single shot.
211* The [[AKA47 SC Pistol]] from ''VideoGame/SplinterCell'' while offering a ''20 round'' magazine, has pathetically little stopping power and, past a couple feet, even a headshot is not a guaranteed kill. TruthInTelevision, particularly if using [[ArmorPiercingAttack armor piercing]] rounds[[note]]As a rule, armor-piercing qualities and stopping power are on opposite ends of a sliding scale, and in most cases emphasizing one will decrease the other.[[/note]], as Fisher is using SB 193 subsonic rounds, which greatly reduce armour-piercing capabilities as well as over all stopping power in favor of making it easier to silence the gun. Same goes for the SC-20K rifle, which seems to have a similar subsonic load and can often take a longer than necessary burst to take down some enemies if you're not aiming for the head. Averted in ''VideoGame/SplinterCellConviction'', where the SC Pistol is pretty much the best weapon in the game.
212* The first gun you find in ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' will likely be the Dart Pistol, which fires weak darts or tranquilizer rounds; neither is very powerful, and they become outright useless the second you start meeting enemies with armor thicker than a sheet of paper. Even the very first weapon you find (a lead pipe) does considerably more damage, so it's not really worth bothering with at all. The remake does away with it entirely in favor of giving you the minipistol sooner, but it likewise becomes obsolete after the first couple of floors, particularly once the Skorpion becomes available; it does slightly less damage per shot (despite using the same ammo) but has a much higher fire rate and magazine size.
213* ''VideoGame/XCom''
214** ''VideoGame/XComTerrorFromTheDeep'' will start players with dart and harpoon-based weapons, among other things. The dart pistol is weak to the point of uselessness. It does so little damage that Aquatoids, the weakest starting enemies, will take at least three direct hits to bring them down, whereas the harpoon rifle will often drop an Aquatoid where it stands after just one shot. For the price of the dart pistol and a single clip of 12 darts, you might as well buy three grenades and actually ''kill'' some of the aliens instead.
215** The pistol in [[VideoGame/XCOMUFODefense the first game]] is not any better: with worse accuracy than the rifle and less than half the power, the only redeeming quality the pistol has is that you can put it in your belt inventory... or you can replace it with a couple grenades for the same cost.
216** Note that this doesn't apply to the advanced weapons you can get: the laser pistol in the first game is more accurate than a basic rifle and almost as powerful, and the plasma pistol is more accurate and more powerful than the laser rifle. In the second game, the Gauss pistol has better ammo capacity and damage than the Jet Harpoon, plus the addition of auto fire, and the Sonic Pistol, while it loses the auto-fire capability, does almost as much damage as the ''Torpedo Launcher'', and is only beaten for accuracy by the Sonic Blasta-Rifle[[note]]The Sonic Cannon has slightly worse inherent accuracy and utility than the Blasta-Rifle due to [[AwesomeButImpractical several factors]][[/note]].
217* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemptionII'''s Varmint Rifle is an intentional example in that, much like its RealLife counterpart, it's not meant to be used for combat, but rather for shooting small game, such as rabbits, allowing their carcasses to be collected intact, as opposed to being obliterated by a larger gun. Using it on a human can cause that person to bleed out and die slowly unless you shoot them in the head. However, it has a large magazine capacity, and maxing out your Dead-Eye skill means it's possible to score several headshots in a row, meaning it can become a LethalJokeItem if the player is skilled enough.
218[[/folder]]
219
220[[folder:Web Comics]]
221* ''Webcomic/{{Lackadaisy}}'':
222** When the pig farmers attack the Lackadaisy gang is unarmed save for a small [[https://lackadaisy.com/comic.php?comicid=46 "pea shooter"]] stashed in Mitzi's garter, thanks to Mordecai looting the armory on his way out. However, Freckle still manages to kill [[https://lackadaisy.com/comic.php?comicid=49 one]] of their assailants with it, and immediately trades up for his victim's Tommy gun.
223** In the animated pilot Freckle runs out of ammo for his Chicago typewriter and is reduced to using a tiny gun that was wedged between the car seats to fend off Marigold's enforcers, Mordecai simply takes cover and [[CountingBullets counts his shots]] and waits for him to run out before moving in.
224[[/folder]]
225
226[[folder:Web Videos]]
227* ''WebVideo/CalebCity'': "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM5u-f-JX44 How garbage pistols were in the 18th century]]" shows two men trying to have a duel- emphasis on trying. They miss their first shots, have to get powder for a second round, and when they do hit each other, the bullets don't even draw blood.
228[[/folder]]
229
230[[folder:Western Animation]]
231* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'' carries a Walther PPK in .32 ACP, much like Franchise/JamesBond. He thinks it's more than good enough, commenting once that anything that can survive all 7+1 shots from it is "probably a dragon", but he gets mocked for it from time to time. It actually winds up being the single most effective firearm in the series, not necessarily because of its capabilities but because Archer himself is a crack shot with it. His teammates, who all sport much bigger guns, are graduates of the ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy.
232-->'''Conway:''' ''[laughs]'' Oh, ''I'm'' queer? From the guy whose tiny gun came with a matching purse.\
233'''Archer:''' Hey, it's got plenty of stopping power.\
234'''Brett:''' Hah! That little...\
235''[Archer shoots Brett]''\
236'''Conway:''' Oh shit!\
237'''Brett:''' God damn it, Archer!\
238'''Archer:''' See that?\
239'''Brett:''' Again!\
240'''Archer:''' He was putting on his pants, [[ExactWords and I stopped him]].
241* In ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlackTheSeries'', the opening sequence ends with Jay drawing the Noisy Cricket out of his jacket and Kay (who pulled out what looks like a shotgun) giving it a skeptical side-eye. Though K's side-eye has less to do with underestimating the Cricket and more about how J could bungle using it...
242* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Sealab 2021}}'', Captain Murphy gives a baby a real, loaded pistol as part of a [[YouMeanXmas Feast of Alvis]] pageant. When the baby's mother complains, he tells her to relax, it's only a .22, couldn't hurt a flea.
243* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
244** There's an episode where they were parodying Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer; they get involved in a barroom shootout and proceed to sit there calmly while derringer bullets bounce off the furniture, the glasses holding their beer, and their skin and eyes.
245--> '''Nelson, as Huck Finn:''' Man, those derringer bullets are weak!
246--> '''Bart, as Tom:''' Powerful weak!
247** Another, showing a scene from [[ShowWithinAShow McBain]] portrayed [[DaChief his superior]] attempting to get him to surrender his HandCannon for something smaller. [=McBain=] asks how he is supposed to avenge his partner with a pea shooter. When the chief tells him he is supposed to do things by the book, he shoots it, quipping "Bye, book".
248* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "WesternAnimation/DripAlongDaffy", where burly outlaw Nasty Canasta is felled by a wind-up toy soldier whose tiny rifle packs a surprising amount of heat. Had Canasta [[TemptingFate not picked it up and raised it at face level to laugh at it]], he might have gotten off easy.
249[[/folder]]
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251[[folder:Real Life]]
252* In 1825, Henry Deringer of Philadelphia invented the handgun that bears his name to this day. The original Deringer was a single-barrel flintlock pistol, small enough to fit in a pocket and intended as a last-ditch self-defense weapon. Unfortunately for poor Henry, the gun's name was misspelled as "Derringer" so often, especially after John Wilkes Booth used one to assassinate [[UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln US President Abraham Lincoln]], that hardly anyone remembers or uses the original spelling. Several companies still make Derringer pistols, in a variety of calibers and with as many as four barrels. They're virtually useless at any range longer than a few feet, but close up they are definitely dangerous.
253* The Israeli Defense Force once supplied its troops with a Ruger 10/22 as a "less than lethal" sniper weapon. Reality, a judge, and a number of corpses made with this "less than lethal" weapon eventually forced them to remove the classification.
254* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Standard_HDM High Standard HDM]] and similar firearms are widely used by Special Forces because of [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools the upsides to being small and relatively weak]]; .22LR has almost negligible recoil and muzzle climb compared to common calibres for service sidearms, it's very easy to reduce its sound signature, and it can be obtained in every country in the world.
255* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2mm_Kolibri Kolibri pistol]] is a weapon intended for women to defend themselves with in the 1910s; as weapon historian Ian Hogg put it, "What the lady was expected to defend herself against is open to some question", while others have described the weapon as having sufficient stopping power to deal with an enraged cockroach. With a '''2.7mm''' caliber, smoothbore barrel, 3-4 joules of muzzle energy, and maximum of 1.25 inches of penetration in pine board, we have a sterling real-life example of a Little Useless Gun. In fact, it is the smallest centerfire, magazine-fed pistol to be produced. To get a sense of the energy coming out of one, a heavy (0.43g) airsoft pellet traveling at 120m/s (for high-end models) has roughly three-fourths the energy of the bullet coming out of a Kolibri (though the Kolibri's bullet being lead still makes it more dangerous; it can at least penetrate cloth, skin, and flesh, just not very well). Technology at the time was not advanced enough to rifle a gun barrel that small, so the bullet had no spin, and thus was also terribly inaccurate. Strong language would've protected you better than this pea shooter, and it may be the only gun that is potentially more lethal if you ''swallow'' it (or, indeed, the only gun that ''could'' be swallowed whole).
256** It should be noted that guns like that [[WeaponForIntimidation were not necessarily meant to be fired at an attacker]]. In the early 20th century, even a very tiny wound could result in a potentially fatal infection, especially from an unjacketed lead bullet lodging itself in one's body. Hence pistols made for self-defense generally emphasised portability over stopping power, as most would-be muggers didn't want to die a slow and painful death and would back down if a gun was simply pointed at them. As antibiotics became widely available and medical care has advanced, the threat of merely being wounded by a gunshot, especially one that small, has become less effective, necessitating the focus for defensive handguns shifting more towards stopping power with larger guns firing larger bullets.
257* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FP-45_Liberator FP-45 Liberator]]. This pistol was intended to be dropped in large quantities into France during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII for use by LaResistance, the idea being that they could use it to pop an occupying soldier and then acquire his weapon. Stopping power wasn't necessarily the problem (it was chambered for the beefy .45 ACP round, and poor accuracy due to the non-rifled barrel wasn't a problem at point-blank range), but its range was pitiful (even modern reproductions with rifled barrels can't consistently hit from ten yards, as Ian [=McCollum=] and Karl Kasarda of ''WebVideo/ForgottenWeapons'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgOfbG3mi_0 demonstrated]]) and the gun itself could be built more quickly than it could be reloaded. It was often described as "a great weapon with which to obtain another weapon". Since they were meant to be [[ThrowAwayGuns disposable]], Liberators were not in any way built to last. Thus despite one million being produced, few original Liberators still exist.
258* During the Philippine-American War (particularly the Moro Rebellion theatre), the US military's .38 Long Colt M1892 revolvers proved to be ineffective against charging Moro fighters, who would shrug off several rounds for a variety of reasons, including a quirk in how the revolvers themselves worked that gave them inconsistent shot placement. Of course, that fact in particular wasn't realized at the time, so when the military temporarily remedied the situation by [[BreakOutTheMuseumPiece readopting the Colt Single Action Army]], they came to the belief that caliber was the sole reason for why the .38 revolvers were less effective. This lead to a strong and long-standing belief in this trope among the US Armed Forces, enough that the 1911 remained standard-issue for 70 years, and after it was finally replaced with the 9mm Beretta 92 in TheEighties, the near-constant attempts to replace it seemed to ignore even legitimate issues with the pistol in favor of focusing solely on the fact that it wasn't .45 [[FelonyMisdemeanor and was therefore apparently blasphemy]].
259* [[https://www.tysknews.com/Depts/2nd_Amend/no_honest_citizen_needs_a_gun.htm Sammie Foust's]] home was invaded, and when she got the chance she shot her assailant four times with a .25. He took ''an hour'' to bleed out, during which he beat the living crap out of her. She survived... barely.
260* [[https://okcfox.com/news/local/graphic-video-liquor-store-clerks-shoot-armed-robbery-suspect-fight-over-gun This failed robbery attempt]] of a liquor store by a robber high on meth saw him get shot '''ten times''' by a mother and daughter, wielding what appears to be a .38 snubnose revolver and a .25 automatic. [[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5454727/Busted-mugshot-robber-attacked-mother-daughter.html The robber, despite catching multiple shots to the face, neck and chest, survived.]]
261* An interview with a veteran Australian policewoman had her saying how female officers used to be trained on a .22 automatic 'ladies gun' instead of the issue .38 special revolver. The weapon was useless not because of its low calibre, but because [[ReliablyUnreliableGuns it kept jamming all the time]] ([[TruthInTelevision many .22 autoloading pistols are very finicky about the ammunition you feed them]]).
262* Over in Georgia, a single mother shot a home invader five times in the face and neck with a .38 caliber revolver. The suspect reportedly cried, before stumbling out of the house and attempted to flee in a car, before promptly crashing it at a neighbor's house, and being found alive by the police when they arrived.
263** Another story from Georgia included an ''inversion'' of this trope; several county officers were chasing an armed robbery suspect and got into a gunfight, before the suspect, realizing he was outnumbered, turned to flee. The officers fired another shot or two from their [[HandCannon .44 Magnum]] [[RevolversAreJustBetter revolvers]] before realizing he was running and gave chase, eventually catching him and hauling him back to the station. While they were processing him, they noticed he was shifting uncomfortably and, upon inquiry, the suspect admitted to having intense pain in his buttocks that had started during the chase and only gotten worse. Suspecting that he had been stung by a wasp or had pulled something during his flight from the officers, they conducted a medical inspection...and found that the suspect was bleeding from a [[ShotInTheAss .44 magnum slug wedged in his left (lower) cheek]]. After getting the man medical attention from the apparently true shot, they began to consider the implications, realizing with [[OhCrap no small amount of horror]] that what this man thought was a bee sting or pulled muscle was one of their bullets, meaning it had ''utterly failed'' to work as advertised, and as such uncovered the abysmal reliability of the .44 ammunition they used. Fortunately, this was in TheNineties, when many other police departments were switching to more reliable automatic pistols, and this department quickly followed suit.
264* Apparently the reasoning behind the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American-180 American-180]] submachine gun, a .22LR weapon that fitted magazines carrying anywhere between 165 to 275 rounds, and which fired them at about 1,200 rounds per minute, but which was designed to be a ''riot control'' weapon, since the logic of the time was "oh, well, it uses small, barely lethal bullets so it's barely lethal," with little consideration to the fact that it spat out a ''shitload of a '''fuckton''''' of those "barely lethal" bullets at a volume that would put an MG 42 to shame, and considering the gun can easily chew through a solid concrete block in a matter of seconds, [[DeadlyEuphemism "control"]] is ''one'' way of putting what it can do to human targets - in fact, much was also made of its ability to chew through body armor by simply [[MoreDakka hammering on it until it gave way]], the designers apparently completely blind to the irony. Hard to tell whether this is a more or less sane approach to riot control than the nearly-concurrent Soviet KS-23, a shotgun/carbine made from the rejected barrels for [[{{BFG}} 23mm anti-aircraft guns]], which was on paper designed for less-lethal usage but in practice had ''several'' very much lethal ammunition types produced for it.
265* During UsefulNotes/TheIrishRevolution, the IRA initially used .38 calibre sidearms for assassinating RIC members until one attempt resulted in the officer in question being only wounded and escaping. While he did die from complications from his wounds several days later, the IRA decided to switch to .45 pistols after that.
266* .22 pistols are often seen as this due to their iffy penetration and minimal stopping power, which is why they're typically used for shooting targets and small animals instead of people. Most gun enthusiasts and experts consider them better than nothing, but worse than almost everything else. Proponents of such tiny calibers frequently lean on the extremely common, worn-out, and idiotic cliché "''[[NeverHeardThatOneBefore Bet you wouldn't stand in front of one!]]''" defense (or worse, [[StopBeingStereotypical offer to shoot the person with it]] to prove its effectiveness), even though most people wouldn't want to stand in front of a bloody ''spitball'', but that criteria alone doesn't make them a good choice to trust your life with.
267* Pocket pistols chambered in rifle calibers, despite the power of their rounds, usually turn up as this.
268** In spite of how impressive it may sound, the [[https://heizerdefense.com/category/products/guns/par1-guns/ Pocket AR pistol]] qualifies, being a very neat range toy but pretty terrible as a self-defense gun. It fires the .223 round and advertises as featuring the "ultimate stopping power in the smallest pistol available", but shooting a full-sized rifle round from a tiny 1-inch barrel means accuracy is pitiful and it doesn't pack much of a punch outside point-blank range; that cool-looking huge muzzle flash means most of the cartridge's powder is uselessly burning off outside the barrel instead of propelling the bullet up to speeds where it will go where you aim it or hit with any real force.
269** Its 7.62x39mm counterpart, the Pocket AK, is just as bad if not worse straight out of the box, adding on [[ReliablyUnreliableGuns reliability issues]] to the mix. Though advertised with a "Case Shell Extractor for fast and smooth tactical reloads," the extractor hardly works, so you have to push the spent case out with a rod, and because of headspacing issues, opening it after firing is nigh-impossible without [[PercussiveMaintenance external assistance]]; the manufacturer outright disclaims that if it fails to open, the recommended method is to ''dry fire it several times'' until it softens enough to open. Its absurdly-heavy trigger pull will cause your hand to tremble, further hampering the already pitiful accuracy. And if you do pull the trigger, the firing pin won't hit hard enough to ignite the primer, so you have to do it three or four more times before it goes bang.
270* Scaled up to tank size with the German 37mm [=PaK=] 36 anti-tank gun. It received the nickname 'door-knocker' owing to its inability to penetrate the armour of all but the lightest of enemy tanks. The Americans also used a 37mm anti-tank gun, but it proved to be more useful because many of the German tanks in use when it was first deployed were poorly-armored Panzer [=II=]s, [=IIIs=], and [=IVs=]. Its use in the European theater diminished after Germany began improving the armor of the Panzer III and IV, and it was completely ineffective against the Panther and Tiger unless it [[EyeScream hit the optical slit]] (though German tank crews reported that American troops quickly became [[ImprobableAimingSkills disturbingly skilled at doing so]]). And it was still useful in the Pacific theater since the Japanese never deployed any armor heavier than what would be called light tanks in Europe.
271* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USFA_ZiP_.22 The USFA Zip 22.]] ''Heavy'' emphasis on useless. [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=X9bULArrKs4 This video talks about the gun]] by ''WebVideo/ForgottenWeapons'' while [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=Y3fd4goVs-4 this other video sees the gun in action]] - jams on the first shot with a magazine it's designed for, jams on every other shot with an extended mag it's not meant for, then jams so badly with a third mag that they have to call it a day to disassemble it before it will start working again, with a text insert [[TemptingFate immediately after Ian notes it gave "remarkably good performance"]] that ''every'' shot they took with it the next day for slow-motion footage resulted in another jam.
272* The infamous [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hollywood_shootout North Hollywood Shootout]] caused many American police forces to conclude that many of their standard armaments at the time were this trope. The two shooters tooled themselves up with assault rifles and body armour, the former of which gave them a massive [[MoreDakka amount of firepower]] compared to the pistols and shotguns of the responding cops, and the latter which allowed them to NoSell most of what the police did manage to throw at them. Several officers ended up borrowing some AR-15 rifles from a nearby gunshop in order to try and fight back. In the end, Larry Phillips was shot eleven times (including the [[AteHisGun self inflicted gunshot wound]] that killed him), while Emil Mătăsăreanu was shot ''29 times'' and took ''over an hour'' to bleed out when he was finally apprehended. Many police departments began arming their officers with greater firepower in response to the incident.
273** Before that was the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_FBI_Miami_shootout 1986 FBI Miami shootout]], wherein Michael Platt managed to [[NoSell shrug off]] about a dozen rounds fired by the agents .38 and 9mm pistols (several of the guns the agents were using were actually .357, but loaded with .38) to kill two agents and severely wound several more before the massive amount of gunshot wounds he sustained finally caught up to him. The combination of poor stopping power, the difficulty in reloading a revolver without speed loaders in combat (and that's not including several of the agents having been shot in the hand and trying to reload) and advancing technology led to the FBI adopting new magazine fed pistols, and also led to the creation of the .40 S&W.
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