Digitalfox

Puffins! Located at my local hippy health food store.

Actualy, there are alot of guns that will fire with out the trigger being pulled. Most shotguns, the safety mearly blocks the trigger from being pulled. However, a sharp strike on the gun or droping it will be enough to release the fireing pin and fire the gun without pulling the trigger. This is also true of a good number of rifles, such as the M16 and Ak47. Several machine pistols like the uzi also will fire without pulling the trigger. Some guns such as the above mentioned uzi, will auto-fire ala "True Lies" since there is nothing to stop the auto cycle mechinism.

As for the visualy checking the safety, It depends on the gun. Some, like the baretta mentioned earlier have the safety on the back of the slide and its simply a black lever that is pushed up. Alot of guns dont even have safetys. A sig for exsample has the safety built into the trigger, that is, the gun wont fire unless the trigger is pulled. Some guns have the safety built into the grip, Its a bar that is compressed by the users hand when he grips the gun. The thing to remember is, does the person holding the gun know how to use it? Not can he figure out how to pull a trigger, but does he really know how to use a gun effectivly? I have been to the range and seen people miss the target 3 yards infront of them, hell, I've been one of them. A big question is, is this person looking down the sights of the gun does he have proper grip and finger placement? Or is he holding the gun at his side, holding it sideways like a ganster or waving it about like a mad man?

You have two types of guns, Single action and Double action. Single action means you need to cock the hammer back to fire the gun. The pull of the trigger releases the hammer which fires the gun, the gas expands as the bullet leave the barrel and thus cycles the slide ejecting the spent shell, chambering the next round and cocking the hamer for you. A double action does two things, it cocks the gun and releases the hammer, which then repeats the same process above. When inserting a new magazine, it is necissary for one to "rack" the slide back manualy thus chamering a round. Some guns, like the Barreta 9mm carried by the us armed forces have whats called a "safety and decocking lever" which, places the gun on safe by disabiling the trigger and rolling the fireing pin safely out of the way and decocks the gun. The barreta 9mm is a double action gun though so once it is taken off safe it is not required to cock the gun. Most modern guns are double action, most revolvers are also double action though there are a few single action. Now, as far a a laymen being able to tell if a gun is cocked or not, it would be hard to tell, even for someone trained in weapons, since you would, presumable staring down the barrel of the gun, the given angle makes it next to impossible to tell the position of the hammer. Your best bet would be, when the person starts to cock the gun to rush them as their markmenship will be at it weakest. Also, when the magazine is empty on most modern pistols, the slide locks to the rear thus alowing the inserting of a fresh magazine, and then a simple release of the slide instead of a full racking to begin fireing again. But the way guns look, if your staring down the barrel, its hard to tell if the slide is forward or locked to the rear.

This: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkham_Horror is one of my personel favorites. I also enjoy some D&D, though still playin some 3.5e. Also like to play some Shadowrun.