History Main / ConMenHateGuns

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* The English conman/sorcerer John Constantine from ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'' hates using guns, and will tend to use wits and magic even in the most direst of situation. This is changed in the InNameOnly movie adaptation, where John is a gun-totting American exorcist.
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* ''Series/BreakingBad'': AmoralAttorney Saul Goodman has [[NonActionGuy no fighting skill whatsoever]] and considers the occasional beating an "occupational hazard", but still prefers to hire an unarmed bodyguard rather than carry a gun. As Walt's operations become more dangerous he starts wearing a bulletproof vest. When he does eventually acquire a gun it appears to be the smallest one he could find, and he still prefers to keep it in a desk drawer rather than on his person.

On the other hand, it is quite often a point of pride -- [[EvenEvilHasStandards guns are beneath them]]. After all, they aren't called [[ConArtist the con]] ''[[ConArtist artist]]'' for nothing -- a truly good conman makes people do his bidding with ''cunning''. [[JustShootHim Just threatening to shoot somebody]] is [[ConsummateProfessional crude and inelegant]], if not outright ''cheating''.

* In ''The Flim-Flam Man'', the rather elderly conman Mordecai Jones (George C. Scott) never uses force and surrenders peacefully when a gun is pulled on him.
* ''Film/LayerCake'': the main character, a career criminal, expresses distaste for his comrade's gun collection, then immediately picks one up and starts fawning over it.

* Done for multiple reasons in ''Film/TheItalianJob2003''. Charlie and company make it a point of pride to not use guns, but we also get the impression that they're not very violent people in general, and wouldn't do very well if it came to a shoot-out.
* The titular ''Film/OlsenBanden'' and their Norwegian and Swedish counterparts consistently avoid carrying guns, as their plans primarily rely on cunning and trickery, and allows them to maintain a LovableRogue image. Their less moral antagonists sometimes carry guns, or employ thugs that do. This is at one point lampshaded by Dr Busé (who's a newcomer to the Swedish group) who asks why they, being criminals, don't have guns. (Vanheden responds by showing how far cunning and trickery can actually get you.)
* ''Film/{{Entrapment}}'': After stealing her PillowPistol, GentlemanThief Mac tells [[ClassyCatBurglar Gin]] his number one rule is to not rely on guns.
--> '''Mac:''' Rule number one: Never carry a gun. If you carry a gun you may be tempted to use it.

* ''Literature/{{Raffles}}'': Bunny, normally unarmed during robberies, plays the trope straight, but Raffles himself is an aversion and carries a revolver just in case.
* ''Literature/ArseneLupin'', in Maurice Leblanc's short stories. Very much due to the ConsummateProfessional aspect of the trope. He dislikes anyone risking their lives (despite putting his own on the line), whether the person taking the risk is one of his accomplices or his victim. Defying his rules can earn you a meeting with the hangman, as he withdraws his protection from the cops.
* The [[BigBadDuumvirate villainous triumvirate]] in the ''Literature/HandOfThrawn'' duology has one character who never makes threats or so much as touches a blaster, and that's the professional con man/actor. Then again, he usually gets on okay with the strategist, who is a [[spoiler: clone of a]] Red Guard and is much more wiling to try violence. The politician once tries pulling a blaster on the strategist and is disarmed quickly enough that the strategist didn't even take the threat seriously; the con man probably remembered that the strategist is ridiculously good at combat.

* Jack from the ''Literature/{{Dragonback}}'' books, like his uncle, never carries any lethal weapon. After all, they can't accuse you of assault with a deadly weapon if you don't own one. He does, however, enthusiastically embrace ''non''lethal weapons such as tanglers.
* In Lawrence Block's ''Literature/BernieRhodenbarr'' series, Bernie, a burglar and conman, fears guns, as he tends to picture them being used on him.

* ''Series/WhiteCollar'': Neal Caffrey is usually able to talk his way out of a situation and never has to use one. He does prove in one episode that not liking guns doesn't mean he can't be a very good shot with one, though.
* ''Series/SneakyPete'': hate is probably a strong word, but the only time Marius uses a gun is as part of a con; he clearly has no intention of using it. Also, he is shown not to really want to use guns, despite often having his life or the life of people close to him in danger.

* Michael of ''Series/BurnNotice'', a former spy turned [[ChronicHeroSyndrome MacGyver-for-Hire]], doesn't particularly like guns (but is willing to use them when necessary, which of course [[SortingAlgorithmOfEvil they increasingly are as the series progresses]]).
-->'''Michael :''' Guns make you dumb. [[DuctTapeForEverything Duct tape]] [[MacGyvering makes you smart]].
* In an episode of ''Series/TheFamousJettJackson'', the [[ExecutiveMeddling executives decide]] that Jett's character in the ShowWithinAShow ''Silverstone'' should have a gun, and, as a result, so should his enemies. The actor portraying the villain The Rat quits in protest, saying that it wasn't in character for the cunning Rat to use guns. ([[StatusQuoIsGod The execs relent and he's back by the end of the episode, though.]])

* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'': Stereotypically, TheFace tends to be the most lightly-armed member of a shadowrunning team (apart possibly from [[TheCracker The Decker]]). Nothing in the rules prevent you from making the party face also a skilled gunman, but faces tend to be [[PointBuySystem heavily invested in skills and stats rather than resources to spend on weapons and armour]], and [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul cyberware]] and {{BFG}}s tend to be hell on your social skills' dice pools.

* Captain Jack Sparrow of the ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' franchise will usually go out of his way to avoid killing or violence, preferring to sneak and con his way out of situations; as noted by Barbossa in the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl first film]]: "Now you see, Jack, that's exactly the attitude that lost you the ''Pearl''. People are easier to search when they're dead." [[spoiler:The only time he shoots somebody is when he uses [[LeaveBehindAPistol the pistol he was marroned with]] to shoot Barbarossa at the end of the first film.]]

* ''Literature/Raffles'': Bunny, normally unarmed during robberies, plays the trope straight, but Raffles himself is an aversion and carries a revolver just in case.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'': Stereotypically, TheFace tends to be the most lightly-armed member of a shadowrunning team (apart possibly from [[TheCracker The Decker]]). Nothing in the rules prevent you from making the party face also a skilled gunman, but faces tend to be [[PointsBuySystem heavily invested in skills and stats rather than resources to spend on weapons and armour]], and [[CyberneticsStealYourSoul cyberware]] and {{BFG}}s tend to be hell on your social skills' dice pools.

** Moist Von Lipwig in ''Discworld/GoingPostal'' dislikes swords because they "raise the stakes too high". In ''Discworld/MakingMoney'', he buys a cosh because life's too dull and he ''wants'' to raise the stakes a little, and immediately wonders what he was thinking. Vetinari also calls him on this, marveling what Lipwig "[[ActualPacifist who has never struck a man]]" would want a weapon for. In ''Going Postal'', Lipwig himself takes some pride in his non-violent nature and is offended when his golem parole officer calculates he has "killed 2.338 people" by ruining people and hastening the deaths of many by just a bit. At the end of ''Making Money'', Vetinari experimentally shows that Lipwig dislikes weapons so much he is ''more'' nervous when holding a sword than when being threatened by one.
** Kieth, the Stupid-Looking Kid from ''Discworld/TheAmazingMauriceAndHisEducatedRodents'', never carries any weapons or even throws a punch. Granted, it's easy to get by without a weapon if you have a Clan of intelligent rats traveling with you who ''aren't'' averse to fighting.

If guns have not been invented, then sometimes the con artist will have a dislike for swords, or knives, or whatever else is the most prolific/dangerous personal weapon.

* None of the cons in the ''Film/OceansEleven'' films like to use guns. The only time they do is when they're impersonating [[spoiler:a SWAT team]]. In the third film, Linus shows professional disdain when a self-proclaimed master thief robs him with a gun. After taking his loot, the master thief reveals that the gun was empty.

* In Literature/TimeScout, Skeeter Jackson doesn't hate guns so much as he'd prefer a weapon he's more familiar with, like a Mongolian recurve bow.

** Eliot doesn't like guns, but explains it's only because they're too ''imprecise'' (this from the guy who could probably kill you in various unpleasant ways with a toothpick or something). His reasons vary from episode to episode, but the real reason he doesn't like them is that they take him back to a part of him he doesn't like. However in The Big Bang Job he does state that not liking guns doesn't mean he can't use them. [[spoiler: He is even able to put most action movie heroes to shame with his over the top shootout]].

** In one season finale, a really ticked off Nate practices using his father's gun, intending to shoot the man who killed his father. Everyone else on the team tries to persuade him not to. [[spoiler: He doesn't end up shooting him, choosing to instead turn his partner against him and have them kill each other.]].
* In ''Series/TheMentalist'', titular mentalist Patrick Jane is well versed in con games and general messing with people, and makes his dislike for guns apparent on several occasions - contrasting him with the team of hard-boiled state agents he assists. When two CBI teams [[RightHandVersusLeftHand have an unexpected meeting and reflexively draw their guns on one another]], Jane yells at them to put them away, exclaiming "Cowboys!" in alarm and exasperation. He also immediately drops the shotgun [[spoiler:he used to kill DirtyCop Tanner, who was about to attack Lisbon.]]

* Film/{{Entrapment}}: After stealing her PillowPistol, GentlemanThief Mac tells [[ClassyCatBurglar Gin]] his number one rule is to not rely on guns.

* Aiber in ''Manga/DeathNote''. His profile notes that he dislikes violence, and he refuses to take a gun when preparing to ambush Higuchi.

* Doc in ''Film/TheAsphaltJungle''.
-->"I haven't carried a gun since my twenties. You carry a gun, you shoot a policeman. Bad rap, hard to beat."

From an out-of-universe standpoint, it's usually because the easiest way to turn a LoveableRogue, TheFamilyForTheWholeFamily, or ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything into [[BaitTheDog terrifying, evil criminals]] is to show them terrorizing people with guns.

* Mick Connelly in ''[[Literature/InDeath Betrayal in Death]]'' is a con man, pick pocket, and various other thievery-related professions. He expresses a disdain for the guns in Roarke's [[WallOfWeapons private weapon collection]], instead perusing the knives.

* Averted twice in ''Film/TheSting'':
** First, Hooker would happily kill Doyle in revenge for Luther's death, but admits that he doesn't have the skills needed to do so and therefore settles for swindling him out of a fortune instead.
** Second [[spoiler: as part of the final con Henry uses a revolver loaded with blanks to "kill" Hooker before he himself is "killed" by a fellow conman masquerading as a federal agent, thus leaving Doyle thinking that both of them are dead so he won't come looking for revenge]].

* In ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'', the conman Nick averts this; though he does mention that his holding a firearm is illegal, due to his being a convicted felon, he shows no real distaste for the weapons he carries and certainly doesn't hesitate to use them, especially since they're the only thing standing between him and being eaten alive by rampaging hordes of {{Technically Living Zombie}}s.

* In an episode of ''TheFamousJettJackson'', the [[ExecutiveMeddling executives decide]] that Jett's character in the ShowWithinAShow ''Silverstone'' should have a gun, and, as a result, so should his enemies. The actor portraying the villain The Rat quits in protest, saying that it wasn't in character for the cunning Rat to use guns. ([[StatusQuoIsGod The execs relent and he's back by the end of the episode, though.]])

* The [[BigBadDuumvirate villainous triumvirate]] in the ''HandOfThrawn'' duology has one character who never makes threats or so much as touches a blaster, and that's the professional con man/actor. Then again, he usually gets on okay with the strategist, who is a [[spoiler: clone of a]] Red Guard and is much more wiling to try violence. The politician once tries pulling a blaster on the strategist and is disarmed quickly enough that the strategist didn't even take the threat seriously; the con man probably remembered that the strategist is ridiculously good at combat.