History Main / DistractAndDisarm

This is possible in real life, and taught in some self-defense courses, but [[DontTryThisAtHome it is very dangerous to attempt]]: if the gunman is not successfully distracted, they can often shoot you faster than you can disarm them.

* ''[[Recap/BabylonFiveFilm04ACallToArms Babylon 5: A Call To Arms]]'': When Drake reveals himself as the mole, Garibaldi directly approaches him, asking questions about why he was betrayed. A ranger to the side extends his pole weapon, serving as enough of a distraction for Garibaldi to grab the gun and interrogate Drake.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': TheMole Selba in Sheryl’s gang takes Sheryl hostage and demands Akira PutDownYourGunAndStepAway. Akira banks on the facts that Selba is an amateur, as well as that Selba is TheResenter and clearly wants to murder him, to do as he asks, use his GunFu skills to DodgeTheBullet, then disarm Selba while he’s surprised.
[[/folder]]

* ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone'': When Vera Claythorne and Phillip Lombard find Dr. Armstrong's body washed up on shore they believe they are the only ones left on the island, so each thinks the other must be the murderer. Lombard has a gun, but Claythorne convinces him that they need to move Dr. Armstrong's body so it won't be washed away again at high tide. While "helping" Lombard to move the body she picks his pocket and eventually shoots him.

A gun is not necessarily required for this maneuver, but it's more common than doing it against a KnifeNut.

But not if you distract them long enough to grab the weapon out of their hand and subdue them, [[HadTheSillyIndexInReverse reversing your positions]]. Maybe lie to them that [[NotWithTheSafetyOnYouWont the safety is on]] or that ItWorksBetterWithBullets, tell them to LookBehindYou, or briefly ShowSomeLeg. Regardless, the point is to get them to take their eyes off you so you get a brief opening to try to disarm them.

* ''Literature/TalesFromTheMosEisleyCantina'': Momaw Nadon lures an Imperial captain into an alley and threatens to kill him. The captain laughs ruthlessly and says, "You can't kill me with a blaster set to {{Stun|Guns}}." Momaw knows he set the blaster to Kill, but fears he may have knocked the setting aside, and looks. Of course, it ''is'' set on Kill, but he has lost his chance, and the captain shoots him. (Luckily, his blaster ''is'' set on Stun.)

** "[[Recap/BurnNoticeS1E1Pilot Pilot]]": Michael tells a man pointing a gun at him, "By the way, Vince, you're gonna have a hard time blowing my brains out with the safety on." When Vince looks at the gun to check, Michael wrestles the gun away from him, shooting Vince before saying: "What do you know, the safety ''was'' off! My mistake."
** "[[Recap/BurnNoticeS2E12SeekAndDestroy Seek and Destroy]]": One of Michael's contacts, an ArmsDealer named Seymour, pulls a gun on him when he and Fiona gatecrash a party he's throwing to talk to him (after they {{curbstomp|Battle}} his bodyguard). Michael comments he has hollowpoints loaded, which causes the hapless Seymour to take the gun off him to try to figure out how Mike could tell. Michael immediately snatches the gun and puts Seymour in a headlock.

%% Please see thread to discuss a new image.

* DoubleSubverted in ''Webcomic/LeftoverSoup'' [[http://www.leftoversoup.com/archive.php?num=943 #943]]. Jamie is held at gunpoint by Roscoe Knight, who thinks Jamie killed his son Richard. Jamie recognizes the gun from earlier and asks Roscoe [[ItWorksBetterWithBullets if he got a new firing pin for it]], then grabs it out of his hands when he's distracted. Lucky thing he wasn't bluffing about the firing pin, though:

* Gun disarms are taught in some self-defense courses. [[http://www.fightingarts.com/reading/article.php?id=702 The page image]] describes the person playing the victim being mugged and reaching for his wallet, then disarming the mugger with the other hand and subduing him while the mugger is distracted watching the wallet hand.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gunpoint.jpg]]

* ''VisualNovel/VirtuesLastReward'': In Sigma's ending, Dio threatens to explode the facility where the cast is being held captive, when Tenmyouji steps forward and tells the villain that the detonator is actually a fake. This causes Dio to absent-mindedly look at the device, at which point the old man tackles him and successfully wrestles the detonator out of his hand.

->'''Seymour Talbot:''' You know, I learned a thing or two after the last time you kicked [my bodyguard "Jackass"'s] ass. ... When it comes to my personal security, I gotta take care of things myself. ''(DramaticGunCock)''\\

'''Seymour:''' ''(looks at the gun)'' Oh, you can tell just by looking--\\
'''Michael:''' ''(grabs the gun out of his hand)'' No, I can't, but I can distract you long enough to take it.
-->-- "[[Recap/BurnNoticeS2E12SeekAndDestroy Seek and Destroy]]", ''Series/BurnNotice''

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

* ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'': In a close variant, an Imperial scout trooper has Leia at gunpoint. Wicket the Ewok sneaks up and smacks the trooper's leg with his spear. The trooper goes "What the--" and looks down, and Leia grabs a handy branch and brains the trooper with it, then grabs her gun back from him and kills his partner before he can escape.
* ''Film/RoboCop1987'': When Murphy and Lois go into the old steel mill, Lois finds Joe Cox (one of [[BigBad Clarence Boddicker's]] thugs) peeing in a corner. When she tells him to put his hands up and turn around, he does. As she holds him at gunpoint, she tells him he's under arrest, and he asks if he can "zip it up," and glances down. When she also glances towards his groin region, Joe slaps the gun out of her hand, and pushes her off the balcony they're standing on. As she lies stunned on some rubbish, Joe laughs and zips up his pants.

* ''Series/BurnNotice''
** [[Recap/BurnNoticeS1E1Pilot "Pilot"]]: Michael tells a man pointing a gun at him, "By the way, Vince, you're gonna have a hard time blowing my brains out with the safety on." When Vince looks at the gun to check, Michael wrestles the gun away from him, shooting Vince before saying: "What do you know, the safety ''was'' off! My mistake."

* ''Series/{{Scorpion}}'': In "Going South," Happy is held at gunpoint by a kidnapper. She tells him his gun has no firing pin. When he turns the gun away from her to check, she jumps him.

* ''VisualNovel/VirtuesLastReward'': In Sigma's ending, Dio threatens to explode the facility where the cast is being held captive, when Tenmyouji steps forward and tells the villain that the detonator is actually a fake. This causes Dio to absent-mindedly look at the device, at which point the old man tackles him and successfully wrestles the detonator out of his hand.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

This is possible in real life, and taught in some self-defense courses, but [[JustForFun/TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs it is very dangerous to attempt]]: if the gunman is not successfully distracted, they can often shoot you faster than you can disarm them.

->'''Seymour Talbot:''' You know, I learned a thing or two after the last time you kicked [my bodyguard "Jackass"'s] ass. ... When it comes to my personal security, I gotta take care of things myself. ''(DramaticGunCock)''
->'''Michael Westen:''' You got hollow points in there.
->'''Seymour:''' ''(looks at the gun)'' Oh, you can tell just by looking--
->'''Michael:''' ''(grabs the gun out of his hand)'' No, I can't, but I can distract you long enough to take it.

-->'''Female BountyHunter:''' ''(holding him down with a boot)'' Men... Time to tell me what you're doing out here.
-->'''Torian:''' Ow... I deserved that.
-->'''Gault Rennow:''' [[ShipperOnDeck You must like him.]] If I tried that, I'd be wearing my face on the back wall.

-->'''Jamie:''' Wow, I am ''not'' as fast as I thought I was. You pulled that trigger, like, three times.
-->'''Roscoe:''' What the hell's the matter with you?

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!!Indexes: EscapeTropes, GunsAndGunplayTropes, ImageSource.{{Internet}} QuoteSource.LiveActionTV, JustForFun/TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs, WeNeedADistraction, WeaponsAndWieldingTropes