"Guys, we're hot about the complete opposite. Which is a bummer, 'cause I thought we were on the same page for once."
— Mac
After Frank appears on a local-access talk show advocating the right to bear arms, the rest of the gang find themselves on opposite sides of the gun control debate. Dennis and Dee set out to buy an assault rifle in an attempt to prove that the current system makes it too easy for people to get their hands on guns, while Mac and Charlie volunteer their services as armed security guards at a local middle school.
This episode provides examples of the following tropes:
- Accidental Innuendo: The gang constantly say that they're "getting hot" to refer to getting angry/worked up.Charlie: I mean, the whole gun thing, it just makes me really hot.Dennis: Well, it's a hot issue, and I'm getting hot about it too.Mac: This is good, we're all hot at the same time!
- Axes at School: Played for laughs, as Mac and Charlie attempt to make a local middle school "safer" using guns and swords.
- Bait-and-Switch Comment:Mac: Guns just do not belong in schools! That is why I brought along... a saber.
- Ballistic Discount: Dennis tries this when the person they're buying a gun from jacks up the price. Soon after, everyone in the gun show starts pointing their guns at him.
- Both Sides Have a Point: The episode doesn't come down too heavily in favor of either side of the gun control debate, instead showing the pros and cons of each. Ultimately, the only conclusion is that no matter what, someone is going to try to make money off it.
- Bullying a Dragon: Dennis gets angry when Gunther, the gun store owner, refuses to sell him a gun, and is promptly put in his place by the latter.Dennis: Listen pal, you just made my list.Gunther: (Enraged) Your list?!Dennis: (Intimidated) Yeah, I have a...whatever. Let's just go.
- Happens again when trying to buy a gun from a private seller.
Dennis: You know what? How about I just take it?! (Picks up gun and points it at seller). Because I'm a maniac with a gun and there's nothing you can do about it! (The seller and everyone in the store draw their own guns and point them at Dennis) - Call-Back:
- Charlie wears the same "patriotic" outfit that he wore in "Charlie Goes America All Over Everbody's Asses".
- Dennis and Dee attempt to buy an assault rifle from the same dealer who once sold them crack.
- Continuity Nod:
- Frank states that he doesn't see too well.
- The principal at the middle school where Mac and Charlie try to become armed security guards is the same one who previously hired Charlie as a high school janitor.
- Mac is insulted when Charlie asks him if he's ever seen Indiana Jones.
- Creepy Uncle: Jack Kelly puts in an appearance as Frank's lawyer and all but complains outright that he isn't allowed to have child pornography while they're on state television.
- Debate and Switch: The whole gun control debate is tossed aside once Frank reveals he just went on TV so he could rile everyone up to the point they'd buy guns from the store he bought ownership in.
- Did Not Think This Through: Mac and Charlie provide a room full of middle schoolers with items that could be used as weapons and are somehow surprised when this turns into an all-out riot.
- Dumbass Has a Point: Atypically, Charlie is shown to be basically correct in the debate of Guns vs. Swords. Mac keeps blustering about how he could cut Charlie down if he came at the proper angle, but Charlie simply points the gun and pulls the trigger (thankfully unloaded), because he can shift his wrist faster than Mac can move his body.
- Epic Fail: Mac somehow manages to cut himself with his own sword while holstering it.
- Enemies List: Implied; Dennis tells the proprietor of the gun store that he's now on his "list", right after admitting that he's a "person of interest" in several unspecified crimes.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Mac and Charlie are perfectly willing to bring preteens to the bar and attempt to turn them into child soldiers, but they won't serve them beer.
- Foreshadowing: Frank connects Al Gore and Global Warming to the gun debate. At the end of the episode, he compares himself to Gore using the Global Warming issue for his own personal gain.
- Freak Out: Dee has one when she's not allowed to buy a gun on the basis of her background check.Dee: You know, you light one bitch on fire and everybody FREAKS OUT! Oh, you son of a bitch! It was one time, and one thing, I just... (screams)
- Guns vs. Swords: Mac and Charlie spend most of the episode fighting over whether a gun or a sword would be more effective in stopping a school shooter.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Mac explicitly describes Charlie as having one. Charlie initially disagrees, but changes his mind after he fires his (thankfully unloaded) gun at the principal about half a dozen times when the man opens his desk drawer.
- Improvised Weapon: Mac and Charlie provide the kids with items they could reasonably find in a school environment that could potentially be used as weapons, including compasses, sharp pencils, forks, piano wire...
- It's Not Porn, It's Art: Jack tries to make the case that his "tasteful" depictions of children should not be censored. Frank protests that a live TV interview isn't the best time to make this case.
- Juggling Loaded Guns: Any member of the gang who hold a gun has little sense of actual gun safety. Charlie fires an unloaded gun constantly towards people, Dee flags the guy at Gunther's and Dennis tries intimidating a private seller with their own rifle at a gun convention, only to get two dozen pistols pointed at him. Mac even injures himself due to poor saber usage.
- Manipulative Bastard: It's revealed at the end of the episode that Frank doesn't really care about the gun control debate one way or another; he'd just bought a share in Gunther's Guns, and his media appearances were a deliberate attempt to boost sales by stirring up fear among the gun-lovers.
- Mexican Standoff: Dennis attempts to rob one of the sellers at the gun show by pointing the assault rifle he'd just tried to buy at him. Cue every other person in the place all pointing their guns at Dennis.
- Murder Simulators: Discussed; Mac and Charlie confiscate a kid's cell phone on the basis that violent video games provide the inspiration for school shootings... until they realize that they play violent video games, and neither of them wants to kill people.
- Never Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight: Charlie demonstrates why this is a bad idea by pointing out that no matter how Mac comes at him with the sword, all he has to do is move his hand slightly to shoot him before he can even get close.
- Noodle Incident: Dee's background check reveals that she was institutionalized for setting her college roommate on fire.
- Not Helping Your Case: After being denied at the gun store both Dennis and Dee protest why they should be allowed to buy guns only to prove exactly why they shouldn't be allowed to, with Dennis insisting that he's only a "person of interest" in most crimes he's accused of and "being wanted for questioning is different from being wanted". Dee meanwhile insists that her being institutionalized shouldn't count because it was against her will and she burned her roommate simply because she annoyed her.
- Opinion Flip Flop: Lampshaded at the end of the episode, when each of the groups ends up reversing their stance on gun control.Charlie: I think we crossed right past each other, like ships in the night.Dee: We've flip-flopped.
- Reassigned to Antarctica: The principal of the high school Dee and Charlie once worked at is now principal of the middle school, since his tenure means he couldn't be fired.
- Reckless Gun Usage:
- Frank casually brings two handguns into the news studio with him, and Charlie constantly waves his gun around, including pulling the trigger on Mac multiple times (right in front of a schoolyard, even).
- Dee also repeatedly points the barrel of a rifle in Gunther's face, while trying to lecture him about the dangers of reckless gun usage.
- Rock Beats Laser: Mac tries claiming that a sword is just as dangerous as a gun in close range, saying zig-zagging helps, but Charlie is able to point and pull the trigger multiple times before Mac can do anythingnote .
- Running Gag: Uncle Jack is once again concerned about his hands looking too small.
- Sequel Episode: To "Gun Fever".
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Both Dennis and Dee are convinced that America's gun laws make it easy for anyone to acquire one and attempt to prove it by buying an assault rifle at Gunther's. Things seem to go according to plan until Gunther runs the legally mandated background check on them and, seeing that Dennis has "a history of felonious behavior" and Dee was institutionalized, denies them the purchase in accordance with real life gun laws in Pennsylvania. They then tried going to a gun show and purchase a gun from a private seller at a gun convention, but the price is double than at Gunther's and an attempt to take it by force is met with a crowd aiming pistols at them. They go on to attempt a back-alley deal and after handing the guy their money he just walks away.
- Take That!: The end of the episode is one to both the NRA and Al Gore for the fact they used their causes to build massive fortunes for themselves.
- There Are Two Kinds of People in the World: Once Frank reveals his scheme to the Gang, he says that there are two groups of people in America: the Dupers (him) and the Dupees (the Gang).
- Too Dumb to Live: Dennis and Dee are perhaps the only people dumb enough to attempt a Ballistic Discount at a gun show where everyone is armed.
- Ultimate Job Security: The principal explains that he was transferred to the middle school since he couldn't actually be fired for hiring Charlie and Dee due to being tenured.
