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[Shade Jackrabbit]

That kid crying at the end really did it for me. Though they never said whether he'll play any shooters ever again.

I felt so bad at the point. Poor kid. D=

[shig]

I used to play Carmaggedon when I was 8.


Awesome.

[OMGAlec]

While most of the video contained information that many of us would regard as common sense, I do like the bit with taking the nine year old to the range.  I wasn't expecting that the kid would cry from his first experience with a firearm, but I'm not surprised either.

When I was twelve my dad took me to a firing range and we spent a good few hours there, I shot a Glock 17 (Which is now one of my favorite pistols, but I prefer the 19 because it's more compact), a .357 magnum revolver (I don't remember the actual revolver itself, I just remember that it was a .357) and a semi-automatic AK47 (Yes, the 7.62mm NATO round... as a twelve year old) and I gotta say it was an exhilarating but jarring experience.

Though of course, I'm still a firearm enthusiast (I live in Georgia... of course I am) and I still love to go shooting with my friends every now and then, and I still get that adrenaline rush with anything bigger than a .45ACP, but maaaan, remembering back when I first shot that AK, my hands wouldn't stop shaking for a good hour afterwards.  While a 5.56mm doesn't recoil as much (Which the AR15 is) the experience is still as significant.

Though they never do mention what exactly caused the kid to cry, it might be that he realized that he was holding such a powerful tool in his hand and was just overwhelmed by the idea.

[Selben Coirlo]

I got the feeling watching that he might just have hurt himself with the recoil, but I guess we won't know without asking the kid.

[Paul Eres]

that was also my thought -- if he's 1/3rd a grown man's weight, that's 3x the recoil

[Shade Jackrabbit]

I got the feeling watching that he might just have hurt himself with the recoil, but I guess we won't know without asking the kid.

Hmm... could be. But the way he was in a state of shock right after shooting still means that it had a huge effect on the kid, considering he ignored for at least 8 seconds _{(I think that's how long before the scene's cut-away?)} what must've been a large enough pain to make him cry.

[Melly]

They're obviously sensationalists, but I don't think that's exactly bad, when they defend the sensible side of things. The common people aren't interested in elaborate explanations, they're interested in buzz words and phrases of impact. The majority of people are morons that way.

Like a man once said about political campaigns "If you're explaning, you're losing", or something to that effect. Basically, the majority of people have very short attention spans and are looking to be entertained. If they need to be crude to deliver a better message than the nutjobs out there, then that's fine by me.

Having well explained and researched documentaries will always be important, but they aren't as effective. Problem is most people that know what the fuck they're talking about aren't interested in sensationalism, and so don't reach the larger population with their message.

Fight fire with fire, right?

[nitram_cero (2bam)]

I used to play Carmaggedon when I was 8.


Awesome.

Me too. Now I make sprites explode in pixelish gore. I owe everything to my youth <3

I agree with Melly.

I remember when I was really young (6-8 years old?) that I recorded in a studio some lines for an educational videogame (I was "the kid")... and I actually started crying because of the responsability, as that game was going in production (here in Argentina, anyway). After crying, I built up courage and recorded the lines.
That kid could have cried because of the overwhelming power as some said, but that doesn't mean that in the next 10 minutes wasn't shooting rounds again.

Also, out-of-context sensationalism is only effective for the numb minds.
They're doing the same they criticize about the lawyer with the CAT-scan fiasco.
Either way, as long as it makes you think, it's cool.

[JoeHonkie]

While most of the video contained information that many of us would regard as common sense, I do like the bit with taking the nine year old to the range.  I wasn't expecting that the kid would cry from his first experience with a firearm, but I'm not surprised either.

When I was twelve my dad took me to a firing range and we spent a good few hours there, I shot a Glock 17 (Which is now one of my favorite pistols, but I prefer the 19 because it's more compact), a .357 magnum revolver (I don't remember the actual revolver itself, I just remember that it was a .357) and a semi-automatic AK47 (Yes, the 7.62mm NATO round... as a twelve year old) and I gotta say it was an exhilarating but jarring experience.

Though of course, I'm still a firearm enthusiast (I live in Georgia... of course I am) and I still love to go shooting with my friends every now and then, and I still get that adrenaline rush with anything bigger than a .45ACP, but maaaan, remembering back when I first shot that AK, my hands wouldn't stop shaking for a good hour afterwards.  While a 5.56mm doesn't recoil as much (Which the AR15 is) the experience is still as significant.

Though they never do mention what exactly caused the kid to cry, it might be that he realized that he was holding such a powerful tool in his hand and was just overwhelmed by the idea.

It's tragic that people keep trying to pretend that FPS games teach you anything about shooting a gun.

Fun note: I busted the hell out of my nose with the scope on a .308 Winchester rifle I had briefly to learn to shoot on.  My friends were all open-sights people so it didn't occur to them to explain that there was a safe distance you want your face to be away from that thing.  Apparently my father also has terrible stories of not being any good at all with firearms.

[Titch]

I got the feeling watching that he might just have hurt himself with the recoil, but I guess we won't know without asking the kid.

That's what I thought, I'm not really a gun expert but the way he was holding that gun combined with the amount of recoil it seemed to have looked like a recipe for injury. I'm not sure about Bullshit! It has it's entertaining moments (like when the cut up the guys triangle of school shootings) which are spoiled by the huuuuge amount of swearing.

[Movius]

I struggle to understand why someone would watch a show called "BULLSHIT!" and not expect swearing.

[Aquin]

Yeah, I remember watching the kid fire the gun.  All I could think was, "Um, brace yourself against your shoulder... don't hold it out away from you like that."

I mean, I've never fired a gun.  But I know the basic laws of physics.  That *had* to hurt.
But I suspect the kid was crying over the shock.  Otherwise, wouldn't he start to cry right away?  I dunno. 

[Shade Jackrabbit]

Yeah, I remember watching the kid fire the gun.  All I could think was, "Um, brace yourself against your shoulder... don't hold it out away from you like that."

I mean, I've never fired a gun.  But I know the basic laws of physics.  That *had* to hurt.
But I suspect the kid was crying over the shock.  Otherwise, wouldn't he start to cry right away?  I dunno. 

As far as I know, shock is a response from your nervous system when it gets overloaded with information. My friend's sister ran into a brick wall (long story) and chipped her tooth, and only a few minutes later did it begin to hurt, while until that point she was almost unable to move. So shock would explain the delayed reaction.

[Cymon]

I actually loved this episode. I love everything Penn and Teller. True they cuss, and they'd be better without it, but so would Zero Punctuation and Penny Arcade (tho they've toned it down over the years) and I still watch them zealously.

And the kid at the end, what a heart wrencher. Really made you want to believe everything they said before was 100% true.

Hah.

These guys are brilliant. They're #1 message is don't believe everything you hear, even and especially from them. They're going to come at you from every angle to get you to believe their message: logical, analytical, scientific, legal, authoritative and emotional. And here's the icing, they're spouting just as much BS as the folks their debunking. They are not unbiased or fair. They're taking the counter point and shoving it down your throat. The result is on the one side you've got one nutjob, they're playing the part of the other nutjob on the other side, and you, if you're smart, won't side with either one.

In the meanwhile the entertainment value is cranked up to 11.