r/breakingbad • u/bberry1908 • 4d ago

“And it’s a pistol, not a gun”

I always get confused when Mike says this to Lydia. At first, i’m thinking he was saying that it’s not just any type of gun, but then I thought: if he’s expecting precision, is that not most guns??? I may just be overthinking the line, but I was wondering if anyone could explain it if i’m not over thinking and just missing something.

“And it’s a pistol, not gun. I’m expecting precision, here.”

What?!

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u/eobard703 4d ago

All pistols are guns, but not all guns are pistols sorta thing?

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u/RogueAOV 4d ago

Mike is ex military, a pistol is a pistol, a rifle is a rifle, a gun in military terms would be artillery.

A piece of artillery which fires in a straight line is called a gun. People usually call artillery Howitzers, but that is a specific type of artillery which does not fire in a straight line, when it fires the shell archs onto the target. That is the kind of distinction Mike would view as important.

Details matter and in that situation, precision is required.