Why doesn't Michael carry a hand gun

[KNIGHT RAIDER]

Have you ever noticed how we hardly see Michael wield a hand gun when he is away from KITT. Much of the time, we see the bad guys pointing a gun or shooting at Michael and it always comes down to KITT to get him out of danger. Sure we see Michael firing a handgun in "Knight of the Phoenix" pilot, but we hardly seen him firing a weapon throughout the series unless one is confiscated.

[Lost Knight]

Heh...my father used to say the very same thing to me as a child when I would watch the show. He'd say, "Why doesn't this guy ever carry a gun?" I simply replied, "Because he's got K.I.T.T.!" Think about it though...one of the more fun aspects of the show was KITT coming to save Michael's neck from danger. If Michael had a gun, he'd just whip it out all the time and not need to call KITT half as much. That would take a lot of fun away from the show. Also for the fact that I think Glen Larson intended Michael to use his mind and KITT to solve problems and not kill people. Even if Michael had a gun I'm sure he wouldn't have been killing anyone, but it might give people the wrong impression.

[KNIGHT RAIDER]

I agree with you Lost Knight. If Michael did carry a gun with him, he probably wouldn't use it unless it was absolutely neccessary. I guess Glen Larson didn't want Michaels character to be bloodthirsty like Dirty Harry or Hunter.

[Toni Nummela]

Yeah. That's why heroes like Michael Knight and MacGyver were really cool guys - because they didn't use guns to fight bad guys but their wit.

[sheltonw3]

You got to remember that Michael Knight has no past and for him to have a firearm would require a background check!...and remember Michael did not exist until Sept 82' and if you ever saw "Knightmares"...Devon mentioned that it was not legal for michael to ever carry or posses any kind of firearms and when ever it came to a confrontation,self defense would be justified ,but if someone chooses to investiage your past and it shows that you never existed before your own time line YOU GOT REAL PROBLEMS!.....and plenty of jail time until they figure you out!.....so in almost every case were he would stop the bad guys ,he probably ditched the gun to avoid be questioned on how he came into possesion of it!.....or gave it to Devon to dispose of!....of course in some episodes he used a H&K vp70 which was actually his own handgun and most actors prefer to use thier own personal firearm ,Fred Dryer on "Hunter" had his own and George peppard on "the A-team" had his own and Jan michael Vincent had his own for "Airwolf" and Teddey Sullvalis had his own on "Kojak" just as Clint Eastwood had his own 44 magnum for all the Dirty Harry movies!

[Skav]

michael held a gun at the climax of 'Short Notice'. Don't know why this was, I'm sure he coulda still solved the situation without one.

[Knight Rider Archive]

Well, Michael used a gun at the end of "Short Notice" in self-defence, just as he had at the beginning when he shot and killed the biker (Nicole: 'Did you hit him?' Michael: 'No, I just gave him a message.'). The gun wasn't Michael's, either, he took it from Ferris after he punched him out in the general store.

From a story stand-point, he used the gun in "Short Notice" so they could have that whole fun tip-of-the-hat to the old westerns, with Michael having to go it alone against the bad guys who have him and Nicole pinned down. But, I like to think that Michael stayed away from guns in general because he was shot in the face! That's got to be pretty traumatic (understatement), and remember his speech in "Junk Yard Dog"? ("For months after that every time someone lit a match or car headlights would go by in my face I'd flinch"). I think that injury would be enough to keep anyone away from guns for life (unless, of course, your life is threatened and it comes down to you or the bad guy).

- Paul
- http://www.knightriderarchive.com

[Lyn]

Well, maybe, as Devon pointed out to Michael in the episode "Knightmares", he wasn't allowed to carry one.
Just a thought.......

[Lost Knight]

What was the name of the episode where Michael and K.I.T.T. bust a bunch of drug dealers? He uses a gun there briefly. I think Devon berates him for using one afterward though.

[Knightuser]

In KnightRider 2000 Michael uses a gun again

That's better when he does not use one...

As Toni Nummela said, that's why some shows like KR and MacGyver are so cool...

[KITTfan]

What was the name of the episode where Michael and K.I.T.T. bust a bunch of drug dealers? He uses a gun there briefly. I think Devon berates him for using one afterward though.

A Good Day at White Rock? Michael fired a machinegun in the end of Inside Out. He also had a handgun in Hearts of Stone. Hmm... basicly he carried a gun in Knight in Disgrace too but it was part of the plan he and Devon had.
Still, most of the time Michael didn't carry a gun which I like in the show. He used other ways to handle problems.

-KITTfan-

[Lost Knight]

Thanks, KITTfan.

In KnightRider 2000 Michael uses a gun again
That's better when he does not use one...

But in Knight Rider 2000, that wasn't a "real" gun per se; it was ultra-sound. According to the movie's logic, it was a little more ethical for Michael to carry a weapon that was incapable of killing anybody.

[Knightuser]

But in Knight Rider 2000, that wasn't a "real" gun per se; it was ultra-sound. According to the movie's logic, it was a little more ethical for Michael to carry a weapon that was incapable of killing anybody.

Nice point of view... Ultra-Sound gun...