Hollywood's Science Fiction Guns

Peacekeeper soldiers using the FS F2000 bullpup assault rifle in "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1." Credit: Lionsgate You've probably seen a bullpup gun even if you don't know what it is. Millions of moviegoers have seen the futuristic-looking guns appear in the hands of Peacekeepers, the militarized law enforcers of the dystopian Capitol government in "The Hunger Games" films. The unusual shapes of bullpup guns have also featured in many past science fiction flicks such as the "Terminator" films, "Total Recall," "Stargate" and the "Robocop" series. But their unique designs aren't restricted to the silver screen. Many modern militaries have embraced bullpup guns as the ideal weapons for doing battle within the crowded streets and buildings of cities — scenes that could just as easily be ripped from Hollywood's more feverish dystopian nightmares. The eye-grabbing quality of bullpup guns comes from how they overturn the past 500 years of firearm design. Traditionally, most gun designs have placed the trigger behind the gun's magazine and action. The magazine stores cartridges — units of ammunition that include the bullet, powder and primer — while the gun's action mechanism loads, fires and ejects cartridges. A conventional design that placed the gun's action farther away from the user's face made sense early on in the history of guns, especially when imperfect gun designs or materials risked the weapons exploding. By comparison, bullpup guns place the trigger in front of the magazine and action. That means the magazine and action can fill the space normally taken up by the gun stock, which allows for a shorter weapon overall. But military, law enforcement and civilian gun users still remain divided over whether the bullpup design represents an improvement over conventional gun designs. "This argument between bullpups and standard guns has been around for 60 years," says Richard Stone, an associate professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering at Iowa State University.