My Guns Almost Never Work

[INeverWakeUp]

Hey DV! If you've ever read from my DJ before I'm sure you know like 75% end up having some sort of gun activity in them. Now I'm sure this is a result of playing a lot of shooter games, but that beside the point. So of course when I'm lucid and I need a weapon, what is the first thing I think of? A gun! Now, I never right this down in my entires, but usually when I summon a gun it doesn't work. I'll pull the trigger and nothing happens. So what I usually do, which is weird but works, is I make a gunshot sound with my mouth and the gun actually works. This is strange and I don't like it. I want to be able to pull the trigger and then gun fire. So, does anyone else have this problem or know of a possible solution?

[gab]

Do you have any real weapon in waking life? BB gun, air soft, anything? Buy a $20 cheap airsoft pistol, or any toy that shoots projectile and practice in waking life. Pretend you just got lucid and fire away. I used to have a problem with having guns galore, bur no ammo. I always found a box of ammo, with 1-2 bullets, rest were beads and breadcrumbs and lint. So I got myself a box of BB bullets, nice and shiny, well oiled projectiles. And I thought about it often, how my no ammo problem was solved. Now, I can shoot. Semper fi, brother-in-arms.

[INeverWakeUp]

It's a bit of problem cause I live in an apartment complex so I can't exactly go outside and shoot my AK airsoft. But hopefully I can go do that soon! Thanks for the advice!

[TiredPhil]

Change your gun to fire something other than bullets. How about a laser gun, with un unlimited power cell. Or even dispence with the weapon alltogether, and fire telekenetic blasts from your hands.

[INeverWakeUp]

Nah, guns are too fun!!!

[TiredPhil]

Nah, guns are too fun!!! Only for the person holding the gun.

[dutchraptor]

It's up to your own confidence. You don't believe that the gun will fire because you don't expect it to. Try affirming to yourself that you're in control of the dream, I can pretty much accomplish anything in dreams because I know I can, and I expect to be able. A good tip for these kind of experiences is to flinch before doing the activity, it will help your brain expect it. For instance before firing the gun, kind of clinch your arm muscles in expectation of the gun's recoil, usually that will be preceeded by an actual bullet firing. The same technique can be pretty much used with any intense action, I often used it for flying or jumping too.

[snoop]

Try going to a shooting range if at all possible. Then you will have experienced what a gun should feel like.

[duke396]

I always have gunfights in my dreams too, nice to see I'm not the only one. Used to have the problem of jams and misfires all the time, or worse the gun would work fine but do no damage to the DC like I was shooting blanks. This would happen in lucids and non-lucids alike... I was told to visualize/expect what's supposed to happen. If you can summon a gun in the first place you can probably do this. Imagine the proper function of the gun (in the dream). Expect to hear the bang, feel the recoil, see the slide move, the projectile and the hit/damage. Make yourself see, feel, and hear it all happen and KNOW with confidence that it's going to work. It's a matter of forcing the gun to work the way you want it to. It's a little awkward at first but it worked pretty well for me, it's not usually something I have to worry about now even in non-lucids. I was actually just telling someone a tweaked version of this method in reference to something else, but this is the problem I used it to correct.

[006]

Imagine that the weapon is simply jammed, or the safety is on. Remove the safety, reload the gun, these make a weapon work most of the times. As it was already stated, it depends on confidence, but if you attach your confidence to realistic things, it probably works better, so try these.

[JLMANN556]

This seems to me like your experience with firearms is all "Play" hence you making verbal noise (Much like a child playing cops and robbers.) to fire your weapon. In my dreams I've never had an issue with my weapons (Besides them being ineffective against a particular enemy) but in real life I have extensive training with firearms, they are a part of my everyday life (Security officer/Law enforcement student) so for me I know they will go bang when I pull the trigger. My advice, get some real world experience with firearms...OR you could try believing that you are holding a real weapon. What I mean is don't think "This is a real gun." think about what it can and will do. Think about your shots connecting with your target, visualize the bullets making impact and realize the damage they can and will do (This is a real world shooting technique as well). Do this when your awake and in your dreams. You should also try watching some youtube videos of people shooting the kind of weapons you imagine using, that might help. *Additional* I recommend watching videos of Magpul's training series on youtube as well. The tactical shooting techniques may snap you into a combative mindset and aline your thoughts with those of real firearms. On top of that, your skills in dream world gunfighting will improve.

[acillis]

i wonder if i can do the same just using my finger....

[ProdigalSun]

Maybe you should ask yourself why you are trying to use guns.

[Mzzkc]

Snoop is on point. If you don't have any real experience with guns, having them work properly in dreams can be a tricky affair. And even then, there's a big difference between shooting a target and ending a life. While I'm absolutely not recommending you seek waking life experience with the latter, drawing from aspects of the games you tend to play or the media you watch can help you overcome some of the barriers you seem to be facing.

[Tygar]

At some point I'm going to have to try shooting a gun in a LD and see what happens. Try this: Before you start shooting say something like "I'm glad I finally fix this gun so I will fire easily." Then try shooting. Or morph into Dirty Harry, or Rambo, or some other gun heavy action hero, guns always work for them.

[Nailler]

This may sound stupid, but it worked for me in a similar situation. "Remember" that you have a magic pill in your pocket that when swallowed, makes guns work... like Viagra only different. Take the pill out of your pocket, swallow it, and blast away!

[Tygar]

"Remember" that you have a magic pill in your pocket that when swallowed, makes guns work... like Viagra only different. Take the pill out of your pocket, swallow it, and blast away! LOL!!! Viagra that makes your gun work so you can blast away!!! Am I the only one with my mind in the gutter?

[Nailler]

LOL!!! Viagra that makes your gun work so you can blast away!!! Am I the only one with my mind in the gutter? I wonder if INeverWakeUp's subconscious is sending him a message. Or maybe it's you and I getting a message?

[Kuyarei]

Just imagine it being a magical gun that works on energy. most times i expected bullets, i failed.

[The Cusp]

Switch to bows, there is less that can go wrong with them. Of course swords are even more reliable than bows. And nothing will be more reliable than your hands. The more complex the thing you're using, the more that can go wrong with them.

[dutchraptor]

Switch to bows, there is less that can go wrong with them. Of course swords are even more reliable than bows. And nothing will be more reliable than your hands. The more complex the thing you're using, the more that can go wrong with them. That's not entirely true. It has more to do with your perception of the weapon, someone who plays a lot of fps game's will likely be more confident with a long range weapon than with a sword or their fists. Especially considering fist fighting and sword fighting are more confronting to the dreamer and can bring up insecurities. In the case that someone does not trust their own dream abilities then you are probably right, simpler weapon will be more reliable. Though the key to controlling your dream is not shying away from everything that doesn't work.

[BatteryCharged]

I played a lot of Halo and I have dreams of throwing grenades. Then I find myself in real life wanting to throw a grenade. Just like the game, grenades are an easy way to get rid of things that annoy you without much effort. BOOM! It's like "just go away....tosses grenade". I've never used a gun in a dream. I had a funny dream the other night where I picked a fight with this woman and we both grabbed a knife, then we grabbed axes. I had a throwing ax, she didn't. I won the fight. When we each had a knife, we never used them. I think it may be the same with guns. I think there's a fear that you may get stabbed or shot yourself. Or the fear of killing someone. I had a neighbor that tried to stop a robbery with a gun and froze in his tracks, the robber walked up and grabbed the gun from him. It's probably the same mentality in a dream. Using a gun in a dream may be more real than a FPS. And maybe you fear missing and being shot yourself, see the end of Unforgiven. I'm sure shooting someone IRL is not as easy as a video game.

[saltyseedog]

I think it symbolizes not having power in your life.

[The Cusp]

That's not entirely true. It has more to do with your perception of the weapon, someone who plays a lot of fps game's will likely be more confident with a long range weapon than with a sword or their fists. Especially considering fist fighting and sword fighting are more confronting to the dreamer and can bring up insecurities. In the case that someone does not trust their own dream abilities then you are probably right, simpler weapon will be more reliable. Though the key to controlling your dream is not shying away from everything that doesn't work. True 'dat. But... If you had played two games equally, one with guns, and one with bows so that your "training" for both was pretty much equal, I still think the bow would be superior. There's just more that can go wrong with a gun. Plus with a bow, your quiver is usually on your back which is a blind spot, so you should never run out of arrows. Bullets run out quick. What's more, you don't really see the bullets impacting. With the arrow you can, and that makes a huge difference in how effective of a shot it will be.

[dutchraptor]

What's more, you don't really see the bullets impacting. With the arrow you can, and that makes a huge difference in how effective of a shot it will be. Ya that's actually a very good point, I never thought about it from that angle. It's almost easier for your brain because you get to keep hold of the thought the whole way as you watch the shot being fired.