The movies portray mobsters as men who run around with thousand dollar pistols stuck in
their waistband. That is art, in life the reality is much different. Most mobsters worth there salt are
felons, so to be caught with a firearm means prison time. It is a sign of real disrespect to bring a
gun to a sitdown or meeting. There is no need on a daily basis to carry a gun. There are times
when a call will come form someone above...... Come dressed or bring your cousin. You got that
thing...good both of you get over here. That is it and you must go. There will be times when you
may be sitting in a bar or restaurant and your guy will say come on I need to speak with you. There
in a private spot he will hand you a gun. You will never be told what to do, if your the kind of guy
that needs to ask..... Well you need to get a job. The whole thing is maybe a test, that is how they
weed out the weak links before work needs to be done. Being a tough guy is not about being
tough, being able to shoot or beat someone down its about how much you can take. I was on the
street for twenty years and I never carried a gun, I never flashed or showed off my gun, if I had it I
was working. Any person can shoot, being able to shoot at the right time thats the key. Shooting in
anger, when drunk or high that is easy, to carry out a piece of work that has to be done that is
when it counts. There is nobody who is not scared, some guys may brag or act violent.. inside they
know what they feel, what they are. The fear is there in the pit of your being, but you must push on
past that, work with it and just finish the work. To the brave go the spoils.
There are few new guns, very few machine guns that spit out endless slugs, you may get your
hands on a silencer.....Most of the arsenals are a hodge podge of guns that are stolen or forgotten.
Many times there may not even be enough bullets or there maybe a doubt that the thing will fire.
Many wiseguys carry a blade usually a folding clip on pocket blade. When engaging in any
confrontation you need to keep this in mind, you must either be out of arms length or close.
To beat a drunk down in some bar or to beat down a bully is easy. There are times when
you will be told to tune a guy up. The guy maybe cool or a friend that you like or a kid of somebody
you know. That is just part of the life, they know and you know it. So you just walk up and let loose
its just work. Some guys use baseball bats, some will use a blackjack, I favored a pipe ,one guy we
knew used a rolled up newspaper to make his point. These methods are rarely used because we
are in the business of making money. Violence is used to keep the machine working smoothly and
to ensure that others will toe the line.