Here's Exactly Why Batman Never Uses Guns, According To DC Comics
It seems like there are certain figures in pop culture that are just absorbed by people all over the world. These are characters that are so widely recognized that you could mention them to just about anybody on the street and that person could recite their entire backstory for you. Humpty Dumpty, Santa Claus, the Itsy Bitsy Spider, and the Tooth Fairy fall into this category. But over the past 50 years, an argument can be made that some comic book characters have joined this group as well. After all, thanks to the nearly never-ending stream of adaptations, reimaginings, and retellings in film, comics, television, and beyond, how many people don't know who Spider-Man is?
The same can be said for Batman. Since his creation in 1939 by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, the story of Bruce Wayne's vigilante alter ego has been told a million different ways. But no matter what, it always seems to mention the same basic details. First, his parents were murdered in front of him. Second, he trained to become a hero to fight for justice as a result of this traumatic event. And third, as he fights crime in Gotham City, he does it without using guns.
But what is the reason for that third one? There have been a number of explanations over the years, with the most famous probably being the panel from Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, and Lynn Varley's "The Dark Knight Returns" where Batman says, "This is the weapon of the enemy. We do not need it. We will not use it." However, in a new series from DC Comics titled "Batman: The Knight," we finally get to dig deeper into the exact reasons why the Caped Crusader stays away from firearms.
**The following contains SPOILERS for "Batman: The Knight" #6.**
Disarm the whole damned world
In "Batman: The Knight," writer Chip Zdarsky (who is probably best known for his work at Marvel Comics on "Daredevil" and "Howard the Duck," as well as his art in the acclaimed "Sex Criminals" from Image Comics) teams up with the artistic stylings of Carmine Di Giandomenico and Ivan Plascencia in order to explore a section of Batman's story that's rarely told in full. While parts of this time period have been seen in flashbacks or montages, this ten-part series goes deeper into the events immediately following the Wayne murders up until Bruce's return to Gotham as Batman. And in the sixth issue, Zdarsky reveals why the future Dark Knight has such an aversion to guns.
Of course, part of it has to do with the severe trauma that the young Wayne sustained from witnessing his mother and father shot to death by Joe Chill in Crime Alley. After a tragedy like that, why wouldn't he hate guns? But another layer on top of this hatred is the training he receives from the world's greatest marksman Luka Jungo AKA The Swiss Mark.
Under Jungo, Bruce and his friend Anton learned how to use guns from a master. However, their mentor only agreed to train them if they promised not to use their knowledge against good people. He intended to teach his students his skills in order for them to know their enemies and disarm them. In fact, he wanted them to "disarm the whole damned world if you can." Unfortunately, that's not something that Bruce was able to do successfully this early in his crime-fighting career.
Too easy
During their training, despite excelling with weapons, Bruce shared his hatred for working with guns. In addition to reliving his past trauma with every shot, he also hated how easily and instinctively he acclimated to using guns. But "easy" has a double meaning here. Not only is it easy for him to pull a trigger, but it's also easy to eliminate an enemy with a bullet. Eventually, as Batman, Bruce will employ non-lethal gadgets and his fists to prolong the punishment as he dishes out his own unique brand of justice, for better or worse. While this self-limitation keeps him from killing, there's still definitely a whole lot to unpack there.
And as if those reasons weren't enough to turn Bruce Wayne away from guns, something else happens as the cherry on top of this violence sundae. After the students return from a hunt, Luka questions Anton for shooting a deer in the neck rather than in the head so it didn't suffer. Realizing that Anton was a killer that never planned to use his teachings as intended, Luka drew his gun on his student because he didn't want his teachings to be used for nefarious causes anymore. This made Bruce draw his gun on their teacher and shoot his hand. Distracted by Bruce's actions, the Swiss Mark was then shot by Anton, causing another important figure in Bruce's life gunned down in front of him.
Amed with Luka Jungo's teachings and some fresh trauma on top of the old ones, Bruce Wayne moved on to his next teacher with a reinforced gun-free philosophy. Now if only the United States government could adopt Batman's point of view on guns, their country might be in slightly better shape.