A sleeve gun is a device wrapped around a user's forearm and used to conceal a small firearm under a long-sleeved coat or jacket. A triggering mechanism causes the firearm to extend out of the gadget quickly enough for the user to grab it and fire.[1]
The term "sleeve gun" was also used for an experimental assassination handgun developed for the British Army during World War II.[2]
Though parts vary by user, the most common component used in constructing the sleeve gun is a sliding rail from a drawer. The rail is disassembled and sawed-down to forearm's length. It is then modified to prevent parts from sliding off during use. Many parts are fabricated from scratch for the firearm holder and the ejecting mechanism. The mechanism is triggered by releasing a spring that holds the firearm under the wrist.[3] The trigger itself is either through a ring attached to a metal wire or just the sudden movement of the forearm.[4]
The sleeve gun was first popularized in the 1965 television series The Wild Wild West, where it was among the many gadgets James West (Robert Conrad) employed in several episodes.[1] The gadget was used mainly for West's Derringer, but various episodes had it holding other items such as an acid squirt-can, climbing claws and blades. The actual prop used in the series is currently on display at the CIA Museum.[1]
Perhaps the most well-known use of the gadget is in the 1976 film Taxi Driver, where Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) is seen constructing one in his apartment and testing it while reciting his famous line in front of the mirror.[4] As the title character, Andrew Dice Clay uses a sleeve gun at several important moments in the 1990 film The Adventures of Ford Fairlane. It is also used in the 1995 film Desperado, where El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas) ejects two handguns from his forearms to engage a band of thugs threatening him at a bar. In the 2002 film Equilibrium, John Preston (Christian Bale) uses two sleeve guns to conceal his sidearms and extra magazines. The main antagonist in Red Heat uses a sleeve gun to eject a small one-shot pistol. A more mechanical version of the sleeve gun is seen in the 1997 film Alien Resurrection. In the 2002 film Returner, Miyamoto (Takeshi Kaneshiro) uses a sleeve gun to conceal a cellular phone used as a bomb detonator. In the pilot episode of the TV series Hunter, the main villain (played by Brian Dennehy) uses a sleeve gun to conceal a knife. A sleeve gun is also seen in the Archer episode "Placebo Effect", but never used in the episode.
A variant of this gadget, known as the Hidden Blade, is used by Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and Ezio Auditore da Firenze in the video game series Assassin's Creed.