Television Physics

King of Fools has proposed several bullet points (pun intended) about how guns seem to work on TV. I especially like these two:

• Guns are not subject to the laws of physics
  Neither friction or conservation of energy seem to apply to a dropped gun. It immediately moves out of reach of the original holder when dropped regardless of the impact surface, angle of impact or impact velocity.
• Bullets make moral judgements
  The stopping power of a bullet is not a function of its caliber or composition but rather the motive of the target. Any bullet from any gun can immediately incapacitate a bad guy; however those of a friendlier disposition can take multiple bullets from very large gun with little or no adverse effect.

These two principles also compliment each other a lot. Badguys will be blown back thirty feet by the power of the hero's gun, while he barely budges when he fires it. Conservation of Momentum be damned.