Jim Watson said:
Do not learn to shoot from a movie made by people who really hate you and your guns and just brandish blank shooters for pay.
While I agree with you in general, Michael Mann (
Miami Vice) is well known as one of the most pro-gun directors. Cases in point: the climactic shootout in
Heat and the scene in
Collateral where Tom Cruise's character defends himself against a mugging.
That said, Mann is certainly not immune to Hollywood embellishments.
Jim Watson said:
...if you repeatedly pumped the action of a loaded gun that way, all your ammo would be on the floor.
I've seen several shooters use this technique to clear a pistol, i.e. show that it's unloaded.
This is BAD TECHNIQUE and is NOT SAFE.
It's bad technique because—as Jim correctly points out—if there's a loaded magazine in the gun and the extractor is working correctly, it'll puke cartridges all over the floor.
It's not safe because the extractor might NOT be working correctly, in which case it will NOT pull a loaded round from the chamber, and the pistol COULD STILL BE LOADED even if the magazine is out.
The magazine should be removed, the slide locked back, and the chamber checked VISUALLY to ensure that it's clear. This can't be done with any assurance while the slide is being rapidly slung to and fro.
(EDIT TO ADD: The next step is to visually verify that the magazine has in fact been removed.)
DON'T EVER clear a gun by rapidly yanking the slide back and forth. IGNORE the fact that they do it in Hollywood.