Question: What does the phrase "The things you see when you haven't got the gun" mean?
Bishop73
28th Sep 2020
Are You Being Served? (1972)
Answer: I would also interpret it (metaphorically speaking) as when someone has a gun in hand, there is a specific target or intent they are so fixated on, that they block out everything else around them. Without a gun, one would see their environment more comprehensively, noticing details they would otherwise overlook. To clarify, someone who has too narrow or fixated a focus or perspective, misses other important things going on around them that might affect their opinions or conclusions.
Answer: It usually just means seeing something weird or unusual, perhaps something someone wouldn't believe you saw without proof. The phrase is usually "haven't got your gun", although some people replace "gun" with "camera." Basically think about a hunter spending all week in the woods looking for the biggest [fill in the blank] and the one day he goes out into the woods without his gun and then finally sees it.
Bishop73