Between traveling by bike, bus and foot, Cal Poly students rarely need to claim a car’s front seat. But for those returning home for spring break,1 the eternal struggle with siblings to navigate the radio and have access to an airbag will continue just as it did before leaving for school. For this reason, I will now discuss the history and official rules of “shotgun.” 2
The term shotgun dates back before automobiles and people questioning our Second Amendment, a time when people found carrying a shotgun while traveling as necessary as carrying a cell phone today, a time known as the Old West.3
Unable to simply lock the doors of their covered wagons and stagecoaches while traveling through dangerous terrain, travelers prepared to fight off bandits with artillery. To let drivers focus on controlling the horses (no cruise control in those days), someone sat up front next to the driver and performed shotgun duties. So today, when someone wants to claim the front passenger seat, they yell out, “Shotgun!”
The following rules will prevent upcoming shotgun discrepancies and front seat hoarding:
1. A witness (other than the claimer) must hear the claimer say the exact word “shotgun.”
2. Touching the front passenger door before anyone calls “shotgun,” gains said person the shotgun rights (no mid-ride claims that require climbing over seats).
3. The claimer must be outside (or in the garage), in sight of the vehicle, and finished with all activities that precede the ride for the claim to be valid (no “shotgun infinity”).
4. Returning to the building voids the claim, leaving the front seat again up for grabs (helpful when related to people who frequently make everyone wait while they go back inside to get something).
5. Grabbing the passenger door at the precise moment the driver unlocks the car, causing the door to remain locked, voids the claim.
6. When traveling with multiple cars, claimers must specify the car (i.e. state name of driver after yelling, “Shotgun!”)
7. There are exceptions when:
a. The driver’s significant other is a passenger.
b. The automobile owner is a passenger.
c. The automobile is disproportionately small compared to one of the passengers.
8. The driver (or Rock, Paper, Scissors) is the final judge as to the validity of all shotgun claims.
To avoid non-rule compliance based on ignorance, one should mail copies of this article to all siblings before coming home for spring break, because, while you may have gained the freshman 15, the back seat of your parents’ car has not.
Marci Palla is a public policy graduate student and a Mustang Daily humor columnist. “Marci’s Word of the Week” explores some of the more important vernacular of college life, one word at a time.
1. As opposed to those planning on going somewhere warm to forget about the notion of drinking responsibly.
2.”Shotgun” also refers to rapidly drinking a beer. People qualifying under footnote one should research those official rules.
3. Many Americans still carry weaponry with them while traveling in their American made pick-up trucks. My brother is one of them.