Family Matters The Gun (1989–1998) Online
- Original Title :
- The Gun
- Genre :
- TV Episode / Comedy / Drama / Family
- Year :
- 1989–1998
- Directror :
- John Tracy
- Cast :
- Reginald VelJohnson,Jo Marie Payton,Rosetta LeNoire
- Writer :
- Thomas L. Miller,Robert L. Boyett
- Type :
- TV Episode
- Time :
- 22min
- Rating :
- 7.5/10
In perhaps the series' most grittiest episode, Laura has a harrowing experience at school. A female gang robs her of her jacket at gunpoint, then is told she can expect to be shot if she reports the crime. Laura is scared for her life and wants to buy a gun to defend herself. Urkel begs her to reconsider, but Laura insists she would feel safer with a gun. During a meeting with a gun salesman at school, gunfire breaks out. One of Laura's friends is harassed by the same gang that terrorized her earlier, and when she wouldn't give up a new pair of expensive sneakers, has been seriously wounded. Carl later catches the gangsters, then tells Harriette that violence only begets more. Urkel decides to do the right thing: Set up a gun-buyback drive to stop the violence.
| Episode credited cast: | |||
 | Reginald VelJohnson | - | Carl Winslow |
 | Jo Marie Payton | - | Harriette Winslow (as Jo Marie Payton-Noble) |
 | Rosetta LeNoire | - | Estelle 'Mother' Winslow (credit only) |
 | Darius McCrary | - | Eddie Winslow |
 | Kellie Shanygne Williams | - | Laura Winslow |
 | Bryton James | - | Richie Crawford (as Bryton McClure) (credit only) |
 | Jaleel White | - | Steve Urkel |
 | Shawn Harrison | - | Waldo Geraldo Faldo |
| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
 | Ryan Bollman | - | Gun Salesman |
 | Kyndra Joy Casper | - | Tough Girl #2 |
 | Raushan Hammond | - | Latin Club Member |
 | Sonya Haynes | - | Tough Girl #1 |
 | Cherie Johnson | - | Maxine Johnson |
 | Tracey Cherelle Jones | - | Toni (as Tracey Jones) |
 | Trina McGee | - | Josie (as Trina McGee-Davis) |
In the 2015 documentary Misery Loves Comedy, Freddie Prinze Jr. (who was in the documentary to discuss the life, career, and death of his father, legendary comedian Freddie Prinze) said that when he booked his first-ever professional acting job on this show he was so excited that he went directly from the audition location on the Warner Brothers lot to Forest Lawn Cemetery (which was directly behind Warner Brothers) to tell his father the news. Prinze Jr. played the character "Tough Guy" on the season six episode "The Gun," a "message" episode that tacked the issue of gun violence; the elder Freddie Prinze died in 1977 at the age of 22 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.