Of gun violence in America, the film's director Tony Garnett has said in an interview with Matthew Edwards of the 'Cinema-Retro' website: ''The place of guns is deeply embedded in American history. As I made clear in the classroom, America is built on genocide, has a macho culture and confuses owning guns with individual freedoms. This will take some shifting. It was all part of my attempt to understand America.''
Debut role and first nude scene for actress Karen Young. She was 25. She went on to appear naked in several films with her last one being Twelve Thirty (2010) at the age of 52.
Final theatrical feature film directed by British filmmaker Tony Garnett.
Actress Karen Young was cast as Kathleen Sullivan after director Tony Garnett discovered her in New York City. Of her, he said in an interview with Matthew Edwards of the 'Cinema-Retro' website: ''I found Karen in New York...Karen was excellent. A very talented young woman. She never flinched when going through Kathleen's journey especially as she had many arduous emotional scenes during the shooting of 'Handgun'.''
The film was developed via a development deal between 'The Ladd Company' and expatriate Brtiish writer-director Tony Garnett.