why was Jack hiding the weapons? Would they be useful in hunting? etc. etc

Because he doesn't trust people? 100 9mm rounds wouldn't be that useful in hunting, not for long enough.

Good aim I do question on Charlie's part (he wasn't that close).

Lack of nerves? Having the world fall away so that all he can see is the man who killed him and stole his preggo girlfriend? Leaving him solid in the knowledge he has to kill him or be doomed to be useless guy? Perhaps feeling that sense of omnipotence that guns can give?

Totally plausible. Charlie stalked them, probably looking for a way to kill Ethan the whole time. There was no moment of realising "Hey, he's just a guy, what right do I have?" and I buy that entire. I don't question it at all.

Yeah, it wasn't that he fired the gun, it's that he fired five quick shots in succession, and every one hit Ethan in the chest. Unless he's used a handgun before (he's a rock star, so ya never know), he's damn lucky that he didn't kneecap somebody else with the later shots.

Eh. I can handwave Charlie as being right there on the spot. Jack gets a gun because he's Captain Hero Doctor Jack. The marshall might not be all that impressed with Sawyer, but as he pointed out, there's an ex-polar bear out there who may think otherwise.

Am I the only one who didn't think Kate's lack-o'-gun was an oversight? Because I thought that that was actually part of Sawyer's game - picking up that for some reason Kate wasnt' getting one, and fucking with Jack by giving her one.

I did wonder how Charlie was so precise (it looked like he hit a nice tight pattern on Ethan's chest), but I'm not gonna lose sleep over it.

I thought Jack's line about people being more likely to shoot each other than Ethan made a lot of sense.

By "lack of nerves" I mean being able to use the gun as a tool without making mistakes. I totally buy that he was there and stalking the stalking party in hopes of killing Ethan; and that, seeing his opportunity, he picked up the gun. But, especially if he's never fired one before, I should think the first shot would startle him so badly he wouldn't get off any more, or he'd miss wildly with them.

And shoot somebody else! It's a fricken good thing he's got really really good aim! Ethan was standing in the middle of a huddle with 5 people Charlie doesn't (specifically) want dead.

As to askye's question, we know that Kate knows how to handle weapons (probably better than anyone but Sayid!), but unless she told more than we saw her tell, neither Jack nor Sawyer knows. I think Sawyer has twigged to something iffy about her, and also likes to thumb his nose at Jack, but he is lucky that Kate didn't look at the gun and go "What did I tell you back when you shot the polar bear? You shmuck."

I find Sayid and Sawyer hot. Jack's meh. Locke is some one I would watch in nervous fascination, ideally from a distance. Michael's growing on me, although he still hasn't quite flipped my "do him" switch. Jin's pretty, but not so much hot. Some of that is probably due to the fact that a lot of what I perceive as hot comes via verbal communication, and there's that whole language barrier thing.

Charlie, Boone, and Hurley are just sort of there, as far as my hormones are concerned. Although I'd probably enjoy hanging out with Hurley, and possibly Charlie.

ETA I fanwanked Charlie and the gun as something he could have picked up while on tour. But even if he'd gone up to Jack and said, "Hey, I spent six months in Texas learning to shoot straight," I'd hope Jack wouldn't give him a gun. A PTS-suffering, ex-junkie going through withdrawl wouldn't be my first choice of people to arm, no matter how much gun experience he had.

But, especially if he's never fired one before, I should think the first shot would startle him so badly he wouldn't get off any more, or he'd miss wildly with them.

Skittish first time shooters do lots of weird things. I imagine most of them stop after the first shot, but sometimes they'll go crazy on the trigger (maybe it had a hair trigger).

But yeah, the only one that has a chance of hitting anything is the first one, and the rest should be wild, possibly into one of the bystanders.

ex-junkie going through withdrawl

That was the other thing that bugged me about this ep -- we saw him having obvious withdrawal symptoms in the flashback, but we haven't seen any on the island. I suppose you could chalk it up to island magic or Charlie doing all his sweating and vomiting offscreen, but it doesn't make me entirely happy. It feels lazy.

But, especially if he's never fired one before, I should think the first shot would startle him so badly he wouldn't get off any more, or he'd miss wildly with them.

I was going to say that what really annoys about this is that there's no plot need for some display of sharpshooting here, as long as a lucky shot kills Ethan dead.

But -

Aren't we here on an island where improbable things seem to happen when people really want something? I've found myself a new wank.

Re Jack and Kate - maybe he doesn't know if she can shoot. He knows that she's wanted for something or other, he knows that the marshall said not to trust her, he knows that for whatever reason, she really wanted to get her hands on those guns. Good enough for me.

Come on, Jessica. He's got aspirin.