Practice Shooting in an underground shop as seen in one of the trailers
The Underground Gun Shops are illegal firearm stores first appearing in Grand Theft Auto IV.
Description
Since the beginning of the GTA IV era, Ammu-Nation has disappeared from the game. This was due to a crackdown on weapons in the city by mayor Julio Ochoa, just like the current New York. As well as buying guns from the back of Little Jacob's car, Grand Theft Auto IV introduced underground gun shops, a set of illegal arms dealers which replace Ammunation. Upon entering the shops, weapons are found placed on tables around the shop, and a small shooting range is found at the entrance. However, if you shoot at the target the manager will attack you and you might receive a wanted level as you normally would for firearm discharge. Some pedestrians can be found at the entrance to the shop acting casually, who are actually guards who will defend the shop if you attack the manager. You also can’t enter the shops with a wanted level; upon arriving at the door, it will be locked, and a message will come up, telling you to lose your wanted level before you can enter. Killing the owner of one of the shops results in the aforementioned guards armed with Combat Shotguns and SMGs attacking the player. It also prevents the player from buying weapons from that shop again, as the new owner will begin shooting at the player with a Desert Eagle should they enter the shop again.
Locations
There are gun stores all over Liberty City. There is one underground store located in each of the three main parts of the city. The first one is on the corner of Dillon St. and Montauk Ave. in Downtown Broker, and first appeared in the mission Do You Have Protection?, in which Dimitri directed Niko to purchase a Micro-SMG from the shop. The entrance is down an alleyway. Another is in Chinatown, Algonquin. It is on Bismarck Ave., across the road from Cavity Lane. The entrance is down a small set of stairs, and the guard is usually found to the right of them. The manager here is a stereotypical Chinese retailer, most likely a triad. There is also one out of Liberty City, in Port Tudor, Alderney. The manager of the store is a member of the Lost MC, as his logos and tatoos bear resemblence to those of the Lost and the surrounding territory is run by the Lost, and it is called the Port Tudor Weapons Depot.This one is found at the corner of Odhner Ave. and Traeger Road, just west of the Plumbers Skyway. It is on the same block as a Pay 'n' Spray, and across the road from the phone used to receive the The Fixer's Assassinations. The entrance is up some stairs in an alleyway that passes by, which leads to a small yard behind the shop. This is where Packie and Niko changed vehicles during the kidnapping of Aiden O'Malley in the mission Tunnel of Death, and the roof is the setting for the side mission Phone Ho in TLAD.
Weapons
To purchase weapons the player has to walk up to the table and view them. When doing this, the protagonist picks up the weapon and examines it, reloading and viewing them.
The following is a list of weapons purchasable from the underground gun shops and their prices (buying ammo for a weapon is cheaper than when you first buy the weapon, unlike previous GTA games).
| Weapon | Cost of Weapon | Cost of Ammo |
|---|---|---|
| Baseball Bat | $5 | - |
| Molotov Cocktail | $500 | - |
| Body Armor | $500 | - |
| Grenades | $1,000 | - |
| Pistol | $600 | $35 |
| Combat Pistol | $1,500 | $100 |
| Pump Shotgun | $1,200 | $100 |
| Combat Shotgun | $2,500 | $200 |
| Micro-SMG | $1,200 | $100 |
| SMG | $2,500 | $150 |
| Assualt Rifle | $3,500 | $80 |
| Carbine Rifle | $5,000 | $100 |
| Sniper Rifle | $6,000 | $800 |
| Combat Sniper | $8,500 | $500 |
| RPG | $15,000 |
$5,000 |
Trivia
- Sometimes when you buy a weapon, the manager congratulates you on your choice, or promotes the weapon.
- Occasionally, if you kill the store owner with a headshot you can hear over the police scanner the mention of "an attack on an officer", even if no police are present outside the gun shop.
- If the player attacks and kills the store owner with a melee weapon it may not trigger a wanted level, but instead draw the guards inside to attack.