In 1960 Chuck Connors said, "I hear the same thing everywhere I go." We like your show because it's a family show. It’s because of the emphasis we try to put on moral values. There are killings, yes, in about half our shows. You got to have them, I guess, or it wouldn’t be a Western. But if you’ll notice, the story always turns on the reasons for the violence, usually in the big scene towards the end between Lucas and his son Mark. Westerns were extremely popular when The Rifleman premiered. The Rifleman's gimmick was a modified Winchester rifle with a trigger mechanism allowing for rapid-fire shots. Connors demonstrated its rapid-fire action during the opening credits as McCain dispatched an unseen bad guy on North Fork's main drag. Although the rifle may have appeared almost every episode, it was not always fired, as some plots did not lend themselves to violent solutions.