The Northeast is staring down the barrel of a gun.

I'm still in a state of shock. And now we're staring down the barrel of condemnation.

Staring down the barrel of a gun is the scariest thing you could ever experience. It's not funny. It's not for the movies.

You don't spread democracy with a barrel of a gun.

He reaches into my holster and pulls my gun out. I'm looking in the barrel of my own gun - he's got it in both hands one foot away from my stomach.

It'd be different if he was staring somebody down with a loaded gun in his hand. But there doesn't seem to be any indications whatsoever that this man [Hussein] poses an immediate threat to anybody.