There's a lot of debate as to whether or not the piercing gun you see used in the mall is safe. I suppose it's up to personal judgment. Many piercers trained to use needle methods believe the gun should be banned, yet there are many people who had their ears pierced using the gun who never had a single problem with them. The reason why a lot of people are pro-ban is because the piercing gun really can't be properly sterilized. Its pieces might be able to be rubbed down with alcohol, but there's crevices that can't be reached so it can never truly be 100% cleansed. However, most of the guns in use today have taken steps to make sure that the gun itself never actually touches your earlobe so as far as sanitation goes, it's much better.
Still, the gun is using a blunt force to drive a sharp piercing through your earlobe. It's virtually painless which is definitely a bonus, but even despite that, there's a lot more unseen damage done. The gun is designed to be used on the earlobe alone, however some piercing places advertise that they will pierce the cartilage as well. Some will even pierce nostrils with the guns. This is something that is HIGHLY risky. Cartilage piercings are prone to having more problems so using a gun to pierce either place is definitely not recommended. It could promote something called a granuloma (which is a common issue with cartilage piercings - a type of bump that forms near the piercing) or in the worst case scenario, a keloid.
Many people I personally have talked to, have had problems with their piercings that were done with the gun. One lady claims that hers are very fickle, and if she sleeps on them wrong, they'll hurt. Another woman had to close her ears up because they gave her so many problems after having them done with the gun. I have two holes in each lobe and the second hole on the left side gives me problems in that it gets infected very easily. When the man pierced it, there was a bit of tugging and pulling and ever since, it hasn't healed properly. I've also read horror stories of people's ears becoming so infected after using a piercing gun, the cartilage actually basically melted and their entire ear had to be reconstructed through plastic surgery.
So as far as having your ears (or other body parts) pierced with a gun, I personally would advise against it. Many people don't have problems, but then again, there are those who do. Do you really want to find out which side you're on? Professional piercers may charge more money, but they're licensed and know the exact locations. I do believe it's more worth it to pay this price and deal with a little more pain rather than have to struggle with your piercing and all the issues it could possibly have with a gun. In the long run, you'll save yourself far more time and energy.
