Why so many handguns? o.o;

[Gargoyle Girl]

Since I've been playing this game, I'd say I've been having at least a 5 to 1 drop rate on handguns as compared to any other type of weapon, with snipers coming in second. It's actually hard sometimes to find a rifle or other gun type, even from using keys. Is there some reason pistols are so dominant a gun type when it comes to loot, and is there any way I can influence this so I find other gun types more often?

[Terminal Desolation]

Other weapon types become a bit more prevalent at higher levels, low levels you do end up mostly getting pistols. Another possible factor for why you're observing this is chests: if they contain only pistols, there will always be more pistols than if other guns had spawned (i.e. red chests hand out 2 guns, or 4 pistols).

[Starbug]

Are you on a lower level character? I notice more handguns in chests at the earlier levels.

[Lord Cyphre]

"Pistols are the most commonly found weapons."

http://www.gearboxsoftware.com/2013/09/inside-the-box-the-borderlands-2-loot-system/

[Fredericks of Cursewood]

It should be
Why so many crappy e-tech Darts and Spikers? o.o;

Is it just me? Of all the e-techs that I get, 60% are pistols. (Darts and Spikers)
15% Railers
15% Splatguns
5 % Blasters (I actually use some of these versus never finding a use for the above weapons)
3 % Plasma Caster of which half of those are Bandit and they get thrown away.
2 % Rocket Launchers

[Zen_Disaster]

Originally posted by Lord Cyphre:

"Pistols are the most commonly found weapons."

http://www.gearboxsoftware.com/2013/09/inside-the-box-the-borderlands-2-loot-system/

^ Yep. In this sense the overabundance of pistols particularly at the lowest levels of the game is consistent from BL1 to BLTPS to BL2. I suggest being careful before criticising it as there are equally some brilliant legendary pistols at the lowest levels of BL2 which will probably be most players' intro to this useful rarity as well (in addition to the many whites & greens). If the RNG Gods & good luck are favoring a new player, she can find at least two or three lege pistols within the first few main missions of the game.

Re "influencing" --- aside from targeting non-pistol-dropping enemies with other gun types in their loot pools (which can be a challenge for newer players to arrange) & aside from installing third-party software solutions, I know of no reliable ways for you to influence the matter.