Has the pope got a bullet in him?

[frindle]

Hello! I am reading an English novel and there's an expression I can't understand. Please let me know what this sentence means.

A boy was shopping for a baeball mitt with his dad.
He wanted to buy Ken Griffy Jr. autographed model but his dad wanted him to buy a cheaper model. His dad said, "Come on, I can write Ken Griffey Jr." Then the boy said, "Can you really do that?" And his dad said, "Has the pope got a bullet in him?" and they both laughed.

I can't understned why the man said like that? And why is it so funny?

[David L.]

You asked this question 3 1/2 hours ago! Please don't duplicate. Maybe it takes time before someone logs into the forum who knows the answer to your question!

[Ouisch]

A common expression meaning "isn't it obvious?" or "of course!" is "Is the Pope Catholic?" However, Dad in this case revised the phrase slightly, making a bad joke referring to the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II .

[frindle]

Sorry, I didn't mean to. Because it's my first time and there's a mistake!

[Searching for language]

A common expression meaning "isn't it obvious?" or "of course!" is "Is the Pope Catholic?" However, Dad in this case revised the phrase slightly, making a bad joke referring to the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II .

Years ago the question was "Is the Pope Italian?" And then of course, there was a non-Italian Pope!