In the 1983 Christmas film A Christmas Story, what gift does Ralphie Parker desperately want?

In the 1983 Christmas film A Christmas Story, Ralphie Parker desperately wants a Red Ryder BB gun. The movie is narrated by an adult Ralphie, who remembers a childhood Christmas dominated by his wish for the officially styled Red Ryder carbine action 200-shot range model air rifle.

Ralphie repeatedly tells adults that he wants the BB gun, but his mother warns that he will shoot his eye out. That warning becomes one of the film's best-known recurring jokes. Ralphie's campaign includes writing to Santa, mentioning the gun in a school assignment, and visiting a department-store Santa.

The film was directed by Bob Clark and adapted from Jean Shepherd's semi-fictional writings, especially material from In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash. Although its initial theatrical performance was modest, cable television helped make it a seasonal favorite. The specific BB gun is not simply a generic toy rifle: its long promotional name deliberately echoes the Red Ryder comic-strip character and Western branding of the period.