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There is one shot in Star Wars: A New Hope where one Tusken Raider, from a high cliff on a rock mesa, aims at Luke's speeder that zips through a canyon below; then, a second Tusken Raider touches the sniper from behind and, after a brief argument in their barbaric tongue, seems to get in the final word and the nomads scurry over the rocky terrain.

The fact that Tusken Riders shoot down a fast racer during the Boonta Eve Classic in 32 BBY demonstrated that these sand people are skilled marksmen, thus, why, having a good overlooking from a high position, they didn't shoot down Luke's X-34 with their long ominous cycler rifle (slugthrower type)?

Still from Star Wars - A New Hope

It is interesting to note what the Star Wars - A New Hope 4th revised script tells about the shot.

One of the marginally human creatures raises a long ominous slugthrowers and points it at the speeder but the second creature grabs the gun before it can be fired.

OrangeDog
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Bingo
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    From the script; "The Sandpeople, or Tusken Raiders as they're sometimes called, speak in a coarse barbaric language as they get into an animated argument. The second Tusken Raider seems to get in the final word and the nomads scurry over the rocky terrain." – Valorum Dec 02 '19 at 22:50
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    there's no indication that these are the same group of Sand People, let alone the exact same characters - it is over 30+ years between Episode 1 & 4 after all – NKCampbell Dec 02 '19 at 22:55
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    May be he knew the shooter wouldn't be accurate (ref Obi One) so he decided to save a bullet instead – user13267 Dec 03 '19 at 08:24
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    Maybe they went to the same gunnery school as the Stormtroopers... – Harper - Reinstate Monica Dec 03 '19 at 22:06
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    @user13267 Saving the (laser) bullet, probably not. Spooking their prey? You betcha. – Luaan Dec 04 '19 at 10:02
  • There was a time in fandom, when expanded universe was going fast, such events were always explained as "because force didn't let it". – Ege Bayrak Dec 04 '19 at 10:09
  • @Harper-ReinstateMonica - ...and they'd just been to Marksmanship School. "OK, aim...steady...MISS!!!!!!" "Uh...sergeant...I'm sorry, but...I hit the target." "OH, DAMN! How am I supposed to explain this to Lord Vader?!? HMMMMMMM???????" – Bob Jarvis - Слава Україні Dec 04 '19 at 20:53
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    Finally, thanks to a recent episode of the new Mandalorian entitled “The Gunslinger”, iconic and enigmatic Tuscan Raiders have re-emerged from Tatooine's sands more than savages with mumbling growling but indigenous people with a sign language. Thanks for bringing up them! –  Feb 18 '20 at 15:42
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    Tusken Raiders didn't use "laser rifles" but slugthrowers (firearms) – Karaelfte Mar 16 '20 at 10:21
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    Well you do see them trying to search through the speeder after knocking out Luke before they're scared off, blowing a whole in it while it's moving would've made a fiery mess of anything they might want to take. – IG_42 Dec 14 '20 at 23:14
  • Yeah... blood, guts and nuts sucked into the engine wouldn't be good either. I mean C-3's nuts. – n00dles Mar 30 '21 at 13:19
  • Notice that during the seventh episode of the second season of The Mandalorian (2019- ) Chapter 15: The Believer, prisoner Migs Mayfeld, aboard Boba Fett's Slave I, grabs a cycler rifle, similar to the ones used by the Sand People of Tatooine, and shoots, with deadly accuracy, the volatile fuel being refined at the enemy's facility. That tells me that the sand people could have shoot at C-3PO (the driver) and get Luke's landspeeder without damaging it. – Bingo Mar 31 '21 at 03:41
  • Has anybody ever shot a driver or passenger in a similar situation though without damaging any of the engines or crashing the speeder? Also, maybe they wanted C-3PO in one piece. Not sure why though. – n00dles Mar 31 '21 at 14:04

2 Answers2

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The rifleman was, according to the short story Rites, acting on the orders of his chieftain. When it came time to take the shot, he counselled them against wasting it and scaring off their potential victim.

“Quiet!” A’Yark yanked at A’Koba’s robe—but it was not to accost him. He heard a moment later what the chieftain had heard: the sound of an approaching engine. The two hustled to a promontory where they saw a landspeeder, an infernal human machine, zooming into the valley below.

This is it! Raising his rifle, A’Koba drew a bead on the distant vehicle as it raced from left to right—only to withdraw when A’Yark touched his shoulder. The chieftain was correct about this, at least: The landspeeder was too far away, and if its occupants were coming for the droid, they would surely stop when they reached it.

Since they knew where they were going (based on the location of Artoo), they could afford to be less hasty and opt for an ambush instead. Note also that the Chieftain is worried about incurring the ire of a local wizard.

A’Koba regarded his cousin and raised his hands to the chieftain. “You see? Not your wizard. Come on.”

But A’Yark stood transfixed, trying to work it out. “A farm child and his droids, all the way out here—here? It does not augur well.”

A’Koba stared for a moment—then shrugged. He shook his head. “You disappoint me. Go down and remain with the banthas. We will bring the prizes to you.”

A’Yark responded with reluctance. “Go. Take. But do not kill, unless you must.”

A’Koba turned back to face his cousin—and together they started scaling the rise. A Tusken chief, scared of shadows and counseling mercy? Madness!

Valorum
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    I wish that I could say that I was surprised that there's a story dedicated to the random raiders who provide flavor to the early plot, but this is Star Wars, after all. – Arcanist Lupus Dec 04 '19 at 07:50
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    @ArcanistLupus - You should be a little surprised that there's a canon story that's devoted to them – Valorum Dec 04 '19 at 07:52
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    There should be additional raiders named A'Yamuddah and A'Shaddap. :-) – Bob Jarvis - Слава Україні Dec 04 '19 at 21:01
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    @ArcanistLupus ah, fancruft and side stories for minor, irrelevant characters explaining every detail of Star Wars to death, so that it is left completely bare for all to see, dead and soulless and mystery-less. I'm definitely not surprised :) I was hopeful Disney would crush all of it, but little by little these details are cropping up again :( – Andres F. Apr 27 '20 at 20:06
  • @Valorum - So far, you have been the only hope. Thanks again. – Bingo Jun 04 '21 at 14:40
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    Bounty is much appreciated – Valorum Jun 04 '21 at 14:41
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(Not sure if "out of" Rites means "from" or "outside of," so I'm gonna keep it within A New Hope).

Soon after escaping on the landspeeder, they see a disabled sandcrawler with dead Jawas. Obi Wan comments:

These blast points, too accurate for sand-people. Only Imperial Stormtroopers are so precise.

I argue that the sand-people miss in order to set up this Obi Wan's statement. Which of course foreshadows the raid on Luke's homestead.

It's not yet a running joke that stormtroopers have bad aim.

To the point about the Boonta Eve Classic, I'd say that Phantom Menace prefers the dramatic, namely by ending with

Anakin accidentally blowing up the Federation starship.

As for your most difficult point, about the gun-grabber, there's not a lot about them & what they want in the early scripts. It's most likely that, unlike Jawas, they want the speeder intact.

eyesplice17
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