"Piercing Guns can NOT be sterilized. Some of the newer equipment uses a sterile, self-contained stud, which is all well and good, but the gun itself still can not be sterilized and can become contaminated with blood or bodily fluid when it comes in contact with the ear before or after the actual piercing. In a day and age where viruses like HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C are reaching epidemic proportions no one should get pierced with anything that can’t be put in an autoclave."
"Piercing guns TEAR a hole using a dull pointed stud as opposed to body piercing studios that use tri-bevel, hollow-point needles to pierce with. Hollow point needles are extremely sharp and make a clean, precise incision the exact same gauge as the jewelry being inserted."
http://www.bodyadorned.com/content/104/0/
"the stud itself. the gun can only hold a butterfly-back stud, & if
you've ever seen one, you know that they're difficult to clean
properly. dried lymph fluids (& sometimes, initially, blood) get
caught in this backing & make it easier to contract infection.
initial 'needle-pierce' jewelry is generally a ring, which makes
cleaning much easier due to there being nowhere for discharge,
hair, dirt, & bacteria to get stuck. studs also have a tendency to
become wrapped with hair, which can imbed the hair in the
piercing."
"when a gun piercing is performed, the end of the stud is what creates
the hole. this is much more traumatic for the ear, as the stud
isn't nearly sharp enough to avoid compacting the tissue, leading
to a longer healing period. a needle is razor-sharp & carves a
cresent-shaped hole in the ear which is stretched round as the
rest of the needle continues through the newly made hole. less
compacted tissue leads to quicker healing."
"the length of the stud, 1/4", is too short to allow for swelling. the
pierce needs to be given room to swell so as to prevent pain &
possible
imbedding of the stud in the ear."
This happened to my sister, her ear ate the whole back of an earing. her dad had to dig it out with a pair of tweezers
http://www.bmeworld.com/heidi/guns.html
I had both my lobe piercings done with a gun with no problems. After going to real piercer to get other piercings I see why they are so much better. It is pretty sad when my lobe piercings were the most painful piercings I had ever had (and I have piercerings in my ears that people cringe at when they see... as while as my clit hood)... and the only ones to get ever infected. But when I went to a real piercer and saw how clean and sterile they actually were.... anyway, I am not like all anti-gun or anything, I just think you deserve to know the facts. Of course if you do chose the gun dont go to some place in the mall at least. It still doenst change the fact the a piercing gun will never be sterile and there is always a risk. Lots of people dont go to a real piercer because or cost... for getting your lobes done it wont be much - the most expensive part is the jewerly and that can be 10-20$ per ring. And then there is the piercing fee witch is around 30$. All in all you are looking around 60$ compared to 20$ for a gun.
I am sure you will be totally fine to get your ears done with a gun. I just think that every person shoud know the risks.