EighteenPLU$ item

Terminology

The term gun may refer to any sort of projectile weapon from large cannons to small firearms including those that are usually hand-held (handgun). The word gun is also commonly used to describe objects which, while they are not themselves weapons, produce an effect or possess a form which is in some way evocative of a handgun or long gun.

The use of the term "cannon" is interchangeable with "gun" as words borrowed from the French language during the early 15th century, from Old French canon, itself a borrowing from the Italian cannone, a "large tube" augmentative of Latin canna "reed or cane".[17] Recent scholarship indicates that the term "gun" may have its origins in the Norse woman's name "Gunnildr" (or "Gunnild", possibly Queen Gunhild of Wenden, wife of King Sweyn Forkbeard[citation needed]), which was often shortened to "Gunna".[18] The earliest recorded use of the term "gonne" was in a Latin document circa 1339. Other names for guns during this era were "schioppi" (Italian translation-"thunderers"), and "donrebusse" (Dutch translation-"thunder gun") which was incorporated into the English language as "blunderbuss".[18] Artillerymen were often referred to as "gonners" and "artillers" Early guns and the men who used them were often associated with the devil and the gunner's craft was considered a black art, a point reinforced by the smell of sulfur on battlefields created from the firing of guns along with the muzzle blast and accompanying flash.[20]

The word cannon is retained in some cases for the actual gun tube but not the weapon system. The title gunner is applied to the member of the team charged with operating, aiming, and firing a gun.

Autocannons are automatic guns designed primarily to fire shells and are mounted on a vehicle or other mount. Machine guns are similar, but usually designed to fire simple projectiles. In some calibers and some usages, these two definitions overlap.

In contemporary military and naval parlance the term gun has a very specific meaning and refers solely to any large-calibre, direct-fire, high-velocity, flat-trajectory artillery piece employing an explosive-filled hollowed metal shell or solid bolt as its primary projectile.[citation needed] This later usage contrasts with large-calibre, high-angle, low-velocity, indirect-fire weapons such as howitzers, mortars, and grenade launchers which invariantly employ explosive-filled shells. In other military use, the term "gun" refers primarily to direct fire weapons that capitalize on their muzzle velocity for penetration or range. In modern parlance, these weapons are breech-loaded and built primarily for long range fire with a low or almost flat ballistic arc. A variation is the howitzer or gun-howitzer designed to offer the ability to fire both low or high-angle ballistic arcs. In this use, example guns include naval guns. A less strict application of the word is to identify one artillery weapon system or non-machine gun projectile armament on aircraft.

A related military use of the word is in describing gun-type fission weapon. In this instance, the "gun" is part of a nuclear weapon and contains an explosively propelled sub-critical slug of fissile material within a barrel to be fired into a second sub-critical mass in order to initiate the fission reaction. Potentially confused with this usage are small nuclear devices capable of being fired by artillery or recoilless rifle.

In civilian use, the captive bolt pistol is used in agriculture to humanely stun farm animals for slaughter.[21]

Shotguns are normally civilian weapons used primarily for hunting. These weapons are typically smooth bored and fire a shell containing small lead or steel balls. Variations use rifled barrels or fire other projectiles including solid lead slugs, a Taser XREP projectile capable of stunning a target, or other payloads. In military versions, these weapons are often used to burst door hinges or locks in addition to antipersonnel uses.

History

The first device identified as a gun, a bamboo tube that used gunpowder to fire a spear, appeared in China around 1000AD.The Chinese had previously invented gunpowder in the 9th century.An early type of firearm (or portable gun) is the fire lance, a black-powder–filled tube attached to the end of a spear and used as a flamethrower; shrapnel was sometimes placed in the barrel so that it would fly out together with the flames.The earliest depiction of a gunpowder weapon is the illustration of a fire-lance on a mid-10th century silk banner from Dunhuang. The De'an Shoucheng Lu, an account of the siege of De'an in 1132, records that Song forces used fire-lances against the Jurchens.In due course, the proportion of saltpeter in the propellant was increased to maximise its explosive power. To better withstand that explosive power, the paper and bamboo of which fire-lance barrels were originally made came to be replaced by metal. And to take full advantage of that power, the shrapnel came to be replaced by projectiles whose size and shape filled the barrel more closely.[8] With this, we have the three basic features of the gun: a barrelmade of metal, high-nitrate gunpowder, and a projectile which totally occludes the muzzle so that the powder charge exerts its full potential in propellant effect.

One theory of how gunpowder came to Europe is that it made its way along the Silk Road through the Middle East; another is that it was brought to Europe during the Mongol invasion in the first half of the 13th century. English Privy Wardrobe accounts list "ribaldis," a type of cannon, in the 1340s, and siege guns were used by the English at Calais in 1346. The earliest surviving firearm in Europe has been found from Otepää, Estonia and it dates to at least 1396. Around the late 14th century in Europe, smaller and portable hand-held cannons were developed, creating in effect the first smooth-bore personal firearm. In the late 15th century the Ottoman empire used firearms as part of its regular infantry.

The first successful rapid-fire firearm is the Gatling Gun, invented by Richard Gatling and fielded by the Union forces during the American Civil War in the 1860s. The world's first sub-machine gun (a fully automatic firearm which fires pistol cartridges) able to be maneuvered by a single soldier is the MP18.1, invented by Theodor Bergmann. It was introduced into service in 1918 by the German Army during World War I as the primary weapon of the The Stosstruppen (assault groups specialized in trench combat). The first assault rifle was introduced during World War II by the Germans, known as the StG44. It was the first-ever firearm which bridges the gap between long range rifles, machine guns and short range sub-machine guns. Since the mid-20th century guns that fire beams of energy rather than solid projectiles have been developed, and also guns that can be fired by means other than the use of gunpowder.

Gun

A gun is a normally tubular weapon or other device designed to discharge projectiles or other material.[1] The projectile may be solid, liquid, gas or energy and may be free, as with bullets and artillery shells, or captive as with Taser probes and whaling harpoons. The means of projection varies according to design but is usually effected by the action of gas pressure, either produced through the rapid combustion of a propellant or compressed and stored by mechanical means, operating on the projectile inside an open-ended tube in the fashion of a piston. The confined gas accelerates the movable projectile down the length of the tube imparting sufficient velocity to sustain the projectile's travel once the action of the gas ceases at the end of the tube or muzzle. Alternatively, acceleration via electromagnetic field generation may be employed in which case the tube may be dispensed with and a guide rail substituted.

The first devices identified as guns appeared in China around 1000AD, and by the 12th century the technology was spreading through the rest of Asia, and into Europe by the 13th century

refer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun

Dangerous Weapon

A dangerous weapon, sometimes referred to as a deadly weapon, is generally defined by courts as any object which can cause bodily harm or is wielded with the intent to harm or kill. Most jurisdictions have laws which minutely list what is considered a deadly weapon. For example, a defendant may be convicted of wielding a deadly weapon in cases of negligence, where harm is caused accidentally through irresponsible behavior. Individuals can also be charged in certain regions for merely for possessing a dangerous weapon without a permit.

Most jurisdictions have an exhaustive list of what items are considered to be a dangerous weapon. These lists include the usual suspects, such as firearms and knives, but often also include more obscure objects, such as cane swords and Kung Fu stars. It’s also common for regional laws to include provisions that allow a typically innocent object to be considered a deadly weapon if used with the intent to harm. Therefore, even though a car may not be specifically cited within a legal list of deadly weapons, it could be considered one if used with the intent to harm or kill.

Individuals carrying dangerous weapons are often required to have a permit or license that legally allows them to do so. If an individual is caught carrying a firearm without a permit, he or she may face charges for illegally carrying a dangerous weapon. Depending upon the region and the court system, these charges may amount to more than just a slap on the wrist; individuals have been fined as well as served prison time for this offense.

It isn't always necessary for a person to intend harm to be charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. In cases in which a person's accidental actions are deemed negligent, it can be considered reckless assault with a dangerous weapon. These can be difficult cases because a substantial argument has to be made that the defendant could have or did foresee that his or her actions could harm another person. For example, if a golfer tees off and the ball accidentally strikes someone, it may be difficult to charge someone with reckless assault, considering that such danger is inherent when stepping onto a golf course. If a golfer throws a golf club in anger after a bad shot, however, and accidentally strikes someone in the process, then charges of negligence and reckless assault may well apply, with the golf club being listed as a dangerous weapon.