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They are only weapons if you use them as such. They are firearms, tools, to be used. Using the term weapons demonizes them and is frequently used by anti-gun lobbyist. Also gun buy back programs, while allowing individuals to get rid of unwanted firearms, cheat the gun owners out of a lot of money. Getting like 100 or 150 for each gun they bring in.
Isn't that a bit of a stretch? "Weapon" is the generic term for any tool that is primarily designed for inflicting harm. So a sword is a weapon, a pistol is a weapon, a thermobaric explosive is a weapon, and so forth. Can you also use a sword for hedge-trimming and general amusement? Can you repurpose a flamethrower to remove the snow in your driveway? Yes. But that doesn't really make the term "weapon" incorrect, or deceptive.Quote:
Originally Posted by Veho Nex
You can object to its vagueness, but I find it very hard to believe that the use of a correct word for an object is the pointy tip of an Orwellian Newspeak smear campaign.
And most gun owners I know refer to them as firearms as it is more correct here. Anything can be called a weapon, generic term for guns it should not be.
To refer to citizens of the United States as "people" is not merely disrespectful, but dehumanizing as well, and is often done by anti-US terrorists.
They are only people if you see them as just like anybody else. They are USAnians, peace-loving workers, to be exploited.
Anyone can be called a "person", generic term for citizens of the United States it should not be.
Most gun owners I know are life long hunters and police with a few cops sprinkled in there. Its different for an army guy because you were conditioned that way.
I was conditioned to refer to them as firearms. In my state/county gun rights are always on the table and hotly debated. It was always better to refer to them as firearms than get caught in a debate about whether dads old hunting rifle is any more dangerous than my new AR 15.
All squares are rectangles not all rectangles are squares.
I thought guns were a subset of firearms and which are a subset of weapons.
"A firearm is a portable gun, being a barreled weapon that launches one or more projectiles often defined by the action of an explosive"- Wikipedia
Exactly, it takes a lot of mental weirdness to think that a fire-arm is somehow different from a weapon.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/armsQuote:
arm 2 (ärm)
n.
1. A weapon, especially a firearm: troops bearing arms; ICBMs, bombs, and other nuclear arms.
2. A branch of a military force: infantry, armor, and other combat arms.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/armQuote:
Definition of ARM
1
a : a means (as a weapon) of offense or defense; especially : firearm
b : a combat branch (as of an army)
c : an organized branch of national defense (as the navy)
If you want to play that game. What does arms in firearms stand for? Armament. In its most generic form, that's equipment made for war. It usually refers to the weaponry.Quote:
Originally Posted by Veho Nex
The literal meaning of the term firearm is a weapon that uses a chemical reaction (usually gunpowder) for the propulsion of the projectile.
You use weapons or traps for hunting. Guns for self-defense are used with the specific purpose of threaten with lethal/significant force as a deterrent.
The only difference is that weapon is a more generic term than firearm.
To deny the connection is the newspeak.
It reminds me a lot of Estate Agents who call dilapidated houses "rustic" and very small crammed rooms as "cozy".
Weapons and Firearms are now "Projectile Cylinders" or something which sounds far more benign and harmless compared to reality.
They do this here as well. I was always lead to believe it is to instil the sense into soldiers that "this isn't a game" "this is not a toy" "don't screw around with this" as I am sure there are those which go in with big blinkers covering their minds initially.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelatinous Cube
Are you talking about bullet projectors?
A subset of mechanical projectile delivery systems…
That's correct - unless the nomenclature has changed in the last decade the term for a rifle in the British army is "individual weapon", as in used by one man, then you have "Light Support weapon" which is the minime these days, and a bayonet is a hand-to-hand weapon.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiaexz
In the UK "gun" refers to heavy support like machine guns and artillery that need more than one man to operate.
Which, of course, doesn't stop swaddies from referring to anything they can hold that goes "bang" as a "Gat"
The term "firearm" in the UK is not in common usage at the moment, but when it is it can include everything from fowling pieces up to mortars.
Regardless, to have a firearm is to be equipped with a weapon - if there's a nuance here it would be that "firearm" implies the intention to use it for violence while "weapon" only implies potential for violence.
To the point of MPD sometimes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelatinous Cube