A gun is a device or ranged weapon designed to propel a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). Solid projectiles may be free-flying (as with bullets and artillery shells) or tethered (as with Tasers, spearguns and harpoon guns). A large-caliber gun is also called a cannon. The means of projectile propulsion vary according to designs, but are traditionally effected pneumatically by a high gas pressure contained within a barrel tube (gun barrel), produced either through the rapid exothermic combustion of propellants (as with firearms), or by mechanical compression (as with air guns). The high-pressure gas is introduced behind the projectile, pushing and accelerating it down the length of the tube, imparting sufficient launch velocity to sustain its further travel towards the target once the propelling gas ceases acting upon it after it exits the muzzle. Alternatively, new-concept linear motor weapons may employ an electromagnetic field to achieve acceleration, in which case the barrel may be substituted by guide rails (as in railguns) or wrapped with magnetic coils (as in coilguns). The first devices identified as guns or proto-guns appeared in China from around AD 1000. By the end of the 13th century, they had become "true guns," metal barrel firearms that fired single projectiles which occluded the barrel. Gunpowder and gun technology spread throughout Eurasia during the 14th century. Etymology and terminology

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“The buffalo hunters and range men have protested against the iron rule of Dodge's peace officers, and nearly every protest has cost human life. ... Most cowboys think it's an infringement on their rights to give up shooting in town, and if it is, it stands, for your six-shooters are no match for Winchesters and buckshot; and Dodge's officers are as game a set of men as ever faced danger.”
— Andy Adams, Log of a Cowboy, (1903); as qtd. in Matt Jancer, “Gun Control Is as Old as the Old West”, Smithsonian, (February 5, 2018).
“To accept the principle that "all power proceeds from the barrel of a gun" is to accept a society which will be dominated by those with the biggest guns.”
— Tommy Douglas, speech delivered at Luther College, Regina, Saskatchewan, March 16, 1973.
“The right of citizens to bear arms is just one more guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard against the tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible.”
— Hubert Humphrey, “Know Your Lawmakers”, Guns magazine, February 1960, pg. 4.
“As long as I have a pen in my hand and a revolver in my pocket, I fear no one.”
— Benito Mussolini, 1914. Quoted in Paolo Monelli, Mussolini:the intimate life of a demagogue, Vanguard Press, 1954.
“I have a love interest in every one of my films — a gun.”
— Arnold Schwarzenegger, interview with Playboy (January 1988).
“"Games today are very, very real," Zelk says. "It's the weapons; it's the story lines, you know, that people get caught up in — even the optics that are used on the guns, it says L-3 EOTech. It actually has the name of the brand on the side of it so you know which optic, you know, you could go out and buy."”
— Sami Yenigun, “A Real-World Connection Between Video Games And Guns”, All Things Considered, NPR, (April 29, 2013).

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

Notable quotes

“The buffalo hunters and range men have protested against the iron rule of Dodge's peace officers, and nearly every protest has cost human life. ... Most cowboys think it's an infringement on their rights to give up shooting in town, and if it is, it stands, for your six-shooters are no match for Winchesters and buckshot; and Dodge's officers are as game a set of men as ever faced danger.”
— Andy Adams, Log of a Cowboy, (1903); as qtd. in Matt Jancer, “Gun Control Is as Old as the Old West”, Smithsonian, (February 5, 2018).
“To accept the principle that "all power proceeds from the barrel of a gun" is to accept a society which will be dominated by those with the biggest guns.”
— Tommy Douglas, speech delivered at Luther College, Regina, Saskatchewan, March 16, 1973.
“The right of citizens to bear arms is just one more guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard against the tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible.”
— Hubert Humphrey, “Know Your Lawmakers”, Guns magazine, February 1960, pg. 4.
“As long as I have a pen in my hand and a revolver in my pocket, I fear no one.”
— Benito Mussolini, 1914. Quoted in Paolo Monelli, Mussolini:the intimate life of a demagogue, Vanguard Press, 1954.
“I have a love interest in every one of my films — a gun.”
— Arnold Schwarzenegger, interview with Playboy (January 1988).
“"Games today are very, very real," Zelk says. "It's the weapons; it's the story lines, you know, that people get caught up in — even the optics that are used on the guns, it says L-3 EOTech. It actually has the name of the brand on the side of it so you know which optic, you know, you could go out and buy."”
— Sami Yenigun, “A Real-World Connection Between Video Games And Guns”, All Things Considered, NPR, (April 29, 2013).

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

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A gun is a device or ranged weapon designed to propel a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). Solid projectiles may be free-flying (as with bullets and artillery shells) or tethered (as with Tasers, spearguns and harpoon guns). A large-caliber gun is also called a cannon.

Overview

A gun is a device or ranged weapon designed to propel a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). Solid projectiles may be free-flying (as with bullets and artillery shells) or tethered (as with Tasers, spearguns and harpoon guns). A large-caliber gun is also called a cannon. The means of projectile propulsion vary according to designs, but are traditionally effected pneumatically by a high gas pressure contained within a barrel tube (gun barrel), produced either through the rapid exothermic combustion of propellants (as with firearms), or by mechanical compression (as with air guns). The high-pressure gas is introduced behind the projectile, pushing and accelerating it down the length of the tube, imparting sufficient launch velocity to sustain its further travel towards the target once the propelling gas ceases acting upon it after it exits the muzzle. Alternatively, new-concept linear motor weapons may employ an electromagnetic field to achieve acceleration, in which case the barrel may be substituted by guide rails (as in railguns) or wrapped with magnetic coils (as in coilguns). The first devices identified as guns or proto-guns appeared in China from around AD 1000. By the end of the 13th century, they had become "true guns," metal barrel firearms that fired single projectiles which occluded the barrel. Gunpowder and gun technology spread throughout Eurasia during the 14th century. Etymology and terminology

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).