Do we buy weapons or firearms?

This is a silly splitting of hairs.

Firearm, by simple virtue of its etymology, is the joining of fire and arm. Arms are armaments. Armaments are weapons.

I understand that “anything can be a weapon” depending on how it’s used. Fine. But that doesn’t obscure the reality that some things are designed to be weapons — instruments for fighting. Firearms, easily fall into that historical and etymological category.

I suppose an argument could be made that not all firearms are designed for fighting. But I’ve generally never understood what people are hoping to gain by arguing that firearms are not weapons, unless it’s just trying to create some legal scenario where you can still own certain “firearms” after a liberal takeover.

I call them guns, rifles, or handguns. I used to call handguns pistols just like everyone else did back then but now I don't want out bring out the "correct term" crowd and deal with them. I see calling them weapons to people that know little or nothing about firearms as using an intimidating name. As shooter we understand but non shooters don't.

I call them pistols, or rifles, or shotguns. But yes, they are also weapons. Unless you superglued your horseblinders on.

I don't call any of my firearms a weapon. I don't call any of my knives a weapon. Doesn't matter if they were bought solely for self defense or not.

If I actually use one of my firearms in self defense, then the police and lawyers can call it a weapon. I'll still call it a pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun, or simply "gun".

[QUOTE="crestoncowboy]
Id love to know the percent that have never been fired since the week they were brought home if at all.[/QUOTE]

Surprisingly high. I'm lucky to have a few in my safe. I bought a gun last year that still had the store trigger lock on it. I paid less than half of what was on the 2007 receipt that was in the box.

99% of the time I use the word weapon it's in the sentence "Do you have a Concealed Weapon Permit?"

We do this periodically.

Here's the deal:

Number One: What does the Constitution protect? Weapons or toys. Their protected usage is for weapons purposes.
Number Two: In this discussion you are pandering to antigunners by pretending the boom-booms are toys and nice. Please don't take my toys away.
Number Three: Gun folks in the UK and Australia tried to protect classes of firearms by claiming they were for sport. A man 'needs' his sport - didn't work, they were banned as these toys and sporting instruments are too damn dangerous as toys. You can't go to a building in Las Vegas and shoot hundreds with a tennis racket or frying pan.
Number Four: That's why calling ARs - Modern Sporting Rifles is a path to excusing banning them as toys.
Number Five: The sports applications are derivative of the weapons applications and are training. Some try to deny this. In the UK and Europe, they mocked our more life like IDPA and USPSA targets as showing American homicidal tendencies. Hey, does the UK shoot these sports anymore? No.
Number Six - the history of the gun was as a weapon. Explosives had other uses. Tubes with projectiles were guns from their first appearance in China and then across Asia, Middle East and Europe. There are some rare industry uses of guns, as in blasting scale off blast furnace interiors. That's a tool use.
Gun were used against people and animals in hunting and SD from them.
Number Seven: If they are tools or sporting instruments, you won't object to banning carry and having your toy locked up at the gun club and checked out for a match or hunt. In fact, Rachel Maddow from MSNBC is a gun nut of a type. She shoots 1911s and ARs. She takes her dates to the range. However, she wants guns controlled and locked up at the range and checked out for fun.

Thus, who are you fooling and trying to convince? Yourself? It isn't going to work on gun banners. You play their game with this discussion.

Until the next time.

Gem, I get your point. I don't really disagree. But my problem is that it doesn't matter with the gun banners. THEY WANT TO TAKE ALL OUR GUNS/WEAPONS. We can argue the semantics; they will simply dance around the semantics and keep drinking their Kool aide and painting us as cavemen wanting to play with our evil military grade assault rifles and yap yap yap yap .....

The ONLY way to fight them is to KEEP THEM OUT OF POLITICAL OFFICE!!!!

Firearms and part of a subcategory of tools known as weapons.

Everything else is just verbal gymnastics.

The right to self defense is inalienable. The right to superior handheld, man-portable, non strength-based weapons, is an obvious extension of the right to self defense. Because the old, weak, injured, sick and disabled have the same right to self defense as the young, strong, and healthy. Therefore, they should have access to weapons that allow them to effectively exercise that right.

No reason to hide behind softer language. They're weapons.

I call my guns "guns." I call my kmives "knives." I don't recall ever saying "weapon" or "firearm" outloud.

PWC said:

Most here refer to their rifles and pistols as weapons.

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When I was growing up, I called knives, sticks and stones as knives, sticks and stones.

When I was a solider in the Army, I learned to call knives, sticks and stones as "weapons". (Police even call cars as "weapons" if they are intentionally aimed at them)

Now that I am a civilian again, I call knives, sticks and stones as just knives, sticks and stones.

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And "Arms" are things that extend the range of one's arm to hit something (Like fly swatter, broomstick, etc.).

I call my lead bullet launchers "firearms" as mentioned in the Constitution since they push out projectiles with fire and allow me to hit things far away.

And many call their firearms something else when they miss.

As several of the folks stated, to me a weapon is a term describing an object...coupled with the actions and intent of the person with it.

I try my best not to use the term weapon when describing a gun in general terms, I try to use the actual term (carbine, revolver, pump shotgun). The only time I won’t is if it’s in a legal setting because the item has been used as such.

Car, rifle, frying pan, pool cue, Buck knife, cell phone, all have multiple benign uses...but if the circumstances change each is also potentially a weapon.

Stay safe.

I believe in the 2nd amendment mine are all WEAPONS.
To be used against tyranny in our government.

Whiskeyhotel2020 said:

I agree. It seems like some people forget that words get taking out of context for the purposes of utilizing the worst possible meaning to fit their own agenda. So it is important to pay attention to the literal definition of the words we say.

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Exactly! In the hands of "military and police", weapon! In the hands of "others" firearms! This is how NRA Trainers are trained!

"Others" in a way "shot themselves in the foot" when referring to the military lookalike Armalite Rifle as an "Assault rifle"! So today we are constantly bombarded with all the negativity of Assault rifles" even though very few of us have any kind of assault in mind when punching paper or ringing steel with our "black ugly guns"!

For the record my Armalite/Eagle Arms, "Modern Sporting Rifle" is marked M15! So that's what I call it even though the military has a a totally different M15 example!

Smiles,

Infantry school taught that anything can be a weapon. Your hands, a toothpick, a rifle, a blade. Firearms are just tools that often are weapons. In my years of stateside time, my firearms have only been deadly to targets and 4 legged critters of many sizes.

Anything CAN be a weapon. Before 2011 no one ever referred to a Boeing 737 as a weapon but it worked pretty well as one.

herrwalther said:

Infantry school taught that anything can be a weapon. Your hands, a toothpick, a rifle, a blade. Firearms are just tools that often are weapons. In my years of stateside time, my firearms have only been deadly to targets and 4 legged critters of many sizes.

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I was 4 or five when my dad explained to me that a weapon could be anything. I remember asking him about every object that came into sight after that until he had enough and reiterated that anything can be used as a weapon. Firearms were called rifles or pistols respectively and I knew from then on that if there is something in my hands when I'm fighting that something is a weapon at that time and otherwise it was what is was.

I generally refer to them all as firearms, as that describes how they work. The sub classes are rifles, shotguns, revolvers, semi-automatic pistols, etc. It doesn't bother me if others want to refer to their firearms as weapons.

PWC said:

Most here refer to their rifles and pistols as weapons. Many are mfg'd with that intent; many were and now aren't used that way now; many aren't mfg'd that way at all. I understand the military indoctrination carry over after separation

Years ago when I ran junior shooting and NRA programs for the state association and 4H, I tried to instll in the kids that they were shooting rifles, pistols or firearms and to refer to them as such, severaly or individually, not as "weapons". The other adult coaches were harder to break.

I found most kids in a shooting program learned how to, and more importantly practiced gun handling safety. Their parents and the kids dropped the "weapon" reference. We cautioned the parents to talk to their kids about discussing their participation in the organized shooting sports at school.

This insanity over expelling kids for taking a cap gun to school, or having a picture of a gun in a book was just starting.

Long story just to question the use of the word "weapon" when referring to our firearms and the image it conjures up in some (@#%=÷+) peoples minds. Little ears are always listening.

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I *think* I see what you're getting at, but to me it's splitting hairs, the same as "is a revolver a pistol" or clip vs magazine.

(Which, before anyone piles on, a "magazine" is a room or compartment used for the storage of ammunition, pyrotechnics, and other types of ordnance.)

IMHO one term defines usage, the other just a noun.
What it IS, is a firearm, gun, pistol, or rifle etc. etc.
What it is used for IS: weapon, decorator, target pistol/rifle, investment, etc, etc.

I was taught that everything is a weapon at need.
I was also taught that nothing is a weapon if you lack the will to use it.

I own firearms and weapons

Like I said in my profile, My guns and knives are not weapons... until I need them to be

I taught my children that firearms are weapons. I needed them to understand the seriousness of the use and intent as well as the requirement for responsibility.

You all can fool yourselves are you want by using other terms, but it doesn't change the fact. We want to make the term "assault rifle" go away and start getting folks to say "modern sporting rifle" or whatever? Gosh, that's working out just swell.

Sorry, the genie is out of the bottle. We're not gonna win hearts and minds by simply changing up the words. Those who are against citizen ownership of guns aren't going to be fooled by switching nomenclature.

Firearms. It will always be a firearm. It doesn't become a weapon until you put in the hands of someone who intends to use it as a weapon.

Word games.