GUNS, not WEAPONS!

[John Moon]

My old man used to say guns used by civilians were TOOLS and weapons were for street criminals.

So, the W word should be used discreetly.

GUN is the most innocent connotation and is familiar to most civilians and children.

Besides, I am fond of the word GUN: it is short, sweet and simple and not woosy-sounding
or prickish like FIREARM.

FIREARM is too official-sounding and impersonal. WEAPON is too cop-like or militaristic.

SHOOTIN' IRON is cowboy talk.

Also, a GUNMAN is always a criminal armed with a gun, not just any man with a gun. An armed citizen implies good
people with guns for lawful purposes.

An old man who taught me my hunter safety class chastized somebody for saying WEAPON in regards to a hunting rifle. It made him quite cross. He said to the guy that he was not some criminal on the streets and that a gun or a bow was a TOOL for harvesting game.

[bobgengeskahn]

Whenever I am taking people out, especially new shooters, I try to avoid both and use "firearm(s)".

IMHO, "gun" doesn't convey a proper amount of respect/responsibility toward the fiearm. And "weapon" gives the wrong idea to someone that is probably uncomfortable in the first place/it takes me back to basic lol.

[John Moon]

Whenever I am taking people out, especially new shooters, I try to avoid both and use "firearm(s)".

IMHO, "gun" doesn't convey a proper amount of respect/responsibility toward the fiearm. And "weapon" gives the wrong idea to someone that is probably uncomfortable in the first place/it takes me back to basic lol.

Yes, as a vet, WEAPON takes me back to boot camp and that is another reason it rings foul in mine ears.

My civilian guns as for varmint hunting are indeed for FUN! :-)

[Jeepers]

sorry like it of not they are "Weapons" in any book , i say stop villainizing the word "Weapon" itself and start talking about the facts instead of worrying about being politically correct ....

something (as a club, knife, or gun) used to injure, defeat, or destroy
2
: a means of contending against another

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/weapon

any instrument or device for use in attack or defense in combat, fighting, or war, as a sword, rifle, or cannon.
2.
anything used against an opponent, adversary, or victim: the deadly weapon of satire.
3.
Zoology . any part or organ serving for attack or defense, as claws, horns, teeth, or stings.
verb (used with object)
4.
to supply or equip with a weapon or weapons: to weapon aircraft with heat-seeking missiles.
Origin:
before 900; Middle English wepen, Old English wǣpen; cognate with German Waffe, Old Norse vāpn, Gothic wēpna (plural)

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/weapon

[paul0660]

Words, wurds, WURDS.

This PC speak is supposed to win our cause, and of course won't.

[paul0660]

Words, wurds, WURDS.

This PC speak is supposed to win our cause, and of course won't.

[jonc]

[YORCHI117]

I say weapon and firearm to sound a little better than the people I'm usually arguing against. If I say guns then I feel as if I'm no better than when someone who doesn't know calls all guns fully automatic assault rifles that can shoot hundreds of bullets at a time.

If I'm arguing a general thing I'll say weapon to support my points that not all guns are responsible for senseless murders and deaths. A car can be a weapon just as much as a gun. I'll say firearm when I am trying to take the evil out of the word gun to convince someone that not all guns are bad and try to correlate that to something else like pit bulls and how we're scared of them but really shouldn't be.

When I'm around my gun buddies or anyone else then I will surely use the other fun words we all know and love

[Rhythm of Life]

Firearms are firearms.


Weapons are firearms used to attack another person.

[Rock6.3]

It is a rifle or a pistol or a revolver or a shotgun.

Weapon implies intent. My ink pen is a weapon if raised overhead with malicious intent.

Gun and Firearm are inappropriately vague for most discussions.

[bobgengeskahn]

sorry like it of not they are "Weapons" in any book , i say stop villainizing the word "Weapon" itself and start talking about the facts instead of worrying about being politically correct ....

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/weapon

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/weapon

Yeah, but like it or not, every word in the english language has a connitation and venacular meaning behind it, and thus a mindset that is associated with it. My only point is that I prefer to say firearm because it typically allows people to take it for what it is, instead of what hollywood or politicians have told them it is; thus letting them get a little more comfortable with it before they think theyre some kind of gangster.

[John Moon]

Weapon is a very broad term also.

Firearms are firearms.


Weapons are firearms used to attack another person.

Even an icicle could serve such lethal purpose.


After all, this website is called CalGUNS, not CalWEAPONS or CalFIREARMS.

If they called it CalTOOLS, that would be really vague: it might attract more shade-tree car mechanics
than hunters and self-defenders.

[TAK]

I prefer the term war hammer(s) for my gun(s)

[TAK]

I prefer the term war hammer(s) for my gun(s)

[John Moon]

Might WAR HAMMER even be appropriate for

I prefer the term war hammer(s) for my gun(s)

a varmint rifle as for taking out 500-yard chucks (the burrowing kind that look like big, fat squirrels; not Viet Cong soldiers, mind you)?