the.com/handgun
The gadget humans built to make arguments final without the exercise of a knife fight.
means A short-barreled firearm designed to be held and fired with one hand.
from A straightforward compound of 'hand' plus 'gun' — literally a gun sized and shaped to be used in the hand, as opposed to a long gun braced against the shoulder. 'Gun' itself is an old word, likely from a medieval habit of giving siege weapons women's names (one famous early cannon was nicknamed 'Gunnilda,' a common Scandinavian woman's name, which shortened to 'gunne'). The 'hand-' prefix simply marked the smaller, personal version once gunsmiths figured out how to shrink the technology down from cannon to something a person could carry and aim with a single arm.
- concealment edge
- fits where a rifle never could
- first use
- 15th century cavalry, not crime
- stopping power myth
- caliber matters less than shot placement
- legal status
- world's most debated piece of metal