Gun

2009-03-11T23:19:26Z

JHawk:

[[Image:Glock30.jpg|right|200px]]

The '''gun''' is a mechanical [[weapon]] which uses expanding gas to fire a [[bullet]], [[dart]] or other projectile through a tube (its shaft). Guns are primarily defensive weapons.

The four main types of modern [[firearm]]s today are bolt-operated, pump action, semi-automatic, and automatic weapons. In a bolt-action weapon, each new [[round (ordnance)|round]] must be loaded manually, by moving the [[breech]] to eject the empty casing. In pump action guns (usually shotguns) a new round must be manually loaded by pulling back on pump of the gun, located underneath the barrel.

In semi-automatic weapons, each pull of the trigger fires a bullet, each shot ejecting spent brass and loading new ammunition until the magazine is depleted. In fully automatic weapons, bullets will be fired as long as the trigger is depressed. Fully automatic fire will cause the gun to heat up very quickly, which can become dangerous as it can burn exposed flesh and because rounds may "cook off" or fire unexpectedly due to the chamber becoming hot enough to ignite the propellant.

==History==

Gunpowder was invented in [[China]] around the 800s AD. The Chinese recognized the substance's potential for warfare and used gunpowder in rockets and bombs. In the twelfth century, firearms were invented there, and this technology, though inefficient and costly at the time, quickly spread to the [[Islam|Islamic World]] and [[Europe]]. Guns at this time were very inaccurate and not particularly powerful (a full suit of armor could easily repel gunfire) and thus played only a minor role in European warfare until the mid-fifteenth century.

The gun soon became a central part of the Western arsenal, and saw extensive use in both European battlefields and the [[Colonization of the Americas]], where guns were used to subdue native populations.

The eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries saw major changes in the design of guns that allowed for better range, accuracy, and firing rate, such as rifling.

==Gun control==
[[Image:Hitlerspeech.jpg‎|thumb|325px|right|[[Adolf Hitler]] was a proponent of gun control]]‎

[[Gun control]] consists of limitations on the ownership of firearms, and by extension restricts the fundamental right of self-defense.

[[Conservative]]s usually emphasize the [[individualism|individual]] [[the right to self-defense]] through the use of guns. [[Liberal]]s more often oppose this individual right, and tend to dislike even guards or police carrying guns.

Guns are shown to be highly effective at deterring crime and protecting the gun owner. Police officers often use guns to enforce the law, except in some countries where the police are not armed. In the Republic of Ireland, the Garda Síochána has since its foundation held that uniformed officers do not carry guns - "The Garda Síochána will succeed not by force of arms or numbers, but on their moral authority as servants of the people", as the first Commissioner said<ref>http://www.garda.ie/faq.html#G4</ref>. The current Commissioner of the Gardaí has stated that "we do not live in a 'gun culture'", despite a recent rash of armed crime. In Iceland, there are no armed forces, including the Police, and all Police only carry a baton on duty.<ref>http://www.specialoperations.com/Foreign/Iceland/Default.htm</ref> In addition, the regular Police forces of the UK<ref>http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=535071&in_page_id=1770</ref> and the Police Force of New Zealand do not carry firearms while on normal patrol, or in the latter case describe themselves as "generally unarmed"<ref>http://www.police.govt.nz/about/history.html</ref>. However, each of these Police forces also has highly trained specialist teams of armed Police, who are brought into play at time of need.

Studies have repeatedly shown that law-abiding citizens carrying guns are an effective deterrent against crime<ref>http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/467988</ref><ref>http://saf.org/kleck1998.pdf</ref><ref>http://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/8926.html</ref>. Further comparison between different states by [[John Lott]] indicates that states that have more conservative gun laws have lower crime rates, violent crime rates, and firearms [[homicide]]s than states with more liberal gun laws.

[[Second Amendment|Guns are also a defense against a tyrannical government.]] The 20th century has proved repeatedly that a well-armed and dedicated guerrilla army can defeat even the strongest occupying army using only small arms. Thus, guns potentially act as a deterrent against a tyrannical government.

== Science Fiction ==

[[Science fiction]], such as [[Star Trek]], has postulated many different types of directed energy weapons. These are guns that fire beams, waves, or packets of energy. Some energy guns can be set to stun, not to wound or kill. Most firearms legislation would not classify these as firearms, so their ownership would be unrestricted.

== Miniguns ==

One unusual type of gun is a minigun. Despite what you would think from the name, a minigun is the biggest of all small-arms. A minigun has multiple barrels which are driven by a loud electric motor. This allows it to have a very high rate of fire, and is a major difference from the systems of operation described at the top of the article.

Miniguns are commonly seen in the movies, notable examples being [[Terminator 2]] and [[Predator]], where miniguns can be seen exploding multiple police cars or cutting down whole areas of forest. In reality miniguns probably cannot actually cut down trees, and standard 7.62mm ball ammunition would not cause a car to explode, although a [[tracer]] round might if it hit the gas tank.

==See also==
*[[Gun control]]
==References==
<references/>

==External Links==
*[http://www.nra.org The National Rifle Association] Everything firearm related. Includes information on Second Amendment rights, NRA Training and Education, Politics and Legislation pertaining to gun rights.
*[http://www.a-human-right.com/ A Human Right] Discussion of the human right to self defense with a firearm.
*[http://www.learnaboutguns.com/ Learn About Guns] Firearm information and politics from a pro-firearms perspective.
*[http://www.gunowners.org/ Gun Owners of America] A no-compromise pro-gun lobby in Washington, D.C.

[[Category:Guns]]

User:JHawk

2009-03-11T22:48:21Z

JHawk:

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{{Userbox |side-box white|grey|[[Image:Glock30.jpg|70px]]|This user believes that the [[Second Amendment]] does ''not'' guarantee the right to bear arms... but it should.}}
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User:JHawk

2009-03-11T22:47:53Z

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{{User Earth}}
{{User JesusTeachings}}
{{User Critical}}
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{{User patriot}}
{{Userbox |side-box white|grey|[[Image:Glock30.jpg|70px]]|This user believes that the [[Second Amendment]] does ''not'' guarantee the unconditional right to bear arms... but it should.}}
{{User legalpot}}

Gnosticism

2009-03-11T22:32:07Z

JHawk:

'''Gnosticism''' (after gnôsis, the [[Greek]] word for "knowledge" or "insight") is the name given to a loosely organized [[religious]] and [[philosophy|philosophical]] movement that flourished in the first and second centuries A.D. Though the exact origins of this school of thought cannot be traced with any certainty, it is possible to infer that certain non-canonical sources dating from the first and second centuries A.D. were used to develop it. It is considered a [[heresy]] by most modern Christians.

Literary critic Harold Bloom distinguishes Gnosticism from Christianity and Judaism in his book Agon:

"Gnosticism polemically is decidedly not a faith, whether in the Christian sense, pisits, a believing that something was, is, and will be so; or in the Hebraic sense, emunah, a trusting in the Covenant. If religion is a binding, then Gnosticism is an unbinding, but not for the sake of things or persons merely as they are. Gnostic freedom is a freedom for knowledge, knowledge of what in the self, not in the psyche or soul, is Godlike, and knowledge of God beyond the cosmos. But also it is a freedom to be known, to be known by God, by what is alien to everything created, by what is alien to and beyond the stars and the cosmic system and our earth."

Generally, Gnostics believed that the Abrahamic God was in fact two separate and independent entities. They believed that the Demiurge was the God of the Israelites and the Old Testament. He created the world and man imperfectly, and was malevolent. This belief largely stemmed from accounts of the highly interventionist God in the Old Testament directly and indirectly killing large numbers of people. The Gnostics believed that the second god was a good, benevolent god who is embodied in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came to save humanity from sin and suffering, the evils of the material world.

Today, Gnosticism still exists in small, isolated communities throughout the world.

[[Category:Christian History]]
[[Category:Heresies]]
[[Category:Theology]]

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Gun

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Gnosticism