Difference between revisions of "Gun"
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A '''gun''' is a weapon which fires a bullet, dart or other projectile. It is highly effective to deter crime and to protect someone in self-defense. The police rely heavily on guns to enforce the law. | A '''gun''' is a weapon which fires a bullet, dart or other projectile. It is highly effective to deter crime and to protect someone in self-defense. The police rely heavily on guns to enforce the law. | ||
Revision as of 00:04, July 22, 2007
A gun is a weapon which fires a bullet, dart or other projectile. It is highly effective to deter crime and to protect someone in self-defense. The police rely heavily on guns to enforce the law.
The three main types of modern firearms today are bolt-operated, semi-automatic, and automatic weapons. In a bolt-action weapon, each new round must be chambered manually, by moving the breech to eject the empty casing. In semi-automatic weapons, each pull of the trigger fires a bullet. In fully automatic weapons, bullets will be fired as long as the trigger is depressed until either the trigger is released, the gun jams, or runs out of ammunition.
Gun control
The cultural issues surrounding guns are many and widely debated. Conservatives generally prefer to reserve for the individual the right to self-defense through the use of guns and other weapons. Liberals generally prefer to delegate this right to guards, police, and the military.[Citation Needed]
Studies have shown that law-abiding citizens carrying guns are statistically an effective deterrent and defense against lawless or criminal individuals. Further comparison between different states in the USA by John Lott indicates that states that have more permissive gun laws have distinctly lower crime rates, violent crime rates, and firearms homicides than states with more restrictive gun laws.
Guns are also a defense against a tyrannical government. Theoretically, if a person has the power to take the life of another, other people will not perpetrate criminal offenses against them. In practice, few existing civilian militias are strong enough to withstand sustained warfare by a government's army, but when the government is unstable or there is a revolution then an armed public can make a difference.
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.