A gun is a muzzle or breech-loaded projectile-firing weapon. There are various definitions depending on the nation and branch of service. A "gun" may be distinguished from other firearms in being a crew-served weapon such as a howitzer or mortar, as opposed to a small arm like a rifle or pistol, but there are exceptions, such as the U.S. Air Force's GUU5/P. At one time, land-based artillery tubes were called cannon and sea-based naval cannon were called guns. The term "gun" evolved into a generic term for any tube-launched projectile-firing weapon used by sailors, including boarding parties and marines.

In modern parlance, a gun is a projectile weapon using a hollow, tubular barrel with a closed end — the breech — as the means of directing the projectile (as well as other purposes, for example stabilizing the projectile's trajectory, aiming, as an expansion chamber for propellant, etc.), and firing in a generally flat trajectory.

The term "gun" has also taken on a more generic meaning, by which it has come to refer to any one of a number of trigger-initiated, hand-held, and hand-directed implements, especially with an extending bore, which thereby resemble the class of weapon in either form or concept. Examples of this usage include staple gun, nail gun, glue gun, grease gun. Occasionally, this tendency is ironically reversed, such as the case of the American M3 submachine gun which carries the nickname "Grease Gun".

Most guns are described by the type of barrel used, the means of firing, the purpose of the weapon, the caliber, or the commonly accepted name for a particular variation.

Barrel types include rifled—a series of spiraled grooves or angles within the barrel—when the projectile requires an induced spin to stabilize it and smoothbore when the projectile is stabilized by other means or rifling is undesired or unnecessary. Typically, interior barrel diameter and the associated projectile size is a means to identify gun variations. Barrel diameter is reported in several ways. The more conventional measure is reporting the interior diameter of the barrel in decimal fractions of the inch or in millimeters. Some guns—such as shotguns—report the weapon's gauge or—as in some British ordnance—the weight of the weapon's usual projectile.

A gun projectile may be a simple, single-piece item like a bullet, a casing containing a payload like a shotshell or explosive shell, or complex projectile like a sub-caliber projectile and sabot. The propellant may be air, an explosive solid, or an explosive liquid. Some variations like the Gyrojet and certain other types combine the projectile and propellant into a single item.

Terminology

The use of the term "cannon" is interchangeable with "gun" as words borrowed from the French language during the early 15th century, from Old French ''canon'', itself a borrowing from the Italian ''cannone'', a "large tube" augmentative of Latin ''canna'' "reed or cane". Recent scholarship indicates that the term "gun" may have its origins in the Norse woman's name "Gunnildr" (), which was often shortened to "Gunna". The earliest recorded use of the term "gonne" was in a Latin document circa 1339. Other names for guns during this era were "schioppi" (Italian translation-"thunderers"), and "donrebusse" (Dutch translation-"thunder gun") which was incorporated into the English language as "blunderbuss". Artillerymen were often referred to as "gonners" and "artillers". Early guns and the men who used them were often associated with the devil and the gunner's craft was considered a black art, a point reinforced by the smell of sulfur on battlefields created from the firing of guns along with the muzzle blast and accompanying flash.

In military use, the term "gun" refers primarily to direct fire weapons that capitalize on their velocity for penetration or range. In modern parlance, these weapons are breech-loaded and built primarily for long range fire with a low or almost flat ballistic arc. A variation is the howitzer or gun-howitzer designed to offer the ability to fire both low or high-angle ballistic arcs. In this use, example guns include naval guns. A less strict application of the word is to identify one artillery weapon system or non-machine gun projectile armament on aircraft.

The word cannon is retained in some cases for the actual gun tube but not the weapon system. The title gunner is applied to the member of the team charged with operating, aiming, and firing a gun.

Autocannon are automatic guns designed primarily to fire shells and are mounted on a vehicle or other mount. Machine guns are similar, but usually designed to fire simple projectiles. In some calibers and some usages, these two definitions overlap.

A related military use of the word is in describing gun-type fission weapon. In this instance, the "gun" is part of a nuclear weapon and contains an explosively propelled sub-critical slug of fissile material within a barrel to be fired into a second sub-critical mass in order to initiate the fission reaction. Potentially confused with this usage are small nuclear devices capable of being fired by artillery or recoilless rifle.

In civilian use, a related item used in agriculture is a captive bolt gun. Such captive piston guns are often used to humanely stun farm animals for slaughter.

Shotguns are normally civilian weapons used primarily for hunting. These weapons are typically smooth bored and fire a shell containing small lead or steel balls. Variations use rifled barrels or fire other projectiles including solid lead slugs, a Taser XREP projectile capable of stunning a target, or other payloads. In military versions, these weapons are often used to burst door hinges or locks in addition to antipersonnel uses.

History

Types of guns

Military firearms

Long gun

*Arquebus

*Blunderbuss

*Musket

**Musketoon

**Wall gun

**Grenade launcher

*Submachine gun

**Personal defense weapon

*Rifle

**Lever action rifle

**Bolt action rifle

**Assault rifle

**Battle rifle

**Carbine

**Service rifle

**Sniper rifle

*Shotgun

**Combat shotgun

**Semi-automatic shotgun

**Automatic shotgun

**Flamethrower

Machine guns

Gatling gun

*Minigun

Nordenfelt gun

Metal storm

Mitrailleuse

Submachine gun

*Machine pistol

Machine gun

*General-purpose machine gun

*Light machine gun

**Squad automatic weapon

**Infantry Automatic Rifle

*Medium machine gun

*Heavy machine gun

Handguns

Handgun

**Service pistol

*Revolver

**Service revolver

*Machine pistol

Autocannon

Autocannon

Chain gun

Revolver cannon

Artillery guns

Artillery gun

*Cannon

*Carronade

*Falconet

*Field gun

*Howitzer

Tank guns

Tank gun

Hunting guns

Elephant gun

Express rifle

Shotgun

Muzzleloader

Breechloader

Guns for training and entertainment

Air gun

Airsoft gun

BB gun

Drill Purpose Rifle

Paintball gun

Replica gun

Inert gun

Spud gun

Water gun

Nerf gun

Operating principle

Generally, guns use compressed gas confined by the barrel to propel the bullet up to high speed, though devices operating in other ways are sometimes called guns. In guns that are firearms the high pressure gas is generated by combustion, usually of gun powder. This principle is similar to that of internal combustion engines, except that the bullet leaves the barrel, but the piston transfers its motion to other parts and returns down the cylinder. As in an internal combustion engine, the combustion propagates by deflagration rather than by detonation, and good gunpowder, like good motor fuel, is resistant to detonation. This is because much of the energy generated in detonation is in the form of a shock wave, which can propagate from the gas to the solid structure and heat or damage the structure, rather than staying as heat to propel the piston or bullet. The speed of a shock wave at such high temperature and pressure is much faster than that of any bullet.

See also

Gun culture

Gun law

Gun politics

Gun safety

Railgun

Stun gun

Citations and notes

References

Lee, R.G., ''Introduction to battlefield weapons, systems & technology'', Royal Military College of Science, Shrivenham, UK, Brassey's Publishers, Oxford, 1981

Category:Firearms Category:Weapons

fa:تفنگ mr:बंदूक pl:Artyleria

:''This article is about the fictional character. For the actress who plays the character, see Felicia Pearson.''

name	Felicia Pearson
portrayer	Felicia Pearson
creator	David Simon
gender	Female
first	"Homecoming"''(episode 3.06)''
last	"Late Editions" ''(episode 5.09)''
occupation	Former drug organization enforcer
alias	Snoop
family	Sister, unnamed
children	None
footnotes	}}

Felicia "Snoop" Pearson is a fictional character on the HBO TV series ''The Wire'' played by an actress of the same name. She is a young female soldier in Marlo Stanfield's drug dealing organization, the earliest protege of Chris Partlow. As one of the experienced leaders of Stanfield's crew, she commits many ruthless murders on their behalf.

Season 3

Snoop is a gangster shown mid-way in the escalating war between the Barksdale Organization and the Stanfield Organization as one of the new recruits in training, under the wing of Chris Partlow. She was often seen hanging with Chris and other Stanfield peers before eventually being assigned her first hit by Chris, who deemed her ready to kill. She was responsible for killing Barksdale soldier Rico in a drive-by shooting on Poot Carr's corner. She also took part in Chris' efforts to foil an assassination attempt against Marlo Stanfield. After Stringer Bell was killed by Omar Little and Brother Mouzone, Snoop boasted that she and Chris Partlow had murdered him.

Season 4

Snoop is shown a year later as an adept enforcer and significantly recognized as part of the trusted inner circle of Marlo. She and Chris are assigned most of the hits that Marlo initiates, with Snoop assisting Chris in many murders by way of luring the victim to a secluded area and by helping to organize the method of concealment. She is never shown as the actual murderer. The pair dispose of the bodies by depositing them in abandoned buildings, covering them with quicklime and tarps, and boarding up the buildings again. When they re-board the doors, they use a distinctive nail gun which Snoop purchased in the first scene of the season; later, these nails become key clues that enable the police to find the bodies. After Sergeant Hauk pulls them over and spots the nail gun, Chris discards it, to Snoop's chagrin.

Among the people murdered by Chris and Snoop are "Lex" Anderson, Little Kevin, Old Face Andre, several New York drug dealers, and a security guard who talked back to Marlo. Tired of always concealing her crimes, Snoop tries to keep the guard's badge as a souvenir, but Chris throws the badge away. The pair were also responsible for intimidating Bodie Broadus into accepting Marlo's drug supply and for recruiting middle school child Michael Lee into their organization. They also train the next generation of soldiers for Stanfield's organization, including O-Dog. At the end of the season, it's revealed that she is a lesbian when Bunk says to her, "I'm thinking about some pussy", and she replies, "Me too".

Season 5

In season five, Snoop continues to act as muscle for Marlo alongside Chris Partlow. A recurring theme that is established is the tension that exists between her and Michael. While Snoop carries out orders from her superiors without question, Michael tends to voice his opinion about certain situations. This occurs when Chris, Snoop and Michael are about to make a hit on Junebug (a rival drug dealer spreading malicious words about Marlo) and after Omar kills Savino Bratton. Snoop is murdered by Michael Lee when he rightly suspects Snoop is about to kill him, due to Marlo's suspicion that he had been talking to the police about the Stanfield organization. When Michael draws his gun she compliments him on his intelligence and asks, "How you know?" She is accepting of her fate and glances away from Michael out the window and into the wing mirror, almost totally nonchalant. Her final words are, "How my hair look, Mike?" Michael answers, "You look good, girl" and shoots her in the head.

Production

Origins

Snoop's name is seen for the first time, very briefly, in a season three episode, written on a post-it note and being pinned up to the board. Her name is also pinned on the board in the first episode of season 4 "Boys of Summer". Her name and picture is up on the details board under Chris Partlow as ''Felicia Pearson AKA "SNOOP"''. Her name can once again be seen briefly early in the season 5 episode "Transitions", as well as in Randy Wagstaff's police file in "The Dickensian Aspect". "Snoop" is the actress's nickname in real life.

Reception

Several critics have praised Pearson's performance as especially frightening. Writer Stephen King called the character "perhaps the most terrifying female villain to ever appear in a television series."

References

Category:The Wire (TV series) characters Category:Fictional African-American people Category:Fictional assassins Category:Fictional lesbians Category:Fictional versions of real people Category:Fictional characters introduced in 2004