Weapon vs. Firearm

I just spent some time over at the Main Line Sportsman's page, oglin' some right purty guns. While I did truly enjoy the post, he did manage to hit on one of my pet peeves (by no intent or fault of his own, of course).

Similar to the rampant Clip/Magazine misuse that also grinds me, I realize it's mostly semantics. I also realize that most of you military folks are too far gone to change at this point. However, it still trips somethin' in my brain when someone drops the "W" word in casual conversation. In my mind, a firearm is simply a tool... the user is the weapon. Nothin' more, nothin' less. Damn near anythin' can be used as a weapon (hammer, chainsaw, kitty litter, grandma's bra, etc), but not everythin' can be used as a firearm.

By rough definition, a weapon is somethin' used to injure, defeat, or destroy. Whereas, a firearm is defined as a weapon from which a shot is discharged by gunpowder. So there's no help there.

I reckon it all goes back to perception. With a lapdog media that gleefully blows everythin' outta proportion, "weapon" comes off as extremely abrasive and has thus been blessed with a much more negative connotation than necessary. I reckon that for the many non-gun ownin' folks out there that are indecisive on the whole gun issue, hearin' about "a law-abidin' citizen carryin' a weapon" sounds scarier than "a law-abidin' citizen carryin' a firearm".

Right now, we're in a very dangerous game of tug of war with our freedoms and liberties, and our foe is backed by the lapdog media, a lefty educational system and a fair amount of uniformed/misinformed voters. If we can use a simple change in the lingo to warm up the aforementioned indecisive non-gun owners in our favor, I reckon it's worth changin'. The liberal front ain't skeered to play games with words to put the ball in their court. Maybe it's time to start usin' their own strategies against 'em.

What do y'all think?