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Concept
Handgun
Summary
A handgun is a firearm designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun, submachine gun, or machine gun) which needs to be held by both hands and braced against the shoulder. The two most common types of handguns are revolvers and semi-automatic pistols, although other types such as derringers and machine pistols also see infrequent usage.
Before commercial mass production, handguns were often considered a badge of office—comparable to a ceremonial sword—as they had limited utility and were more expensive than the long guns of the era. In 1836 Samuel Colt patented the Colt Paterson, the first practical mass-produced revolver, which was capable of firing five shots in rapid succession and quickly became a popular defensive weapon, giving rise to the saying, "God created men, but Colt made them equal." Today, in most of the world, handguns are primarily used by police and military officers as sidearms. However, in the United States and some other countries, handguns are also widely available to civilians and commonly carried for self-defense.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica defines a handgun as "any firearm small enough to be held in one hand when fired"; while the American Webster's Dictionary defines it as "a firearm (such as a revolver or pistol) designed to be held and fired with one hand".
Among the Anglophone countries, neither the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) nor the Government of the United Kingdom, who are in charge of American and British firearms licensing respectively, offer any specific legal definitions of a handgun. The ATF, however, do separately define "handgun - pistol" and "handgun - revolver" under its "Terminology & Nomenclature" section, both with the "pistol-type" description of "a weapon originally designed, made, and intended to fire a projectile (bullet) from one or more barrels when held in one hand".
Official source
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