A weapon that uses explosives to shoot bullets or projectiles, such as a gun or rifle.
Compound of 'fire' (Old English 'fyr') and 'arm' (Old English 'arm,' meaning weapon). The term emerged in the 1400s-1500s as gunpowder weapons became common.
The term 'firearm' became legally distinct from 'arm' in American law to specifically mean gunpowder weapons. The Second Amendment's 'arms' is debated partly because the Founders couldn't have imagined semi-automatic rifles, which didn't exist in 1791.
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