Were guns originally intended to be weapons?

[HAL9000]

When I mean originally intended, I mean were the first guns designed and built with the intent that they be used as weapons, to kill and injure living things?

This may need to be an off topic thread, not entire sure :/

 

[Jaskalas]

Gun powder may have had other uses, but to fire a projectile? That's to kill things. You were in a world of melee weapons, bows, or hand thrown. Guns changed everything.

Check out the Fire lance.

 

[row]

Historians typically recognize Chinese fire lances, which were invented in the 10th century, as the first guns. These bamboo or metal tubes projected flames and shrapnel at their targets.

doesn't specify, but i'd hazard to guess the target wasn't yaks. pretty sure next on the list were cannons, definitely not for hunting (can't wait till we get to the 2nd amendment stuff).

 

[brandonb]

Ninja's used to use blow guns with poison tips to make innocents fall asleep, so they could sneak in and assassinate their primary victims. There was a code of conduct/code of honor among ninja's to only hurt their primary target, and not injure innocents. So the blow gun was designed for that purpose.

So I need to vote, yes a weapon! Not necessarily a lethal weapon though.

*I'm totally making that up.

 

[HAL9000]

doesn't specify, but i'd hazard to guess the target wasn't yaks. pretty sure next on the list were cannons, definitely not for hunting (can't wait till we get to the 2nd amendment stuff).

Yeah I found that earlier when I was getting curious what people think.

 

[Phanuel]

The knife was a weapon, the hammer was a weapon. Our entire civilization is built upon arms races.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Obviously guns were originally invented to replace traditional cutlery, as knives and forks in the middle ages were notoriously unreliable. It was only after many an unhappy accident at the dinner table that people began to realize their potential as a weapon.

Seriously, what kind of question is this? What does it matter why something was invented? Military research was behind the design of modern rockets, but they got us to the moon. Military research was also fundamental in developing the modern computer, but I doubt you're using yours to wage war. Just because something was developed with military application in mind does not mean that it is only capable of killing.

 

[HAL9000]

The knife was a weapon, the hammer was a weapon. Our entire civilization is built upon arms races.

Hammers were probably more to build as well I think.

I'm not saying it wasnt, just curious about people's definitions.

 

[HAL9000]

Obviously guns were originally invented to replace traditional cutlery, as knives and forks in the middle ages were notoriously unreliable. It was only after many an unhappy accident at the dinner table that people began to realize their potential as a weapon.

Seriously, what kind of question is this? What does it matter why something was invented? Military research was behind the design of modern rockets, but they got us to the moon. Military research was also fundamental in developing the modern computer, but I doubt you're using yours to wage war. Just because something was developed with military application in mind does not mean that it is only capable of killing.

I got into a discussion with someone who said guns aren't weapons, I asked him if that was their original intent and he said he didn't know what the intent of the creator of guns was.... and here we are.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

I got into a discussion with someone who said guns aren't weapons, I asked him if that was their original intent and he said he didn't know what the intent of the creator of guns was.... and here we are.

Well call him an idiot and move on. Obviously guns were created as weapons designed to give an edge on the battlefield; the first guns were cannons, which aren't useful for anything outside of warfare. However, just because people were using cannons to repel sieges in the 1200s doesn't mean that modern guns can't have a non-violent use. I'd still classify most guns as weapons, mind you, but you make it sound as though anyone who has a gun is just looking for an excuse to shoot a human, and that's patently absurd.

 

[JockoJohnson]

Obviously guns were originally invented to replace traditional cutlery, as knives and forks in the middle ages were notoriously unreliable. It was only after many an unhappy accident at the dinner table that people began to realize their potential as a weapon.

Seriously, what kind of question is this? What does it matter why something was invented? Military research was behind the design of modern rockets, but they got us to the moon. Military research was also fundamental in developing the modern computer, but I doubt you're using yours to wage war. Just because something was developed with military application in mind does not mean that it is only capable of killing.

I always thought they were originally invented to help clean your ears and pick your nose.

 

[thraashman]

I got into a discussion with someone who said guns aren't weapons, I asked him if that was their original intent and he said he didn't know what the intent of the creator of guns was.... and here we are.

Many things may have been created for one use but can be used for another. Knives were not created as weapons but as tools, the spear was likely the first thing intended as a weapon. Guns however were not invented for recreational use or anything, they were created to fill a need. Very likely that need was militarily use instead of a hunting use. It is remarkable how much innovation has come from a military standpoint throughout history. I cannot imagine what someone who thinks guns intended purpose was not weaponry thinks they were intended to be used as.

 

[HAL9000]

Many things may have been created for one use but can be used for another. Knives were not created as weapons but as tools, the spear was likely the first thing intended as a weapon. Guns however were not invented for recreational use or anything, they were created to fill a need. Very likely that need was militarily use instead of a hunting use. It is remarkable how much innovation has come from a military standpoint throughout history. I cannot imagine what someone who thinks guns intended purpose was not weaponry thinks they were intended to be used as.

Completely agree. Nothing more to add.

 

[Mursilis]

I got into a discussion with someone who said guns aren't weapons, I asked him if that was their original intent and he said he didn't know what the intent of the creator of guns was.... and here we are.

Guns aren't weapons? That's just foolishness. Of course they are. But that's also irrelevant to the discussion of whether they should be banned. Sometimes, weapons are needed. There are predators out there - why shouldn't people be able to defend themselves?

 

[Nintendesert]

Time to find new friends.

 

[bradly1101]

To replace the spear...for hunting? No matter its provenance, man will find a way to use it for death and destruction via letting it become a violent extension of his emotions. Lots of inventions fill that bill too; knives, hammers, cars, dishes, fire (not really an invention), lamps, vases...whatever is at hand, and a gun fits the hand sooooo well.

 

[HAL9000]

Guns aren't weapons? That's just foolishness. Of course they are. But that's also irrelevant to the discussion of whether they should be banned. Sometimes, weapons are needed. There are predators out there - why shouldn't people be able to defend themselves?

I just needed to establish what we were talking about before we could get into it.

 

[thraashman]

To replace the spear...for hunting? No matter its provenance, man will find a way to use it for death and destruction via letting it become a violent extension of his emotions. Lots of inventions fill that bill too; knives, hammers, cars, dishes, fire (not really an invention), lamps, vases...whatever is at hand, and a gun fits the hand sooooo well.

Well you had the bow & arrow and the crossbow in between the spear and gun. Considering the inaccuracy and weak penetration of the earliest guns I am not sure how effective they were for hunting. Small game perhaps.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

the spear was likely the first thing intended as a weapon

I doubt it.

Think fast. You are in an temperate to tropical surrounding and something is coming to eat you. Besides lie down and die what do you do? Don't just flail your arms, look around you.

PS, you can't outrun the threat.

 

[row]

I doubt it.

Think fast. You are in an temperate to tropical surrounding and something is coming to eat you. Besides lie down and die what do you do? Don't just flail your arms, look around you.

PS, you can't outrun the threat.

offer the leftist cowering next to you?

 

[Nintendesert]

I doubt it.

Think fast. You are in an temperate to tropical surrounding and something is coming to eat you. Besides lie down and die what do you do? Don't just flail your arms, look around you.

PS, you can't outrun the threat.

Omg do I poke it with a stick?!

 

[BUnit1701]

Omg do I poke it with a stick?!

No, that's how someone gets an eye put out!

 

[Geosurface]

This poll is silly, though I voted the obvious answer in it.

Of course, guns are weapons. Nobody denies that they are weapons.

The issue is that some people would like to ignore the purposes weapons serve OTHER THAN simply to kill people.

They also serve to kill animals for food, for fun, or to make an area safer (either for humans or other animals.)

They also serve as a deterrent, and their presence can thus REDUCE violence and harm if they are used correctly.

They also serve to wound, to stop a threat without actually killing it.

They also serve to dissuade tyranny. A government inclined toward becoming a complete Orwellian nightmare state will be given much more pause by a populace which is armed than by one which is not.

 

[Moonbeam]

I believe they were created by Shamans for the placebo effect. People would come to them with stories of demons under their beds. The Shamans identified the source of this fear and named it a conservative brain defect, a heightened sensitivity to fearful and disgusting thinking. So they invented the gun to put under conservatives' pillows to help them sleep. Later they invented sleeping pills to help them stay that way, having discovered that while they slept the world in general was a better place.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Omg do I poke it with a stick?!

With a pointed stick.