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RottenApple wrote:A gun is a tool. It's the mind controlling it that is the weapon.

and not the first time I've heard it. May I recommend the following from The Cornered Cat? (worth taking time to explore if you haven't already.)

Advice to a New Gun Owner by Kathy Jackson

You picked out a weapon -- good! Now go train.
Go learn how to use it to hit where you aim...

<much good stuff snipped>

...What carries the day when the battle is nigh,
Is the Will that refuses simply to give up and die --
The Will that commands your eye not to blink,
And forces paralyzed mind to nonetheless think --
The Will that requires your aim still be true
No matter what damage may terrify you.
So I'll say it again, though I sound like a fool:
Your Will is the weapon. Your gun is a tool.

Your gun may save the day; then again, it may not.
But if a brand name and caliber are all that you've got
The game's already over and your life may be done --
For you still are not armed. You're just holding a gun.

(click on the poem's title to read the entire text.)

My Quote says it all...

gigag04 wrote:All weapons are tools, but not all tools are weapons.

Exactly.

I have always known that a gun is a weapon that is a tool not that unlike a knife, screwdriver, or hammer. Weapon and tool are generic terms and many items fit into two categories like this. Especially when the two categories are very similar like these are.

gigag04 wrote:All weapons are tools, but not all tools are weapons.

All things considered, just about any tool could be used as a weapon.

Not enough choices, I cannot answer.

It is a tool that demands the respect of a weapon. Many tools fall in that category, but no others fall into it 100% of the time.

quidni wrote: and not the first time I've heard it. May I recommend the following from The Cornered Cat? (worth taking time to explore if you haven't already.)

Advice to a New Gun Owner by Kathy Jackson

You picked out a weapon -- good! Now go train.
Go learn how to use it to hit where you aim...

<much good stuff snipped>

...What carries the day when the battle is nigh,
Is the Will that refuses simply to give up and die --
The Will that commands your eye not to blink,
And forces paralyzed mind to nonetheless think --
The Will that requires your aim still be true
No matter what damage may terrify you.
So I'll say it again, though I sound like a fool:
Your Will is the weapon. Your gun is a tool.

Your gun may save the day; then again, it may not.
But if a brand name and caliber are all that you've got
The game's already over and your life may be done --
For you still are not armed. You're just holding a gun.

(click on the poem's title to read the entire text.)

Awesome poem. Thanks for sharing. BTW, I like your avatar.

srothstein wrote:

Thomas wrote:In my opinion, a weapon is just a tool that is used for malicious purposes.

I could not answer because I disagree with this part of your logic. The word malicious implies a certain morality to actions that is not necessarily connected to the tool.

A weapon (which may be a firearm or may not be) is a tool that is used for specific purposes. The purposes involve generally combat but may be used for either aggressive or defensive combat. Aggressive combat may or may not be malicious or may or may not be justified. The same is also true for defensive combat (you might be surprised at how many criminals think they shot in self defense while they were committing their crime).

So, I consider my pistol a weapon, and I consider all weapons to be tools.

I generally agree with Steve here with some picky refinements:

1. Any object is potentially a tool. It becomes a tool when it's used with intent to achieve a purpose.
2. Any object, even a tree branch or infant diaper, can be used to injure or kill a living being. When it is so used, it becomes a weapon in that time, place, and circumstance. When it is not being so used, it is merely an object and a potential tool.
3. Some objects are designed and constructed to enhance their use for injuring or killing living begins (e.g., firearms). However, they can be used for other purposes (e.g. a rifle stock could be used to break out a window to rescue a crash victim) and in those roles they are not weapons as I have defined them here.
4. A weapon is defined as such by the situation and intent when it is used, not solely by its physical configuration.
5. The primary determinant of whether a given object in a given situation is used as a weapon is the intention and action of the user.

A common military observation sums all this up:

The mind is the weapon - everything else is a tool.

You mean it's not a magic talisman that wards off evil by simply being carried?

It's a tool, nothing more nothing less.

gun for me is a WEAPON! (it sounds meaner!)

I concur with the no vote option since it can be both. A "yes" option would get a click on a second.

AndyC wrote:If some anti happens to get their knickers in a twist over the term "weapon", that's their problem - I couldn't care less what the uninformed think of it, so I'm not going to be bludgeoned to death by the PC crowd into referring to it only as a tool.

"That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Andy, please don't assume that just because I (and some others) refer to it as a tool that we are being PC. In my case that really is how I view it. There is nothing PC about it.

What difference does any of this make???

G26ster wrote:What difference does any of this make???

It gives us a topic to discuss!

The American Heritage Dictionary:
Weapon - An instrument of attack or defense in combat. A means used to defend against or defeat another.