The History of Guns in America
What is the importance of the gun? The gun is one of the most important tools in the defense of our nation. Guns are responsible for a lot of death and injuries, but these things were going on before the existence of the gun. Guns aren't the reason for the death and injuries, they are just a means to it. They are tools and an engineering marvel of our age. The gun has evolved from a simple weapon that caused limited destruction to the modern gun that is so fast and powerful it is capable of mass destruction. Through the evolution of the gun, it has become a political tool.
The first guns used in America were a simple machine where the person did most of the work. The user measured and put the powder down the barrel of the gun. Next some shotgun pellets were put in the same way. This was then all compacted and the gun was ready to fire. This reloading took over a minute before each shot could be fired and the guns weren't very accurate by today's standards. If too much powder was used then the gun could explode or if the powder were wet then the gun wouldn't fire. One of inventions during the Revolutionary War was a way to reload faster. The powder was already pre-measured and kept in little sacks. This made reloading faster because the user no longer had to measure the powder between each reloading. These guns were crude but in that day was a powerful modern invention that was considered very useful. The American Revolution was a political war to obtain what the people of that era wanted. By today's standards the destruction of gun was minimal so war was used to obtain political objectives.
The next real step in the evolution of the gun came during the Civil War. Rifles were invented that ...
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... capable of killing in small numbers. Now, however, they are able to destroy whole buildings. Politicians can and do use the power of the gun to force others to do what they want. Guns have become such an effective killing machine that they can kill anyone anywhere at anytime and, to fulfill any political cause.
Works Cited
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* "New Guns and Gear for '98." American Rifleman. May 1998: 38-41 an 62-63.
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* "WWII Battleship Gun Data." http://www.uss-salem.org/navhist/battleships/guns.html. April 1998.
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