Gun safety is the study and practice of using, transporting, storing and disposing of firearms and ammunition, including the training of gun users, the design of weapons, and formal and informal regulation of gun production, distribution, and usage, for the purpose of avoiding unintentional injury, illness, or death. This includes mishaps like accidental discharge, negligent discharge, and firearm malfunctions, as well as secondary risks like hearing loss, lead poisoning from bullets, and pollution from other hazardous materials in propellants and cartridges. There were 47,000 unintentional firearm deaths worldwide in 2013.
Gun laws and policies, collectively referred to as firearms regulation or gun control, regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, and use of small arms by civilians. Laws of some countries may afford civilians a right to keep and bear arms, and have more liberal gun laws than neighboring jurisdictions. Countries that regulate access to firearms will typically restrict access to certain categories of firearms and then restrict the categories of persons who may be granted a license for access to such firearms. There may be separate licenses for hunting, sport shooting, self-defense, collecting, open carry and concealed carry, with different sets of requirements, permissions, and responsibilities.
Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms and bows/crossbows.
An air gun or airgun is a gun that uses energy from compressed air or other gases that are mechanically pressurized and then released to propel and accelerate projectiles, similar to the principle of the primitive blowgun. This is in contrast to a firearm, which shoots projectiles using energy generated via exothermic combustion (deflagration) of chemical propellants, most often black powder or smokeless powder.
Paintball is a competitive team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules called paintballs that break upon impact. Paintballs are usually shot using low-energy air weapons called paintball markers that are powered by compressed air or carbon dioxide and were originally designed for remotely marking trees and cattle.
Airsoft, also known as "MilSims" in Japan where it was first invented, is a team-based shooting game in which participants eliminate opposing players out of play by shooting them with spherical plastic projectiles shot from airsoft guns.
The .50 BMG, also known as 12.7×99mm NATO, and designated as the 50 Browning by the C.I.P., is a .50 in (12.7 mm) caliber cartridge developed for the M2 Browning heavy machine gun in the late 1910s, entering official service in 1921. Under STANAG 4383, it is a standard service cartridge for NATO forces, as well as many non-NATO countries. The cartridge itself has been made in many variants: multiple generations of regular ball, tracer, armor-piercing (AP), incendiary, and saboted sub-caliber rounds. The rounds intended for machine guns are made into a continuous belt using metallic links.
Plinking refers to informal target shooting done for leisure, typically at non-standard targets such as tin cans, logs, bottles, balloons, fruits or any other man-made or naturally occurring objects. The term is an onomatopoeia of the sharp, ringing sound that a projectile makes when hitting a metallic target such as a tin can or a road sign plate.
A ricochet is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost as dangerous as before the deflection. The possibility of ricochet is one of the reasons for the common firearms safety rule "Never shoot a bullet at a flat, hard surface." Ricochets can occur with any caliber, but short or round ricocheting bullets may not produce the audible whine caused by tumbling irregular shapes. Ricochets are a hazard of shooting because, for as long as they retain sufficient velocity, ricocheting bullets or bullet fragments may cause collateral damage to animals, objects, or even the person who fired the shot.
A blank is a firearm cartridge that, when fired, does not shoot a projectile like a bullet or pellet, but generates a muzzle flash and an explosive sound like a normal gunshot would. Firearms may need to be modified to allow a blank to cycle the action, and the shooter experiences less recoil with a blank than with a live round. Blanks are often used in prop guns for shooting simulations that have no need for ballistic results, but still demand light and sound effects, such as in historical reenactments, special effects for theatre, movie and television productions, combat training, for signaling, and cowboy mounted shooting. Specialised blank cartridges are also used for their propellant force in fields as varied as construction, shooting sports, and fishing and general recreation.
The .308 Winchester is a smokeless powder rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge widely used for hunting, target shooting, police, military, and personal protection applications globally. It is similar, but not identical, to the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge.
A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, venue, or field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice, or competitions. Some shooting ranges are operated by military or law enforcement agencies, though the majority of ranges are privately owned by civilians and sporting clubs and cater mostly to recreational shooters. Each facility is typically overseen by one or more supervisory personnel, known as a Range Officer (RO), or sometimes a range master in the United States. Supervisory personnel are responsible for ensuring that all safety rules and relevant laws are followed at all times.
Shooting ranges in Switzerland are characterised by the widespread provision of targets at 300 metres (330 yd) for service rifle training and qualification, along with a schützenhaus which serves as a community hub for local schützenverein, often including bar and cafe for social events. This results from long-standing connections with Switzerland's militia system, which has led to strong civilian shooting traditions and liberal gun laws.
A caliber conversion sleeve or adapter sleeve is a device which can be used to non-permanently alter a firearm to allow it to fire a different cartridge than the one it was originally designed to fire. The different cartridge must be smaller in some dimensions than the original design cartridge, and since smaller cartridges are usually cheaper, the device allows less expensive fire practice.
The Scottsdale Gun Club (SGC) is an indoor shooting range located in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA.
Varmint rifle is an English term for a small-caliber precision firearm or high-powered airgun primarily used for both varmint hunting and pest control. These tasks include killing three types of pests or nuisance animals that spread diseases or destroy crops or livestock:
H&H Shooting Sports is an indoor shooting range located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. It describes itself as the largest public indoor shooting range in the United States, with 63 total indoor shooting lanes, though other ranges also make that claim. H&H is recognized by the National Association of Shooting Ranges and the National Shooting Sports Foundation as the first ever 'Five Star Facility'. The 90,000-square-foot (8,400 m2) complex includes forty two public shooting lanes for firearms and twenty-one archery lanes for sixty three total lanes.
A gallery gun, Flobert gun, parlor gun or saloon gun is a type of firearm designed for recreational indoor target shooting. These guns were developed in 1845, when French inventor Louis-Nicolas Flobert created the first rimfire metallic cartridge by modifying a percussion cap to hold a small lead bullet. In the 19th century, gallery guns were typically pump-action rifles chambered in .22 Short. Gallery guns are still manufactured, although by the late 20th century, they have been eclipsed by airguns for the purpose of indoor shooting.
An AR-15–style rifle is any lightweight semi-automatic rifle based on or similar to the Colt AR-15 design. The Colt model removed the selective fire feature of its predecessor, the original ArmaLite AR-15, itself a scaled-down derivative of the AR-10 design by Eugene Stoner.
Vista Outdoor Inc. is an American designer, manufacturer, and marketer of outdoor sports and recreation products. It operates in two markets: shooting sports and outdoor products. It is a "house of brands" with more than 40 labels and subsidiaries. It trades under "VSTO" on the New York Stock Exchange.
