Firearms were first documented in the 10th century, and by the end of the 13th century, they’d evolved to become the guns we know today that fire projectiles from a barrel. These guns spread from Asia, where they were created, to Europe thanks to the Silk Road, and once they reached Europe they were further developed into more advanced weapons.
Since then, billions of different types of guns have been created, some of which have moved off of the battlefield and made available for personal use.
This has led to the emergence of gun safety rules for private citizens to keep themselves and their loved ones safe from accidental gun injuries.
The Creation of Guns
The first real gun was invented by the Chinese somewhere between the 10th and 12th centuries. It was known as the fire lance, which was a pyrotechnic device attached to a long shaft that used gunpowder to create an explosive discharge. The fire lance was depicted in early silk paintings from the mid-10th century, but the first written mention of it came in 1132, when it popped up in an account of the Siege of De’an.
The fire lance had a 3-meter range and was primarily used to shock opponents at the beginning of a battle. Over time, the fire lance was built upon by adding ingredients like shrapnel pieces, porcelain shards, and small iron pellets that could be blown out with gunpowder to cause injuries.
The Evolution of Guns
After guns reached Europe around the year 1380, the Europeans tried their hand at taking these firearm designs and making them their own. This led to the creation of the matchlock gun in the 1400s, which used a burning piece of rope to ignite the gunpowder in the firearm when the person pulled a lever or trigger with their finger.
Before that, the person had to manually apply fire to the gunpowder, similar to how a cannon worked, which was a clumsy and slow way of doing things.
The next major advancement in firearm history came in 1509 with the invention of the wheel lock. The wheel lock generated a spark mechanically, without a wick, so it was easier and more reliable than the matchlock.
However, it was expensive to produce at the time, so it wasn’t widely used. In 1630, the flintlock was created to be a lid that could protect the gunpowder. It was a mechanism that could push back the lid and spark a flint at the same time, and it was so popular and widely used that it was barely altered for two centuries. By the 1750s, firearms themselves had become popular enough that men stopped carrying rapiers; guns became the weapon of choice whenever a duel arose.
Less than 100 years after that, in 1835, Samuel Colt developed the first mass-produced multi-shot revolver. While similar designs existed for centuries, Colt was the first to apply new Industrial Age tools to the idea to create affordable guns that were reliable and accurate. This type of revolver led to the creation of shotguns 15 years later, which at the time were primarily used among the upper classes for hunting birds. Similar rifles were created in the following years that became the primary weapons used in the American Civil War.
In the years since the Civil War, guns have evolved to hold more ammunition, use more advanced firing techniques, and shoot more ammunition faster.
How Gun Safety Has Increased Over Time
Due to the increasing prevalence of guns as they became easier to use, a growing need for gun safety has also arisen.
The earliest gun safety devices came about in the 19th and 20th centuries with the creation of trigger guards. These trigger guards made it difficult to accidentally pull the trigger while using the weapon.
The original feature was crude, but variations of it have become a staple in every modern firearm. Another safety feature was the grip safety, added in the 1880s to make certain guns childproof. This mechanism required the firearm grip to be squeezed at the same time as the trigger. Grip safeties aren’t as common as they were in the early 20th century because they made firearms quite difficult to use but didn’t seem to decrease the number of accidents involving children.
Today, gun manufacturers are working to develop smart guns that recognize their owners’ fingerprints to prevent unauthorized users from using them. This technology has promise, but it currently has a number of glitches and is quite expensive. As safety technology continues to develop, gun owners have created detailed safety guides to help each other cut down on the number of accidents involving firearms.
More Reading
- Gun Timeline
- A Brief History of Guns in the U.S.
- History of Gun Safety
- Gun Safety
- History of Firearms
- The Complete History of Guns
- Machine Gun on the Western Front
- History of Gun Control
- Nine Oldest Guns in the World
- A Brief History of Firearms
- The Evolution of Firearms
- The Paradox of Gun History
- A Brief History of the Assault Rifle
- Firearms History
- The Evolution of Weapons
- Four Gun History Facts to Blow Your Mind
- 12 Golden Rules of Gun Safety
- Gun Safety
- Gun Safety for Parents
- Gun Safety Tips
- Firearm Safety
- The Gun Safety Conversation: Risks and Benefits
- A Timeline of the Major Gun Control Laws in America
- Gun Safety: A Brief History