Raye's History House

Guns are a controversial topic and have been a controversial topic for a long time.

In 2019 alone, approximately 250,227 people died from gun-related deaths. 71% of those deaths were homicides, 21% were suicides, and 8% were accidental discharges. 

So, guns are a big deal. Like a really big deal. Not just because of all the deaths they’ve caused recently but by the sheer amount of death they have been able to generate since their invention.

Guns changed history because they changed the way that we kill other people, animals, and sometimes even ourselves.

Where Did Guns Originate?

The first historical record we have of gunpowder comes from c. 850 in China. The substance, made from a mix of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate, was first used by people seeking immortality, but its potential as a weapon was discovered a few centuries afterward.

By the Tang or early Song dynasty (so somewhere around the 10th to 13th century) Chinese began to wrap gunpowder in paper or bamboo and attach the bundle to arrows. They’d then light the gunpowder and shoot the arrow to set fire to targets.

Not long afterward, sometime in the 12th and 13th centuries, the Chinese also invented the first rockets, which used gunpowder to propel them.

The First Firearms

The first firearms ever invented by people also came from China. During the 10th century, the fire lance was invented, which was a sort of flamethrower that used bamboo or metal tubes for their barrels. 

Researchers believe the hand cannon came later in the 1200s and originated somewhere in Manchuria. Hand cannons didn’t have firing mechanisms and instead had to be lighted externally to make them shoot. By the 14th century, the technology spread to Korea, then throughout East Asia, and made it to Europe along the Silk Road by the 1500s. 

Hand cannons are often considered the first guns and were primarily used to protect merchandise on the Silk Road.

Development of the Gun

Of course, gun development didn’t end in the 1200s. Instead, inventions in firearm technology began to improve faster and faster as the centuries went by.

The first significant advancement came from the Portuguese when they invented the matchlock c. 1411. Matchlocks were basically the first triggers that allowed people to fire firearms without needing a match to light them.

The next big breakthrough came during the American Civil War, often considered the first modern war. One of the things that made this war different from the wars that came before was the invention of rifling grooves which gave firearms greater range and accuracy.

Other major changes like metallic cartridges and magazines followed in the next several decades, but the biggest change came with automatic weapons and machine guns. 

Machine guns came to life in 1885 and were invented by American Hiram Percy Maxim. The first handheld automatic guns came right before World War I when Browning introduced the .45 Automatic Colt Pistol in 1911.

Finally, in 1944, Germans created the Sturmgewehr 44, which was the first-ever assault rifle. (Assault rifles are rapid-fire, magazine-fed automatic rifles).

The famous AK-47, which today is one of the most widely used shoulder weapons in the world, was created in 1947 by Soviet designer Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov. The name stands for Avtomat Kalashnikova, Russian for Automatic Kalashnikov, and the 47 is the year of creation. 

The AK-47’s American cousin, the AR-15, was designed in 1957 and came into popular use in the U.S. military by 1964, coinciding with the beginning of the Vietnam War.

Facts About Guns Today

Countries with the most firearm related deaths (2019 numbers):

1. Brazil – 49,436 deaths
2. United States – 37,038 deaths
3. Venezuela – 28,515 deaths
4. Mexico – 22,116 deaths
5. India – 14,710 deaths

Countries with the highest rates of gun-related homicides (per 100,000 residents in 2019):

1. El Salvador – 36.78
2. Venezuela – 33.27
3. Guatemala – 29.06
4. Colombia – 26.36 
5. Brazil – 21.93

Countries with the highest rate of gun-related suicides (per 100,000 residents in 2019):

1. Greenland – 16.36 
2. United States – 7.12
3. Uruguay – 4.74
4. San Marino – 4.08
5. Montenegro – 3.4

Facts about guns in the United States:

• 40% of households contain a gun
• 30% of people personally own a gun
• Men are more likely than women to own a gun (39% vs. 22%)
• Republicans are more likely than Democrats to own a firearm (44% to 20%)
• Guns are more prevalent in rural areas, where 41% of adults say they own a gun compared to 20% in cities. 
• White people are the most likely to own a firearm (36%), while Asians are the least likely (20%). 
• People 50-64 are the most likely age group to have guns (33%), while 18-29-year-olds are the least likely at 18%. 
• Most gun owners are in southern states (35%), and the least gun owners are in Northeastern states (20%). 
• The number one reason people gave for owning guns was personal protection (63%). 
• Blacks are the most likely race to say that gun violence is a huge problem (82%). Whites were the least likely (39%). 
• 53% of Americans believe there should be stricter gun laws. 

Countries with the lowest rates of gun-deaths (per 100,000 residents in 2021):

1. Singapore – 0.025 
2. Japan – 0.06
3. Azerbaijan – 0.07
4. Iceland – 0.07
5. South Korea – 0.08 

Bonus Fact: The word ‘gun’ comes from the Norse word ‘Gunnhildr,’ a Scandinavian female name. ‘Gunnr’ and ‘hildr’ both mean battle.

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