Through out history man has needed weapons to attack others or defend themselves. Over the years weapons have become more sophisticated. From sharp rocks and sticks, to swords and bows and arrows, man has used technology to develop better and more lethal weapons. Perhaps the most lethal and sophisticated handheld weapon is the gun. Guns. Their not something we see in our usual everyday lives. So sometimes we just ignore the fact that without them we might not be right here in this room. Who knows where we’d be.

The first gun was created in the year 1232 by the Chinese who invented gunpowder. The Chinese used three main ingredients in the making of the gunpowder. Sulphur, charcoal and saltpetre (potassium nitrate). They grounded the ingredients together, the end result was a powder called ‘serpentine’. They then mixed it with a bit of wine and after the liquid was acquired it was put through a screen to make small pellets that then were allowed to dry. After they dried they were then known as gunpowder pellets.

The first gun invented has an unknown name since it was invented centuries ago. But most say the closest name to it is the bamboo cannon. It was basically a hand held cannon that requires a reload after every shot. You hold the it around the middle to aim and use a match to light the fuse. It fired smooth rocks at a fast rate. The bottom was a carved piece of bamboo to hold and the top was the firing part where you reload.

The first evolution was made in 1400's when the matchlock guns- first mechanically firing guns were invented. Matchlock guns are a much quicker and easier gun to use because it doesn’t require you to ignite anything with your hand and have one hand on the gun, on this gun you can keep both hands on it to keep it steady so you can aim properly. All you have to do is pull the trigger.

The first evolution of guns was produced in Europe. They made the matchlock gun when the Chinese introduced gunpowder to them. They were a huge success. When they were used in war the other countries like America would have found the gun during war, taken them back to America, studied them and would of made copies and then evolved them.

When the Chinese made the first gun they decided to use it in war to have an advantage over the other countries. The reason why militaries used guns is because they wanted to be 1 step ahead of the other countries they fought. Then after a couple of centuries all countries militaries started to use guns so they were all even. The only thing is that all the different countries use different styled guns. All guns are very different from each other. Like some fire one bullet per trigger pull while other keep firing until you take your finger off the trigger. All the guns are good for different combat scenarios, whether your in long range combat or short range combat.

The gun works like this. When you pull the trigger on a gun there is a little hammer on the back of the gun that bangs the back of the bullet shell. That hammer hits so fast and so accurately that the friction created by the hammer hitting the shell ignites the gunpowder. The force of the mini explosion then pushes the bullet out of the gun. The reason why the guns go BANG! is because after the bullet comes out of the shell the pressure from that explosion is released. Therefore it makes a BANG! noise. Most bullets also make a noise because of how fast their going. Some bullets can shoot at 300o kmph. That's 3 times the speed of sound.

A man by the name of John Bullets invented the bullet. He started his research in making the bullet when the first gun was invented. He wanted to make bigger and more effective bullets.

A bullet can cause a heap of damage to the human body. The fast rotation of the bullet enables it to pierce the skin and tear up the insides. If the bullet doesn’t kill you it can make you loose a lot of blood and then eventually you will die of blood loss. If you look at the picture to the right you can see that a car has been pierced by many bullets and is made of a much stronger substance then skin. Imagine what would happen to you.

Ideally, a gunshot victim should be on their way to a hospital immediately to get their wound treated. If your a while away from a hospital you need to find something or do something to stop the bleeding. Depending on how deep the bullet is you may need immediate surgery when you arrive, because it is not healthy to have a bullet inside you for a long time, only because of lead poisoning. If the bullet has gone straight through you, you’ll probably just need stitches and your body will heal inside.

There are lots of effective places to shoot some one, but a lot of the effective places aren’t always the kill spots. If you wanted to kill someone the best place to shoot is the heart or the brain. If the brain is shot the human body can’t function so the heart can’t flow blood around the body but it depends what part of the brain you shoot because sometimes people don’t die when their shot in the head. If you shoot someone in the heart it’s almost instant death. Almost like a really fast heart attack. There are also other places to shoot known as non-lethal shots. One of the best non-lethal places is the calf muscle or the shins. If someone was running away from you, just shoot them on the lower leg and they will trip over or limp so you can catch them.

Lead is used in bullets because it is cheap and we have lots of it. It also has physical properties that make it a useful device to cause harm. Lead is extremely dense therefore it flies straight and true. There are however more types of bullet materials. There is copper and brass. Copper bullets expand on impact so the wound left by a copper bullet is much larger then a lead bullet. Copper bullets are used more on animals than humans. Brass is about the same but used more on humans.

In conclusion although guns can be dangerous and deadly, we should always remember that old saying “ Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”.