Essay on Weapons Used in Law Enforcement and Corrections in the U. S. throughout History

Handgun
It is a weapon designed to fire a small projectile from one or more barrels when held in one hand with a short stock designed to be gripped by one hand. Revolver is a handgun that contains its ammunition in a revolving cylinder that typically holds five to nine cartridges, each within a separate chamber. Before a revolver fires the cylinder rotates, sand the next chamber is aligned with the barrel.
Pistol: Any handgun that does not contain its ammunition in a revolving cylinder. Pistols can be manually operated or semiautomatic (Patrick, 2003). A semiautomatic pistol generally contains cartridges in a magazine located in the grip of the gun. When the semiautomatic pistol is fired, the spent cartridge that contained the bullet and propellant is ejected, the firing mechanism is cocked, and a new cartridge is chambered. Derringer is a small single- or multiple-shot handgun other than a revolver or semiautomatic pistol.

Revolver
Revolver is a type of pistol equipped with a cylinder that consists of several chambers, each containing a cartridge or bullet. The cylinder revolves around an axis; each chamber in turn is brought into line between the firing mechanism and the barrel, which allows each bullet to pass through the barrel when the gun is fired (Richard, 1999). In some early revolvers of the 14th century, the cylinder consisted of several complete barrels.

In 1836, the American manufacturer Samuel Colt patented the so-called Colt revolver, which had a single barrel and a small, revolving cylinder with six chambers; a similar revolver was developed at about the same time by the American gunsmith Edwin Wesson, but Colt won patent rights to the new pistol. The Colt revolver was loaded with a percussion cap, powder, and balls. The cylinder of the Colt was automatically turned when the hammer was drawn back for cocking, and the gun was then fired by pulling the trigger...................

ESSAY ON THE AMERICAS