Rifle vs. Gun

[Colonel Enfield]

I remember having to do pushups in the Army for not saying "weapon."

To avoid this 25 years later I still say weapon.

In this part of a world it is absolutely forbidden (well, discouraged in the strongest possible terms) among licensed firearms owners to describe a firearm as a "Weapon" - weapons are for using on people; firearms are a sporting implement, tool, or piece of history for target shooting, hunting/pest control or collecting.

I remember very clearly one day being in a gun shop when someone who had just got their firearms licence came in and told the chap behind the counter he wanted to buy a weapon. The chap behind the counter told him straight up "Sorry mate, we don't sell weapons here. Plenty of guns for hunting and shooting targets, though."

As for the whole "rifle vs gun" thing - all firearms are guns. "Gun" is a perfectly acceptable catch-all term for all firearms, with further deliniation to Longarms (Rifles, Shotguns, Air Rifles, Muskets etc), and Handguns (Revolvers, Semi-automatics, Air Pistols, etc). "Pistol" is a synonym for "Handgun" and has nothing to do with the gun's action.