INBA Professional Development Event: Guns 101

A Quick Guide to Guns

(Information from the Illinois State Police presentation to INBA on March 23, 2013 in Springfield, Illinois)

Guns- an overall term generic term for firearms. Another generic term is "weapons."  

(Illinois State Police Sgt. Greg Hacker demonstrates weapons most commonly used in sport hunting and law enforcement)

• Hand guns are those that can be easily held in one hand.
  • Pistols are fed through a magazine typically loaded at the base of the gun
  • Revolvers have a multi-chambered cylinder generally on top of the gun
• Long guns have a longer barrel and are generally meant for longer-range shots.
  • Rifles have grooves on the inside of the barrel, and fire bullets
  • Shotguns have smooth barrels, and can fire multiple types of ammunition.
  • The ISP suggests that if law enforcement on the scene is not specific, call it a long gun.

(Illinois State Police Lt. Steve Lyddon shows some of the most common weapons used by officers and sport hunters)

Magazine not interchangeable with the term "clip" which is a type of loading device. A magazine is a container, fixed or detachable, which holds cartridges to be fed into the gun's chamber.  

Semi-automatic weapons immediately load another bullet into the chamber as soon as you press the trigger to fire, but you must press the trigger each time. Most pistols are semi-automatic weapons.   

Automatic weapons fire constantly as long as you hold the trigger and ammunition is available. Fully automatic weapons are illegal in Illinois without a special license. 

Select-fire weapons allow the owner to choose automatic or semi-automatic fire.   

There is no law enforcement definition of "assault weapon."

• Collapsible or folding stock (the butt of the rifle or shotgun)
• The size or nature of the pistol grip
• The presence of a bayonet lug
• A compensator, silencer or flash suppressor

Reporters were invited to tour the FBI Headquarters in Springfield. Many of the morning's participants took part in the tour.