Firearm

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Just once I'd like to meet an alien menace which wasn't immune to bullets!Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart [Robot (TV story) [src]]

Firearm is a term encompassing a variety of weapons, generally which utilise a projectile fired from the weapon relying on chemical explosives to propel the projectile at high velocities away from the firearm.

General Description

Weapons that fall into the 'firearm' category include:

  • Handguns (Pistols or Revolvers) designed to be usable one-handed.
  • Rifles use a cartridge type distinct from pistols, name refers to rifling (spiralled groves inside the barrel) causing the projectile to rotate in flight, stabilising the trajectory.
  • Shotguns use shells that usualy contain a number of small projectiles from a typicaly smoothbore rather than rifled barrel.
  • Machine guns. Similar to rifles in most respects but designed to sustain long periods of automatic fire.
  • Sub-machine guns. Automatic or selective fire weapons that fire pistol rounds.
This list is incomplete, as the simplicity of the basic design allows for a wide range of variations.

Firearms are also sometimes classified by their loading mechanism. A single shot weapon such as a shotgun or musket must be reloaded after each firing, while a semi-automatic weapon reloads mechanically after each shot, but only discharges once with each trigger pull. An automatic weapon reloads and fires continuously as long as the trigger is held down and it has ready ammunition.

Often, these two systems of classification are used in tandem, e.g. semi-automatic pistol or automatic rifle. In this way, both the loading mechanism and the configuration of the firearm are described.

Two main kinds of ammunition exist for basic firearms: pistol and rifle. pistol round mainly use a large calibre, round-fronted bullet from a small amount of propellant while rifles use a narrower, longer bullet with a high propellant load.

A common military weapon, used by armed forces such as UNIT, is the assault rifle. It it is a magazine-fed selective fire firearm with a rifled barrel. sommon fore their sheer veratility, effective in any manner of combat likey to be encountered by an infantryman.

Pistols typically are used as a more defensive weapon, to counter or discourage a personal attack, or as a back-up to a larger weapon. While primitive pistols are single-shot weapons, most carried by Humans following the 19th century are semi-automatic weapons of either a revolver or magazine-fed design. Fully automatic pistols exist, but are not as common due to cost of production, failure rate, and ammunition consumption. The advantages of a pistol come from its small size; it is easily portable and concealable, making them suited for use by organizations such as Torchwood, whose agents may not wish to advertise that they are armed, or may need to have a weapon with them at all times. Its disadvantages are its relatively low ammunition capacity, and lack of accuracy, power or range compared to larger weapons.

Shotguns and more primitive forms of rifle are often seen used by hunters, and can be pressed into service as combat weapons, but are generally less effective than weapons intended for military or self-defense weapons.

Generally, most types of firearm have been ineffective against armored alien races such as Daleks and Cybermen, though specifically designed bullets have been produced to utilise alien race's weaknesses (Gold in the Cybermen's case). (DW: Battlefield) Standard bullets are effective though against biological species that are similar to Humans, such as the Ood. (DW: Planet of the Ood)

Firearms, as a relatively primitive technology, can be neutralized by more advanced technology. For example, Sontaran soldiers have employed a cordolaine field that affects certain metals such as copper, causing weapons using copper casings on their projectiles not to fire. (DW: The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky).

Technological improvements such as the Bastic bullet can make firearms more effective, to the point of being a viable weapon even against a Dalek. (DW: Revelation of the Daleks, The Parting of the Ways)

One practical limit on the use of firearms is that they are primarily lethal weapons, and while it is possible to use a firearm to incapacitate rather than kill, this can only be achieved by inflicting serious injury and pain. While there are forms of ammunition known as "less than lethal" intended for incapacitation, such as rubber bullets, they still inflict extreme pain, and can still be lethal under certain circumstances. For this reason, individuals such as the Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith refuse to use them on moral grounds.

Despite their limitations, Humans are known to use firearms well into the 2001st century and beyond. Likely reasons for this are the fact that firearms are simple and cheap to produce and maintain, as well as being easy to use and generally effective. Their continued use may also be an example of sentimentality on the part of Humanity, as they have been seen to fetishize firearms to an unusual degree. or they may have simply continued to modernise and remained effective.

However, an appreciation of the usefulness of firearms is not limited to Humanity. On one occasion, a Dalek taskforce was seen to replace their standard armament with some sort of semi-automatic weapon in an environment where their energy weapons were ineffective. (DW: Death to the Daleks)

One of the most memorable uses of a firearm is The Doctor's use of Wilfred Mott's old service revolver. It was an old gun, but it proved vital to saving the unvierse. Wilfred had the chance to shoot the Master with it but didn't and tried to give it to the Doctor later. The Doctor, who refused to carry a weapon, wouldn't take it until he learned that the Time Lords were behind what was happening, and the revelation made him take the gun. The Doctor had the choice of shooting Rassilon and taking over as the new leader of the Time Lords or shooting The Master and breaking the link that anchored the Time Lords outside of the time-lock. Ultimatly he chose to shoot neither: he had the Master get out of the way and shot the nuclear bolt that was amplifing the signal, breaking the link and sending the Time Lords, Gallifrey and everything else that would have been pulled through from the Time War back to where they belonged, saving the universe from anniliation as a result. (DW: The End of Time)

The Doctor wields Wilf's gun against the master

Instances of Assault or Automatic Rifle use

Instances of Handgun use

  • When the lone Dalek escaped The Vault, the security guards used pistols against it, to no effect. (DW: Dalek)
  • General Cobb intended to shoot the Doctor with a pistol but Jenny got in the way. The Doctor later almost shot Cobb as revenge for killing his daughter. (DW: The Doctor's Daughter)
  • Wilfred Mott took his old service revolver with him when he sought out the Doctor. He later gave it to the Doctor who brought it with him to use against the Master. Ultimatly the Doctor had to choose between shooting the Master or Rassilon, but ultimatly chose to shoot the nuclear bolt, destroying it and breaking the link that anchored the Time Lords in the present time, sending them back into the Time War and saving the universe. (DW: The End of Time)

Instances of Machine Gun use

Behind the scenes

See also


Firearm
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