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A handgun is a firearm small enough to be carried and used in one hand.
While a two-handed aiming posture may be optimum for most firearms, including handguns, if the gun is not designed to be usable in a single hand, it is not a handgun.
The two main designs are pistols and revolvers, however the meaning of the term 'pistol' is disputed - some use it as a synonym for a handgun. Others believe it should be used only to refer to weapons in which the firing chamber is an integral part of the barrel. This explicitly excludes revolvers but includes semi-automatic, single-shot, muzzle-loading and double-barelled weapons.
Single-shot handguns, like the derringer, are also available.
The earliest known use of the word handgun is in 1386 in when the English Ralph Hatton is recorded as sending three of them to the Chamberlain of Berwick.
See also
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