Fire-Arm

An instrument used in the propulsion of shot, shell, or bullets by the action of gunpowder exploded within It. In 1637 a royal charter was granted to the gunmakers 6f London empowering them to search for, prove, and mark hand guns, pistols, etc., and by the statutes of 1818 and 1855 the proving of all firearms was fnade compulsory. These statutes have been superseded by the gun-barrel proof act 31 and 32 Viet., which regulates the duties and powers of the London and Birmingham proof-houses, and which makes the forging or counterfeiting of proofmarks or stamps, and the selling, or having in possession for the purpose of sale, of fire-arms bearing such forged or counterfeited mark or stamp, a misdemeanor. As to what constitutes a fire-arm, the decisions have been somewhat conflicting. A pistol so dilapidated that It could not be discharged by the trigger has been held to be a fire-arm and a deadly weapon; Atwood v. State, 53 Ala. 608; so where the mainspring was so disabled as pot to allow it to be discharged in the regular way; Williams v. State, 61 Ga. 417, 34 Am. Rep. 102; but not so where the weapon could not be discharged by a cap on the tube; Evlns v. State, 46 Ala. Hutchinson r. State, 62 Ala. 8; 84 Am. Rep. 1. See Abms; Weapokt.