The Gun Primer

A Writer's Guide To Firearm Facts For Fiction

So… you’re a writer. And maybe you write exciting stories about detectives, or bank robbers, or heroes, or maybe even sick and deranged killers to thrill and keep us all awake at night. Maybe it’s swashbuckling pirates or stately, antebellum mansions. No matter what you write, chances are very good that one of your plots, one of your characters, sometime, somewhere, is going to involve a firearm… a GUN. Whether you are pro-gun, anti-gun, or don’t really care, a surprising number of people these days have a very limited knowledge of firearms. For a writer, that can be more deadly than any weapon! To make your stories real, believable, and to have your writing taken seriously, you need a little education on the subject. This project began as a letter to a friend for just that purpose but I quickly realized many more could benefit from the information. So here it is; your reference to the history and practical use of firearms from a writer’s point of view. You’ll find factual, helpful information here on all kinds of plot-worthy firearms from the earliest days of the gun, through the Antebellum and Steam Punk eras, on into the Roaring Twenties and both World Wars. You’ll even find a section dedicated to separating fact from myth in today’s complicated and heated firearms debate. I hope you find it helpful and may your heroes always shoot straight!