Actually, you probably should give a rat's ass as to what you say and how it affects the public debate on the contentious issue of private ownership of firearms in the United States, unless you don't care if you loose that debate with it's all to obvious consequences.
"Weapon" is, indeed, a very broad word encompassing as it does every thing from a broken wine bottle to an atomic bomb. Unfortunately, it is almost exclusively used by the anti-gun lobby to indicate or imply that a civilian firearm is an offensive or destructive combat implement-- something best allowed to the military and police, but to be kept out of the hands of the citizenry at all costs. This is why the biased anti-gun community constantly uses the word "weapon" to instill hoplophobia into the general population--
Here are two sentences that both convey the same information:
1) A rifle is an excellent weapon for killing deer.
2) A rifle is an excellent firearm for harvesting deer.
One sentence equates weapons with killing, the other suggests firearms are an implement for gathering in a source of food. Which sentence is the most likely to be distasteful to the average person who has little or no interest in hunting or firearms?
All I'm saying is that the average shooter needs to choose his words with as much care as he'd use in choosing a handgun for home defense, being mindful of the unintended consequences of the use of either in today's society.
All that reminds me way too much of politically correct speech codes, from which I instinctively recoil.
