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A firearm is a tool which can be used as a weapon.
A screwdriver is a tool which can be used as a weapon.

Thomas wrote:A tool is a machine. A car is a machine. A car is a tool that we use to drive to work. A gun is a tool that we use for self-defense. A bad guy can use a car as a weapon. A bad guy can use a gun as a weapon. Just because the latter happens more, than makes it a weapon instead of a tool? I'll tell you what though, Texans use handguns as tools for self-defense a lot more than bad guys will ever use handguns for malicious purposes, even if we don't have to pull out our handguns.

Why do good guys use tools and bad guys use weapons? Again, I don't see why the word weapon must necessarily be negative.
Is a weapon in the hands of a U.S. serviceman a bad thing? No.
Is a weapon in the hands of an Al Qaeda terrorist a bad thing? Yes.
Actually, right after I typed that I decided it was wrong. The weapon is neither good nor bad in either case, it's the person wielding it that matters.
In fact, I was not able to vote in your poll before because it did not make sense to me. This line of thought has convinced me it is a tool. Regardless of whether it's held by a "good guy" or a "bad guy." A weapon is just a tool.

Fire can cook your food.
Fire can keep you warm when it's cold.
Fire can burn your house down.
Fire is neither good nor bad.

Weapon is not a bad word.
Anything can be used as a weapon; a stick, a bottle, a handful of dirt.

I think it's both. I think a weapon is one type of tool.
You seem to have attached a negative connotation to the word weapon. I don't see weapon as a negative word. A weapon can work for good or for evil.

RottenApple wrote:A gun is a tool. It's the mind controlling it that is the weapon.

Ooh, good answer!