text: The Australian gun laws, which are based on the National Firearms Agreement (1996) and interpreted and enforced independently by each state or territory, consider a "handgun" a firearm that:
  History
  Hand cannons
  Firearms started in China where gunpowder was first developed. The oldest known bronze barrel handgun is the Heilongjiang hand cannon in 1288. It is 34 cm (13.4 inches) long without a handle and weighs 3.55 kg (7.83 pounds). The diameter of the powder chamber is 6.6 cm (2.6 inches) while the diameter of the interior at the end of the barrel is 2.5 cm (1.0 inch). The barrel is the lengthiest part of the hand cannon at 6.9 inches long.
  The hand cannon has a bulbous base at the breech called the Yoshi (), or gunpowder chamber, where the explosion that propels the projectile occurs. The walls of the powder chamber are noticeably thicker to better withstand the explosive pressure of the gunpowder. The powder chamber also has a touch hole, a small hole for the fuse that ignites the gunpowder. Behind the gunpowder chamber is a socket shaped like a trumpet where the handle of the hand cannon is inserted. The bulbous shape of the base gave the earliest Chinese and Western cannons a vase-like or pear-like appearance, which gradually disappeared when advancements in metallurgical technology made the bulbous base obsolete.