text: Before commercial mass production, handguns were often considered a badge of office – comparable to a ceremonial sword – as they had limited utility and were more expensive than the long guns of the era. In 1836, Samuel Colt patented the Colt Paterson, the first practical mass-produced revolver, which was capable of firing five shots in rapid succession and quickly became a popular personal weapon, giving rise to the saying, "God created men, but Colt made them equal." Today, in most of the world, handguns are primarily used by police and military officers as sidearms. However, in the United States and some other countries that allow gun ownership, handguns are also available to civilians as self-defense weapons.
  Definition
  The Encyclopaedia Britannica defines a handgun as "any firearm small enough to be held in one hand when fired"; while the American Webster's Dictionary defines it as "a firearm (such as a revolver or pistol) designed to be held and fired with one hand".
  Among the Anglophone countries, neither the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which is part of the United States Department of Justice or the Government of the United Kingdom, who are in charge of American and British firearms licensing respectively, offer any specific legal definitions of a handgun. The ATF, however, does separately define "handgun – pistol" and "handgun – revolver" under its "Terminology & Nomenclature" section, both with the "pistol-type" description of "a weapon originally designed, made, and intended to fire a projectile (bullet) from one or more barrels when held in one hand".
  The Canadian Criminal Code defines a handgun as "a firearm that is designed, altered or intended to be aimed and fired by the action of one hand, whether or not it has been redesigned or subsequently altered to be aimed and fired by the action of both hands".