The antis will always misuse our terms. Changing them to accomodate the antis is just caving to their pressure. I say stick to terms we've always used. It's part of our heritage and history.
That's just it, though. We've not "always" used those terms. The meaning of a word changes throughout history, particularly in areas involving technical topics. For instance:
- We used to call all things computing related "computers". Now we call them personal computers, calculators, mainframes, switches, etc. - the field has expanded.
- We used to call all 4-wheeled motorized vehicles "automobiles" (or some variation thereof like "motor car"- there wasn't much consistency at the beginning). Now we've got cars, trucks, SUVs, jeeps/Jeeps, minivans - et cetera. That doesn't change the fact that the term "automobile" is still applicable. The additional terms have come into being because they were necessary for differential (just as terms like "motor car" have gone out of style due to their unnecessary distinction - what other kind of car can there be than one with a motor, after all).
We still use "accidental discharge" - it just means something different than "negligent discharge" does; one indicates an honest-to-god accident, such as having your finger slip on the hammer and it falls on a non-empty chamber, or having a piece of brush bumping the trigger accidentially (similar to being blindsided in a car, hitting ice on a turn, etc.); the other is illustrative of negligence, like dry-firing at a wall and having the gun go boom (running a light, hitting someone in your blind spot, etc.). Yes, it's also an accident (nobody intends for that kind of stuff to happen), but it's a distinction which is necessary to make: the difference is the degree of the mistake, and possibly whether it was dumb luck or a brain fart, or genuine stupidity and/or ignorance.
There's a good reason for the use of "pistol" to mean anything but revolvers in colloquialism; it gets really, really irritating to say "auto-loading pistol", "semi-automatic pistol" or some other variant. "Pistol" is shorter than any of them and means the same thing. Besides, "handgun" serves the role "pistol" previously meant.
In short, firearms, cars, and computers (as well as other things) are all new technology in the scheme of things; the etymology changes a LOT, and it has nothing at all to do with what liberals are supposedly calling things. Idiots call the computer's monitor "the computer". Some people assume that everything under the hood of a car is "the engine". That can't be avoided.
The fact is that we, as humans, put everything within the context of imagery within our minds, and then try and communicate that imagery using words. We need to use concise words in order to communicate effectively. If we are too verbose or laconic, the image or idea we are trying to convey is either mutilated or lost utterly. A person
must use the correct words.
It's necessary to redefine our language; doing so is indicative (though not conclusive) of a healthy culture and society. (What, you don't want to be like the French, who put legal restrictions on language change and mutilation, do you?)
More on pistol etymology/history:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pistol
