How can you people discuss this? Don't you know that guns are involved in all cases of gun violence and are responsible for <font size=+1>ALL KNOWN GUN-RELATED DEATHS???</font>
Heh heh heh. More seriously now...
Military...hmm, lots of options here.
First there are "tech weapons" like the OICW:
Laser rangefinder, computer controlled air-burst 20mm high-explosive shells (someone hiding behind a wall? Airburst a shell over their head. "Die plz") plus a standard 5.56mm assault rifle. Deadly, very deadly. It should also be lighter than a fully-tricked-out M16, which is always nice (weight = bad).
Second, there are your more basic weapons, designed to simply get a bullet from a cartridge into an enemy. These include the venerable M16 and newer weapons, such as the MP7:
which is designed as a PDW (personal defense weapon, for vehicle crews etc.) but may also take up a position as an "offensive pistol" for special forces. Too small and light to be a main weapon, though.
Then there are your "Not yet" weapons; railguns, high-energy lasers (these are progressing nicely, though; one recently shot down an artillery shell in flight), sonics (nonlethal, intended for riot control etc.), and things of that type. These obviously have a lot of potential, but they simply aren't usable yet.
As for flamethrowers, I don't believe that the U.S. Army uses them any longer, but I couldn't find a source to prove or disprove my belief. As far as I can figure, flamethrowers aren't a very useful combat weapon; their primary use would be either in clearing bunkers and caves or as a
psychological weapon; I could see a flamethrower being useful against, for example, the crowds of enemies the Rangers fought in Mogadishu, Somalia. Someone might not be afraid of death, but everyone in their right mind is afraid of burning. Still, a flamethrower is the kind of thing that would get
very limited use.
For civilian use, I'd say you can't go wrong with a good shotgun.
Hunting, well, I don't hunt, so I can't really comment on this.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Kylaer on 2003-01-28 16:29 ]</font>