I' m not one to get caught up in words. My Mom has never in her life said she was proud of me. She says people have too much pride in todays world and shes not going to be one of them. I try to explain to her that some pride is good and some is bad. I think " weapon" is the same way. I mean if you were writing a procalmation and you wanted to state that a person could use a bow, rifle or muzzleloader how would you word it? You say " any weapon" because a weapon to me is something used to take life.

The difference is sometimes a life is taken for a good cause, in the case of hunting its Gods circle. One animal is taken so other animals can survive. In the case of violence on the street lives are not taken for a good reason. To me just having the intellelect to know the difference is more important than giving it a different label.

However I agree with your underlying message 100%. We need to put hunting in the proper light. Its everyday needless violence thats turning words like " weapon" into a dirty word. If weapons were only used for good then they would be percieved as a good thing and we wouldn' t be having this discussion. I even know people who now cringe when they hear the word rifle because of the sniper case back east. Until needless violence slows we as hunters will always face this problem.