A pistol is a short barrel gun that can only be shot with one hand. The two most common types of hand guns used today are revolvers and semi-automatic pistols.

In the days before mass production, pistols were often considered office badges, similar to swords. Because of their limited utility and more expensive than the long guns of that era, only a few people with the ability to buy them carry pistols. In 1836, however, Samuel colt patented colt Paterson, the first practical mass-produced revolver. It was able to fire five rounds in a row and soon became a popular defensive weapon, leading to the saying: "God made man, but colt made man equal." Today, in most parts of the world, pistols are generally considered to be mainly self-defense weapons used by police and officers. But in the United States, pistols are also widely used by civilians, often in self-defense.

Many pistols are easy to hide, a feature that is very useful for civilians who want to carry weapons for self-defence and criminals who want to carry them for illegal purposes. For these reasons, pistols have become a particular focus of the gun political debate, and in most jurisdictions, gun and weapon carrying are strictly controlled.