Glossary of Firearms Terms

Depending on where you live, when you purchase a gun from a licensed dealer, you will undergo a background check using various federal and/or state databases.  These checks determine if you have anything in your background that would prohibit you from buying a gun.  However, if you fall into any of the legally prohibited categories identified on the purchase paperwork, you must not purchase a gun even if you are someone that could pass a background check.  Nor should you even attempt to buy a gun, whether to "see what happens" or for any other reason.

Backstop is anything located behind the target that is intended to stop the bullet after the target is struck.

The barrel of the firearm is the tube through which the bullet is propelled as it leaves the firearm.

A breach-loading firearm, such as a typical shotgun, is designed for ammunition to be loaded via the rear (breech) of the barrel.

Not to be confused with a cartridge, a bullet is the metal projectile that is expelled out of the barrel of the firearm.