A deadly weapon, sometimes dangerous weapon, is a statutory defintion listing certain items which can inflict mortal or great bodily harm. In addition, deadly weapon statutes often contain "catch all" provisions which describe abilities used to designate other implements as deadly weapons. A statute is a formal, written law of a country or state, written and enacted by its legislative authority, perhaps to then be ratified by the highest executive in the government, and finally published. ...

Whether an item can actually inflict such harm often does not affect the designation. For example, an unloaded gun or a gun with a trigger lock are often treated like any other firearm. 155 mm M198 howitzer U.S. Army soldier with a compact M249 variant USS Iowa (BB-61) fires a full broadside of nine 16/50 and six 5/38 guns during a target exercise near Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, 1 July 1984. ...

Examples of deadly weapons

A deadly is usually defined as a firearm or any object designed, made, or adapted for the purposes of inflicting death or serious physical injury. In addition to all firearms, the term deadly weapon encompasses knives of a certain length (usually three inches or longer, depending on jurisdiction, and in almost all jurisdictions includes switch-blade knife, gravity knife, and stiletto of any length), ice pick, sword, dagger, billy club, black-jack, bludgeon, metal (brass) knuckles, nunchaku (fighting sticks), or shuriken (throwing star), among other weapons. An assortment of modern handheld firearms using fixed ammunition, including military assault rifles, a sporting shotgun (fourth from bottom), and a tactical shotgun (third from bottom). ... Traditional Finnish puukko knife A knife is a sharp-edged hand tool used for cutting. ... A Venetian stiletto A stiletto is a long, narrow-bladed dagger. ... Swiss longsword, 15th or 16th century Sword (from Old English sweord, cognate to Old High German swert, literally wounding tool from a Proto-Indo-European root *swer- to wound, to hurt) is a term for a long-edged, bladed weapon, consisting in its most fundamental design of a blade, usually... A dagger (from Vulgar Latin: daca - a Dacian knife) is a blade weapon (essentially a double-edged knife) used for stabbing, thrusting or as a secondary defense weapon in close combat. ... Hercules fights the Lernaean Hydra with a club A club or cudgel is perhaps the simplest of all melee weapons. ... A nunchaku (Chinese: 雙節棍 shuāng jié gùn, 兩節棍 liǎng jié gùn, or 二節棍 èr jié gùn), also known in English by the plural nunchucks (variously rendered as nunchuks, numchucks, nun-chucks, nun-chuks, nun chucks, nun chuks, nunchaku, or just chucks for short), is a martial arts weapon... Hira Shuriken Shuriken (手裏剣; lit: hand release blade) are throwing blades. ...

In some jurisdictions, a distinction is made between deadly weapons and destructive devices, such as explosives, incendiary or poison gas bombs, grenades, landmines, rockets, missiles, or similar devices, including the unassembled components from which such devices can be made. A destructive device is a firearm or explosive device that, in the United States, is regulated by the National Firearms Act of 1934. ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ... Incendiary refers to any fire that has been deliberately set. ... Early detection of chemical agents Sociopolitical climate of chemical warfare While the study of chemicals and their military uses was widespread in China, the use of toxic materials has historically been viewed with mixed emotions and some disdain in the West (especially when the enemy were doing it). ... The Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb, produced in the United States. ... Grenade may refer to: The well-known hand grenade commonly used by soldiers. ... Various anti-tank and anti-personnel land mines A landmine is a type of self-contained explosive device which is placed onto or into the ground, exploding when triggered by a vehicle or person. ... A Redstone rocket, part of the Mercury program A rocket is a vehicle, missile or aircraft which obtains thrust by the reaction to the ejection of fast moving exhaust gas from within a rocket engine. ... A missile (CE pronunciation: ; AmE: ) is, in general, a projectile—that is, something thrown or otherwise propelled. ...

In Wisconsin

In Wisconsin, statute §939.22(10) defines dangerous weapon: Official language(s) None Capital Madison Largest city Milwaukee Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 23rd 169,790 km² 420 km 500 km 17 42°30N to 47°3N 86°49W to 92°54W Population  - Total (2000)  - Density Ranked 18th 5,453,896 38. ...

"Dangerous weapon" means any firearm, whether loaded or unloaded; any device designed as a weapon and capable of producing death or great bodily harm; any electric weapon, as defined in s. 941.295 (4); or any other device or instrumentality which, in the manner it is used or intended to be used, is calculated or likely to produce death or great bodily harm.

Penalty enhancer

The use or possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a crime often a penalty enhancer. The deadly weapon penalty enhancer is premised on a belief that commission of the particular crime is inherently more dangerous.