A weapon is a tool used to wound, neutralize or kill a human being or an animal.
In the Stone Age, animals had a superior position over men who could hardly compensate their physical weakness when facing the strength of a bull, a bison...
Hunters found out that they could improve their hunting methods in shaping natural objects in such a manner that they could fight animals on an equal footing.

The first weapons were cutting-edge rocks.
Over the centuries, they became easier to handle and more efficient to kill. .
The simple fact of possessing these tools synonymous with death and fear grew the idea of using weapons for evil-minded purposes.
Indeed, in the race for land possession, weapons were massively used to threat whoever might have a rebellious attitude.

Weapons became consequently a war tool.
Some nations were born from major conflicts, and their power can be measured on their military strength, that is : the number of civilians trained for wars and the nature of their weapons.
The 20th century saw the emergence of a new genre of weapon: the weapon of mass destruction.
First world war was an attrition war in which soldiers used old-fashion bayonets in an attempt to save their poor lives.

But along with the nuclear and technological advances, weapons became extremely dangerous. One nuclear warheads could kill millions of people at a time. The H-Bomb dropped in 1945 on Hiroshima for instance cost some 80 000 lives to Japan.
Not to mention that chemical weapons like anthrax are deemed to be kept secret in the laboratories of some nations. For the moment, weapons of mass-destruction were only designed and used by a nation for their threatening potential.

Weapons now stretch from street guns to home-made Kalashnikov as well as massive bombs.