service revolver == sidearm/service weapon

[Victor Steinbok]

... or something similar. Basically, using "revolver" in place of
"pistol", "hand gun" or just "gun".

Eugene Volokh quotes from a case:
http://bit.ly/bHOexp
> "According to the testimony Plaintiff submits, including Bedoya’s
> testimony from his criminal trial, Rodriguez grabbed Bedoya from
> behind, held his arm and attempted to remove Bedoya’s service
> revolver, a .40 caliber Glock Model 22 semi-automatic pistol, from its
> holster."

The "error" is obvious:

> The Glock 22 is a semi-automatic pistol, not a revolver, but more to
> the point nothing can be both a semi-automatic pistol and a revolver.

Volokh adds:

> Incidentally, a quick Google Books search for Glock revolver yielded
> an alarming number of hits. (To my knowledge, Glock doesn’t make
> revolvers.)

I suspect--expect, actually--that the misnomer "revolver" for a generic
pistol goes well beyond Glocks. And I don't believe it is an error of
the kind that Volokh thinks he discovered. It's the same kind of
substitution that has been occurring with "paraplegic" being replaced by
"quadriplegic" in situations where the latter term does not offer a
correct description of the condition. Basically, it's an "error"
generated out of laziness--unwillingness to distinguish between two
related states or things, thereby using the same term to describe them
both even where the narrower term is NOT appropriate. The odd thing is
that the OTHER term would be perfectly good in describing both
categories, but is left out (e.g., a revolver is also a pistol--in fact,
the original reference to what is now "revolver" was "revolving pistol").

It is possible that the conflation is aided by the addition of the word
"service". I.e., people who say "service revolver" for any service
handgun might not use "revolver" for "handgun" in other circumstances. I
have not looked for specific evidence, but, in my (admittedly,
occasionally faulty) memory, I can recall instances when "revolver" has
been used for "handgun" or "pistol" in circumstances that did not
involve a service weapon.

VS-)

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