How Girls Can Help Their Country

Shooting

All scouts should know how to shoot. By this I do not mean that you should go all day behind some big dog and try to kill the birds he finds for you, for that is the most useless form of shooting, all things considered, that can be devised. What I mean is that Scouts should know how to load and fire a gun or other firearm so as not to be at a loss for a means of defense should an emergency arise. It is one of the best means to "be prepared." My preference for practice of this kind is a small rifle as being less dangerous than any form of pistol and excellent training for hand and eye. Avoid, however, the very high power modern firearms - the kind that "shoot today and kill next week," as as there is too much danger of reaching some one that is out of sight. The same may be said of the automatic pistol which fills too large a circle with missiles of sudden death.

Handbook for Girl Scounts, 1913


What do they mean by 'guns and other firearms??