The Gonne, or hand-cannon, as it was called, was an early and of the first working product in firearms development. Invented around the 14th Century or perhaps earlier by the Germans or Arabs. It was extremely primitive, but was fearsome on the battlefield-soldiers tended to quiver in the sight of a hand-held cannon aimed at them. Despite its appearance, the gonne was of little actual harm in certain instances.

It's mainpoints was the new ability and use for gunpowder on the battlefield, and that armor could pierce by the gonne. However, it cons made the weapon more of a trifle than a real military implement.

It was very heavy, usually made of wood or brass in later stages wrapped with iron rings to keep the barrel in the wooden made ones to prevent the weapon from exploding after firing. A crude bi-pod solved this problem, but could be found to rather more of a nuisance than useful. The weapon was also a muzzle loader, and a slow one at that considering consistant gunpowder and ammunition size was rare.

They were expensive, and ornate designs usually ended up being the death of soldiers foolish enough to use the gonne. Accuracy was by no means a positive trait about the weapon. The gonne was normally lit by match like a primitive matchlock, which made fighting in the rain with this weapon made it look more like a wasteful toy.

Firing speed was dim, as cheaper, and more accurate weapons like the bow and crossbow were faster, and more efficent. By the 15th century, gunpowder and cannons despite all it's weak-points the gonne survived and expanded firearms use. Most armies like the Japanese and French used gonnes or a advance derivative. The design by now resembled a rod or pipelike shape, and was slightly accurate than it's early cousin.

A Gonne (which more resembled a multishot musket) was featured in the Terry Pratchett novel, Men at Arms.