 In purely practical terms, the distinction is that cane guns, far more costly to produce and, generally speaking, an affectation, ostensibly carried by gentlemen who wished, at all times, to be able to take "targets of opportunity", were a curio, talking point or a concealed offensive weapon, one that might easily escape detection unless closely examined.In addition to gentleman's canes, guns have been concealed in umbrellas, parasols and walking staffs.By contrast, a poacher's gun is very obviously a weapon, albeit one easily concealed by those legitimately going about in the countryside unarmed, by those who carried a gun for ad hoc hunting for the pot or for self defense, as opposed to a far-less-portable, pure-game gun, though these cross into the survival category.