1128 was the first weapon that could be called a firearm and also the first depiction of a cannon. the hand cannon. so it hasnt been thousands of years, it was 721 years until the invention of the minie rifle. still, a long time, but to get to the minie ball we still needed rifling, which didn`t come about until 1440 and wasn`t popular due to the fouling issue i explained. the arquebus in 1465 was the first firearm with a trigger.