Exactly. A gun has multiple uses, after all.
Would weapons have developed to that point? Most weapons were made for war, not hunting. I think if this ability had existed since man first appeared, we would still have fairly basic weaponry, mostly blades and bludgeons. Children would likely be sent far away after birth in groups for fear of them deleting off parents. Women would be guarded, perhaps kept extremely anonymous if that would protect against the effect. War would be reduced to math games, almost as our own strategical war games are now. Government would likely be based on tribes; the groups of children sent off together, after a few incidents of deletion, would grow together. Religion...probably paganism? Or some form of abstract pantheon of gods created by elders to explain things to younger. Economy would then be communal barter. I doubt we'd ever evolve past this as anytime a two tribes came to close there would be mass deletions leaving one, or none, or two halves. Without growing society and shared ideas, only groups of children forming their own tribes, there would only be advancement if agressive and dull was bred out and pacifistic and calm was bred in.
Pessimistically, a mass chain of deletions would reduce the population until only single people wandered far from anyone else.
Optimistically, we advance as usual, only with a super respectful honor based society. Crime, yes, but people don't hesitate to delete criminals on sight. Some sort of world-wide list of who has and hasn't deleted, and who they deleted.
If we suddenly get this power in society now: most likely massive death chain leaving only the calm and pacifists.
And I agree, this would be an amazing story or manga.
