Hand Cannons have remained TRUE to their function through EVERY nerf or buff every other weapon has received -Auto rifles have received buffs and nerfs but never really recovered since the nerf of Destiny year 1 until Now. Most nerfs have been damage reduction or range. Suros Regime being COMPLETELY redesigned after several nerfs. -Pulse rifles, just like Auto have received mostly nerfs and Buffs to their damage and range; every time they showed some resilience they got nerfed to the point of ACTUALLY changing the archetype; Clever, grasp firing rate closer to Hawksaw, Blind Perdition. The Red Death's selling point and main perk GONE! High caliber rounds reduced to shreds, but that never really affected hand cannons as BAD as other weapons. -Scout Rifles, year one the weapon was useless, autos ran PVP and even PVE but since recovered nicely after several buffs. Honestly, scouts were always the least used except for Mida and warranted the Buffs. Bungie did well here -HAND CANNONS since year one hand cannons could snipe you across the map Bungie reduced range. Then update 2.3.0 saw their initial accuracy increased (top it off with the current initial accuracy update of 2017) but NEVER had damaged reduced by a percentage like PULSE and AUTO. Range was Bungie ONLY and best attempt to contain them. But players overcome it with god roll range finders and hidden hand. Autos and Pulses couldn't do that. The hand cannon has remained true to their fire rate and function except for a few exotics (thorn, hawkmoon) but even the last word range was Bungie best answer. Regardless the weapon remained true! It fired when you press the trigger and your damage was true if you knew your range. Conclusion, despite all the changes and nerfs hand cannons NEVER received archetype change nor damage reduction percentage (range adjustment doesn't count) to remove them from the top. Even NOW as you see the rise of auto rifles they remain top tier now with less bloom since range dictates damage. Anything that challenged them (clever grasp) close distance NEEFED! Shotguns nerfed. I've NEVER seen a weapon so resilient to nerfs! So well adapted! So what's left? Hopefully the auto rifle buff will help, but I suggest keeping your distance, but with the map options/design it's hard not to. MY SUGGESTIONS-I don't want a nerf, just BUFFS to the imbalance; weapon doesn't fair well? DONT NERF the top tier weapon, but BUFF the weak! Simple! That way players can STILL stick to their favorite weapon and not have to MOVE and change to NEW METAS constantly and repeating the dumb cycle of NERFS!