Well I just read through 7 pages of repeated vouching and arguments.
Lets make it 8.
Guns, something I never really thought that fit into LOTC (read till' the end, this **** is a preface). After about 6 years on here with breaks every so often, I can say with certainty that a lot of my reasoning was unfounded however, and the same holds for the arguments presented in this thread. Currently, it seems as if the arguments against this lore can be sorted into the 'we don't need this theres enough already' or 'it makes no sense lore wise' camps. Note before moving forward, very few people have expressed an issue with the actual lore written, or the substance therein - its good lore people, now I'll try to give you all an idea of this is a good idea.
Where were you when the first dwarven air-born division glided into battle to Ride of the Valkyries? Personally, I was laughing my ass off watching it take place from the sidelines, however I know that the people who planned, and were victim to that attack never forgot the innovation that came around that day. This community has no shortage of innovation, which carries over to characters when appropriate. For the last 6 years we've been tech locked, while arguably progressing further in magic and alchemy than would ever be rply possible. The characters who facilitate alchemical reactions and brews are some of the most scientific around in the way they operate, and for that reason I'm of the belief that the concept of a 'boom stick gun thing' would have most certainly made it into the minds of those characters by now, and rather quickly established given the current state of alchemy.
Since its pretty easy to establish a reason for these things being around lore wise, lets consider why adding alchemical boom sticks wouldn't be the end of the world for magic users and general rpers. Much as magic rp is a quite exclusive thing, not just anyone and their mother is going to be able to get their hands on a rifle, infact I expect that rifle rp is going to stay a very tight knit group with a few tangent cases. Now while the whole concept of exclusivity is another argument entirely, so far with group based magics its worked quite well, and when you consider the roll based system being presented here, the ability to power-game a rifle is going to be damn near impossible in practice. I'm of the belief that giving individuals in the alchemy profession a viable option for long range combat in the same vein as magic however not directly utilizing the void would also allow for some interesting characters to come about as well, and lift the restriction of alchemical being a mainly utilitarian craft.
With all of this said, I'm confident that the addition of this lore to current game-play won't make anyone's rp dissipate, or harm the fragile sensibilities of the mage or warrior rp communities. Instead I believe this will provide an interesting alternative specialization for those entrenched in alchemy rp, and further push a drive of innovation and creativity among the player base. This man writes good lore, lets get it implemented.