What do you call these snips/shears?
I know these as Tin Snips, or Tinner(')s Snips, and are identifiable as such because of the symmetry of the handles and blades, the wide aperture between the blades, and that the handles are longer than the blades.

The difference between snips &amp; shears? 


  Snips are shears that are used for cutting metal.


So a snip is a type of shear. And a shear?


  Is a cutting instrument in which two blades move past each other, like scissors but typically larger