Greetings everyone,

From the time that I learned of their existence until today, I thought that a Hand Crossbow was just a small little Crossbow that was mounted on the back of a glove and was shot with one hand (think The Road Warrior).

Here is the item's description: Crossbow, hand

Today while listening to a D&D Podcast, they talked about holding a Hand Crossbow, which made me think about it and realize what I was picturing was wrong.
I'm guessing that because the description states that it weighs 3 Pounts, it is a small crossbow held in the hand, correct?

Or is this more of a 'flavor' thing and if I like the idea of a small crossbow mounted to the back of a glove, then that is what I can give my characters if I choose?

It's a small crossbow held in the hand, it can be disarmed like any other weapon and must be stowed if you want to use the hand for something else. However, as long as you don't cause it to behave differently from a handheld item, the actual cosmetics don't matter much.

You can flavor it as you wish.

But remember that allowing it to be on the back of the hand allows the hand to still hold something else. This would allow casting or climbing. Which tends to go away from the idea of a something occupying a hand.

I like to think of it as a type of pistol and use it as such.

Typically it was a pistol sized crossbow, made famous by Drizzt Do'Urden's murderous kin who used poison tipped bolts or darts for them. Also the Diablo Demon Hunter (D3) character used a lot of these too!

They are one of few 1 handed ranged weapons. You have a free hand to grapple, use objects and items, use a spellcasting focus, ect - and when you get Crossbow Expert, they can explicitly get an extra attack as a bonus action. Combine that with sharpshooter, and you have one of the highest consistent damage per round builds you can get https://omegle****/ .

Either is acceptable (provided you do not try to alter the rules for the item to gain an advantage in the game); though the more realistic would be the small crossbow that one holds in their hand similar to a pistol. 

You can play it off as the weapon is mounted/strapped to you arm; but as stated throughout the thread, you have to follow the requirement for having the weapon "equipped".  For example if you are using the hand to interact with an option then you cannot operate the hand crossbow at the time; and if you fire a bolt then your hand cannot interact with something until the end of your turn. 

They meant one you held, but as others have stated, I see no problem with you making/buying/owning one that is attached to a glove, at least for asthetic purposes.

In real life, such a device is a very bad design.  It is literally in the one place that hand cannot load it and firing it with that hand would present additional redesign/problems.  Worse,  human anatomy means it is difficult for the other hand to load and fire it.

There are historical examples of one-handheld crossbows, especially in China. What you are describing is a wrist crossbow, which is almost exclusively seen in fiction and at trade shows.

See This image for hand crossbow from 1e Drow from the Fiend Folio