Free Republic

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott last weekend signed a resolution forwarded to his desk by the Texas lawmakers that makes the original 1847 Colt Walker the official handgun of the Lone Star State.The measure, HCR 15, was filed last December by state Rep. Ben Leman, R-Andersonville, and unanimously passed the House Committee on Culture, Recreation & Tourism before sailing through the legislature as a whole. Abbott signed it Saturday, promising that, "I'll be signing more gun laws real soon."A hulking 4.5-pound 44-caliber revolver, the Walker was so-named after famed Texas Ranger Capt. Samuel Walker, and only about 1,100 of the handguns...

It was a grand Thanksgiving Day. Family, good friends and good food, in this case Spanish style all the way with Enchiladas, Burritos, Chili Rellenos, Rice Ortega, and Spanish Rice. If the first Thanksgiving Day was not celebrated this way it should have been. After dinner, we reached for the Smith K-22, Ruger Single-Six, and Smith & Wesson 422 for some enjoyable plinking and also to have my daughter and son-in-law brush up on their shooting and handling of handguns as the final step , having already finished the safety and liability course, before applying for their concealed weapons permits....

Jan Brewer, the Arizona governor, on Thursday signed a bill into law that makes the Colt Single Action Army Revolver the state’s firearm, making Arizona only the second in the nation to have such a designation. The Colt revolver, made popular in the 1800s, was a common weapon carried by the likes of Bat Masterson, Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickok, according to “The Book of Colt Firearms”, by R. L. Wilson. Production first ran from 1872 through 1941 and then again from 1955. Opponents said the designation was ill-timed, coming as the state deals with the fallout from...

State flower, state motto, state song and now ... state gun? Call it shots fired. Two states have officially moved to declare state firearms in 2011, less than two months after the Arizona massacre that left six dead and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) grievously injured on January 8th. In both states, Utah and Arizona, the bills seem likely to become law. The Utah legislature took up a bill certifying the Browning Model 1911 automatic pistol as the official gun of Utah just 10 days after the shooting that rocked the nation. Used by military or law-enforcement personnel since being introduced...