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ANTI-GUNNERS NUTS

Amid gun prohibitionists’ efforts to alternately cajole and intimidate Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to not sign legislation designating the Lone Star State a jurisdiction in which law-abiding citizens can carry firearms without a permit, the governor signed a resolution naming an official state handgun.

He also signed the permitless carry bill, which becomes effective Sept. 1. I am waiting to see whether anybody decides to carry the official state gun without a permit.

The jolt you felt in May was the Earth suddenly stopping in its rotation and tilting on its axis. Probably the only reason hordes of gun prohibitionists didn’t march on Austin was because they may have realized how foolish they would appear.

The special gun is the Colt Walker 1847, the first big-bore six-shot revolver. The creative product of Texas Ranger Capt. Samuel Walker and Samuel Colt, and according to one history I read, Eli Whitney, Jr., the Colt Walker was, for decades, the most powerful handgun on the landscape. It’s still the most powerful black powder sixgun anywhere. In fact, Clint Eastwood carried a pair of them in The Outlaw Josey Wales.

Pulling from his experiences on the Southwest Texas frontier, Walker wanted a handgun capable of firepower and stopping power. According to a news release from Cimarron Firearms, a company offering a beautiful reproduction of the Colt Walker produced by Uberti, Capt. Walker wanted “to provide the Rangers with a pistol powerful enough to take down a rider and his mount.”

According to Cimarron, the company joined forces with State Rep. Kyle Biedermann from the Texas Hill Country to make it all happen. Kudos to both for a job well done.

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/06/16/texas-constitutional-carry-greg-abbott/

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/02gigcuhmxg14qy/AABmF7uWjok2rhLtUglF7rrOa/Cimarron%20Firearms%20Press%20Releases?dl=0&preview=CF+Walker+Texas+Gun+6-21.pdf&subfolder_nav_tracking=1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_Walker

Plenty of Muscle

I did a little homework and consulted a Wikipedia history of the Walker. The revolver originally took a 60-grain black powder charge to launch a .44-caliber round ball or conical projectile.

That may have been a bit stout, because, according to the narrative, some guns experienced ruptured cylinders. It may have been a problem with the metallurgy of that era, but Colt ultimately backed down to a maximum recommended powder charge of 50 grains. This charge still delivered a bullet or ball at a devastating velocity and energy level, which is why so many Civil War and Old West contemporaries had them.

There were reports of people being killed out to ranges of 100 yards with the Colt Walker 1847, and because it allowed the user to fire six shots in an era when most folks were armed with single-shot muzzleloaders, outlaws, Comanche warriors and Mexican soldiers were duly impressed.

Like other percussion handguns of the time, when the shooting stopped, it took a bit of time to reload and add new caps, but by then, presumably the bad guys were adequately perforated so as to not be much of a threat.

Gnashing Teeth

Texas has more than one million active carry permits in circulation, a fact anti-gunners despise.

Naming an official state handgun rubbed salt into their open wound. Texas was preceded by several states in declaring a state firearm. Utah adopted the Colt M1911 pistol as its state firearm in March 2011 because inventor John Moses Browning was a native of Ogden. Arizona adopted the Colt Single Action Army revolver a month later as the state firearm. Indiana added the Grouseland rifle as its state firearm in March 2012 and Kentucky claimed the Kentucky Long Rifle in June 2013. Pennsylvania jumped aboard one year later with the adoption of the Pennsylvania Long Rifle, and a month later in July 2014 Alaska adopted the pre-’64 Winchester Model 70 rifle as its state firearm.

The Colt Walker is definitely in good company!

Gun rights activists in other states should find a friendly lawmaker to introduce similar legislation. Pick a great handgun, rifle or shotgun and go for it. In my home state of Washington, my recommendation would be the Detonics Combat Master because the company was originally based in the Evergreen State.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_firearms

Abbott Has a Talent

No doubt about it, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has a talent for upsetting left-leaning citizens, and proof positive was in his recent pronouncement that he’ll finish Donald Trump’s border wall along the Texas border.

The Washington Examiner acknowledged Abbott may have a couple of problems getting the job in motion, much less finished.

The newspaper said there are “legal obstacles and logistical headaches.” In the meantime, Texas is beefing up its law enforcement efforts along the Rio Grande. The state has “frequently sent in state and local law enforcement, as well as the National Guard, to assist federal agents who are stretched thin,” the story explained.

Texas has seen a surge of human traffic entering the country illegally since January, the Examiner reported. Tens of thousands, the narrative estimated, have been released into the U.S., which has an impact on Texas and other states.

Abbott’s intent has infuriated the Left, which also wants gun owners disarmed.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/abbott-plan-to-finish-border-wall-challenges

Adding to the Gun Control Glossary

We’ve got an addition to the Gun Control Glossary announced a couple of weeks ago.

Weapons of War — A term cooked up by the gun prohibition lobby quickly embraced by too many newspaper editorial boards, anti-gun politicians and even reporters who have never been anywhere near a battleground. (Visiting Gettysburg or the Custer Battlefield in Montana doesn’t count.) People who subscribe to this canard think any firearm they don’t like is a “weapon of war.”

If readers would like to add more send a note to American Handgunner.

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