The timing of this seems a little odd in light of the fairly recent shooting of congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona by a crazed gunman, but a group of over 40 Republican state legislators are pushing to adopt the Colt single-action army revolver as Arizona’s official state gun. They want the Colt SAA — which is notable to us, anyway, for being called “the greatest handgun ever made” by Metal Gear Solid villain Revolver Ocelot — to get the honor because they believe that it “epitomizes the Wild West heritage of Arizona.”
So why does Arizona need a state firearm?
“Just like we need to tell Turkey that we’re friends,” Gould told Capitol Media Services.
At the very least, one can’t accuse these lawmakers of protectionism; Colt is headquartered in Connecticut.
Arizona is racing with Utah to become the first state to designate an official state gun; in January, the Utah State House passed a measure which is currently being considered by the State Senate to declare the Browning M1911 semi-automatic the state gun: “This firearm really has defended liberty and freedom around the country and around the world. And I think this is a very appropriate designation to capture a portion of the state history.”
(Phoenix New Times via Runnin’ Scared | Colt single-action army Wikipedia page)
