Wednesday, January 26, 2011

UTAH HAS A STATE FIREARM












I’ve always been a fan of the 1911. It was, of course, a favored weapon of Mike Hammer, The Phantom, and the Wild Bunch. But isn’t this both tasteless and a little absurd?

“The House Political Subdivisions Committee passed out favorably a bill to make the Browning M1911 semi-automatic pistol as Utah's official firearm. The bill sponsored by Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, was brought before the committee on the day designated by Gov. Gary Herbert as John M. Browning Day. Browning was a Utah native in the late 1800s who started the Browning Gun company and is seen to many in the Legislature as one of the great Utahns in history. "John M. Browning has single-handedly saved more lives on the battlefield than any other person," said Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem. Even though the bill passed with a 9-2 favorable vote, there were still some in the audience who felt that adopting a semi-automatic gun as a state symbol wasn't the right thing to do at this time.”

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4 comments:

Unknown said...

And let us not forget the Shadow who carried four M1911's for use in his frequent shoot out.

nygrump said...

""John M. Browning has single-handedly saved more lives on the battlefield than any other person,"

I wonder what kind of math they used to make this conclusion. Maybe warfare with pikes is more deadly...but I do not denigrate his invention.

Tuonela said...

Someone suggested it might lead to automatic (!) sentence reduction for anyone using the M1911 in a crime in Utah.

hcb said...

Ideally what you want, Micky, is one of the M1911A1's that Remington Rand made for the army during WW2. That way you have a pistol made by a company more famous for its typewriters; it's the writer's handgun deluxe. I wouldn't trade mine for anything.