The M1911 also comes to mind to me...I believe it was made the national symbol of Utah last year, if I remember correctly.
State symbol, as opposed to a national symbol. Each of the states have their own symbology. State flower, state fish, what have you. Utah is probably one of the few (if not the only) states to adapt a handgun as a state symbol (it is however, not it's only state symbol). The designer, John Moses Browning was from Utah, which i think is seen as a point of pride, and the driving force behind adopting the 1911 as one of the states symbols.
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Nothing wrong with that at all, only earlier myself and my mother were talking about firearms and the old Colts, they were very good weapons. I'd say though, out of all the firearms in American history, when people think of America, they think of the SAA because of the classic Western films. So it's a national identity I suppose, even if it's not seen that way internally.
Yeah, it is a classic. I know I wouldn't mind owning one.
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In a way, in Europe, we have that imagery with the sword, I think if you were to put a new shiny long sword and a new SAA down together on a table and ask people to come in and take a look, I think many Europeans would probably examine the sword first. In fact, if you listen to the lyrics of this song:
(Lyrics - http://mainlynorfolk.info/martin.car...fthesword.html)
Then you notice that if you replace sword with gun then you have a lot of similarities with modern life, and this was a song first written in Europe in the 17th century during the English Civil War. Even now there's medieval and renaissance fairs, so I guess whilst America was founded on the gun, Europe was founded on the sword and arrow.
Obviously, being only a fragmentary part of Europe (the UKs status as a part of Europe varies on who you ask in Europe and the UK ) I could very well be wrong, but certainly here in the UK it seems that way.
Yeah I remember you mentioning swords before. Front what i've seen in the media, it looks like "saumarui swords" and other long blades are banned in the UK, and I never really understood that. I mean, are people running down the street with swords skewering each other? Of course, here in the US we have all types, for good and bad. You might find this interesting, if not entertaining:
A sword? REALLY? That is so unusual for here, that its an oddity in the news.
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I would agree with you, from what I have seen at least, and you have to bear in mind that my understanding of America comes primarily from this site and the occasional BBC article. I haven't interacted with that many Americans since most of them left this area in the early 1990s.
Another thing that just occurred to me on our cultural engrain with firearms, is not just the revolutionary period, but the westward expansion. We do have this sordid tale of our Indian wars/uprisings, manifest destiny, frontier pioneers, and all that sort of thing, and is probably very unique to America. While this portion of our history is not really just about guns, guns do play their part, it's a portion of our history that I think has left an enduring mark in our national culture. If your at all curious, i highly recommend watching this series:
It's not a flowery exposition of red white and blue BS. It really shows it for how it was. At least where our treatment of the indians is concerned. My wife and I both learned quite a bit watching it.
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No longer are Utopian fiction popular but Dystopian, rather then good news, we are drip-fed bad news because that's what sells media. Is it little wonder that so many people who have time to think about the current world become depressed?
We do seem to have a hardon for the end of the world don't we?
09-12-13, 06:31 AM
I'd say though, out of all the firearms in American history, when people think of America, they think of the SAA because of the classic Western films. So it's a national identity I suppose, even if it's not seen that way internally.
) I could very well be wrong, but certainly here in the UK it seems that way.
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