Today, Oct. 26, 1881 marks the 140th anniversary of the infamous “Gunfight at the OK Corral,” a misnomer because the shooting didn’t occur at the corral, but in an empty lot nearby next to Fly’s Photography Gallery in Tombstone, Ariz. It has become the most famous shootout in the history of the Old West, though […]
GCA ’68: A Half-Century of Gun Control Coincides with Infamous Date
TIME magazine is noting that this week marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Gun Control Act of 1968, a bizarre coincidence of history because today marks the 137th anniversary of a fatal shootout in Tombstone, Arizona Territory that many suggest was ignited by enforcement of a gun control ordinance. The famed “Gunfight […]
Smithsonian Talks Guns in Old West as 50th Anniversary of Leone Classic Looms
An interesting historic discussion of guns and gun control in the Old West published Monday by Smithsonian.com has some remarkable, albeit unintentional, revelations that apparently are aimed at shattering some myths, and it appears as the 50th anniversary of a masterpiece film about that period is looming. Released in May 1968, Once Upon A […]
Gun Control Then and Now; Disarming Outlaws is Never Easy
Some historians will say that gun control and confiscation has never been popular, starting with the British attempt to disarm the colonial militia in Lexington and Concord to the present day, but the incident that may best illustrate the problem occurred 136 years ago today in an empty lot on Fremont Street in a dusty […]
History Note: Tombstone Becomes ‘America’s Second Amendment City’
Tombstone, Arizona – known in western lore as “The Town Too Tough to Die” – has a second slogan thanks to the mayor and city council, and one that ought to please gun rights activists and western history buffs: “America’s Second Amendment City.” According to KOLD News 13 in Tucson, Tombstone Mayor Dustin L. “Dusty” […]