Utah has a state flower, a state fossil, a state cooking pot and 21 other official symbols. It might soon add a state gun.
The state House passed a measure Wednesday, by a 51-19 vote, that would make the Browning M1911 pistol - designed by Utah’s John Moses Browning in the early 20th century - the state firearm. The bill now goes to the state Senate.
The bill's sponsor, Republican Rep. Carl Wimmer, has said the measure aims to honor Browning. His M1911 was used as a standard U.S. Army sidearm from 1911 to 1985, according to the Browning manufacturing company's website and Jane's Infantry Weapons.
The measure has attracted criticism from anti-gun activists and some state House members. Some lawmakers argued in debate Wednesday that it was insensitive after the January 8 shooting in Tucson, Arizona, that killed six and wounded 13, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
One state lawmaker, Democratic Rep. Carol Moss, said during Wednesday's debate on the House floor that in addition to her concerns regarding the Arizona shooting, she was worried that children would see things such as coloring books featuring the gun along with the other state symbols, the Tribune reported.
Steve Gunn of the Gun Violence Prevention Center told CNN affiliate KSL last month - before the Tuscon shooting - that he thought the proposal was in bad taste.
"I would nominate arsenic as our state poison, because, of course arsenic is often a byproduct of our state mining industry," Gunn sarcastically told KSL in December.
Wimmer told KSL this week that "this pistol is Utah," and its history "is emblazoned on our state." He added that rather than gloryfying an implement of death, as he said some critics charged, "we're glorifying an implement of freedom that has defended us for 100 years."
During Wednesday's debate, one lawmaker suggested erecting a statue of Browning instead, but Wimmer countered that his plan was the only way to honor the gun designer without costing taxpayers, the Tribune reported.
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Americans need to show pride in the one thing we have left, GUNS.
Good luck applying your logic as self defense should an actual criminal ever break into your home while you are inside. I sure don't wish that situation on anyone, but your logic defies reality.
Evolution is about survival of the fittest, who can better adapt and defend themselves.
Hypothetical: Someone breaks into your house and intends harm to you and yours.
Case #1: You don't own a gun. Who survives? Hint, not likely you. At best you and your loved ones are highly traumatized mentally if not physically.
Case #2: You do own a gun and know how to use it properly and responsibly. Who survives? Very likely, you do. At worst you've killed someone who intended you harm. Classic case of self defense.
If we all evolve then, logically, we will evolve into a gun culture. The truth is that they save lives. Criminals will get guns regardless of the laws against them. They *are* criminals after all. Overly strict gun control laws only serve to keep guns out of the hands of responsible, law abiding citizens for use in self-defense (yes, that is still an issue in some parts of the country... most of them urban). Statistics have even shown that states with concealed carry laws have lower crime rates. The truth of the matter is that guns save lives.