The BBC online informs us that the state of Utah has designated a state firearm, becoming the first state in the USA to do so.  It joins a state fossil, fruit, bird and so forth.  The firearm in question is the Browning M1911 pistol.  I’m actually not dead set against this.  My stepmother was a direct and proud descendant of John M. Browning, the rifle inventor.  Browning firearms really do hold an exceptional place in Utah history.

Unfortunately, the modern pro-firearms movement seems to have its taproot in insecure masculinity.  Consider the effect on generations of fragile, potentially violent, Southern male ego of having lost the Civil War.  Add the skeleton-in-the-closet fear of slave rebellion or Indian uprising.  No wonder gun nuttery flourishes across the US even though it’s a deplorable phallacy that more guns make a society more safe.  Sigh.  Now that Utah upped and designated a state firearm, can Texas be far behind?