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Oldest US firearm unearthed in Arizona, a bronze cannon linked to Coronado
- JoeAltmaier 2y agoI alerted at the description of the poor pillaging the expedition resorted to - just some blankets looted from pueblos. Those blankets today would be worth more than the gold they had hoped to find.
- x-_-x 2y agoIt belongs in a museum!
- mcswell 2y agoAnd somewhere nearby there used to be a gold cross, which is in a museum.
- sleepytimetea 2y agoPsych ?
- sleepytimetea 2y agoIndiana Jones
- ninalanyon 2y agoIt's not a US firearm, it's a Spanish firearm unearthed in what is now the US.
- tourmalinetaco 2y agoTo continue with the pedantry of the comments, it really depends on how you define the ownership. It may have been the Spanish who owned it once upon a time, however they left it on US soil. Additionally, it was Americans who found it, and if we assume “finders keepers losers weepers” applies then the US is, in fact, the rightful owners, and unless actions are taken to retrieve it then it will go to an Arizona museum, solidifying the ownership as American. If we wished to be technically correct (which is the best kind), then we would say a “Spanish-used antique firearm, which is not legally a firearm, unearthed in Arizona, now United States’ oldest firearm.”
- ninalanyon 2y ago> however they left it on US soil. No they didn't! :-) The soil they left it on became US soil much later.
- bargle0 2y agoIs a cannon really a firearm? Was this for an individual, or is it a crew served weapon?
- ensignavenger 2y agoDefinatly not a firearm.
- MrLeap 2y agoThat's up to you. One of ways the ATF defines a firearm is "any weapon that can be converted to expel a projectile using an explosive." If you don't WANT it to be considered a firearm maybe it's sufficiently corroded such that it's no longer true that it could expel a projectile using an explosive, and therefore is no longer a firearm. In that case, if you hit someone with it, it goes back to being an armament, but no longer a firearm. That is of course unless you melt the metal down and turn it into some kind of lower receiver. It would go back to being considered a firearm by the ATF. Whether or not it's a firearm depends on your context. If you and all your friends disagree it's a firearm, in that context it is not. In other contexts it is. Words are really just illusions though. It's equally true that there are no firearms, because firearms are just words. It also is true that any and all matter is a few steps away from being a firearm. Where do you end and I begin? If we get quantum mechanics into it, maybe everything already is a firearm.
- nazghoul 2y ago[dead]
- ryao 2y agoIs this a US firearm? My read of the article suggests it is a Spanish firearm that was used by Spanish troops in what became US territory. Perhaps the title should be “Old Spanish firearm unearthed in Arizona”.