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Gunfights then and now on significant anniversary
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Historically speaking, today is a date that shall live as part of American folklore like no other: It is the 128th anniversary of the most famous gun battle in Old West history.
At approximately 3 p.m. on Oct. 26, 1881, three brothers and a former dentist-turned-gambler strolled down a street in Tombstone, Arizona and confronted two sets of brothers and their friend – all alleged cattle rustlers and thieves – and in the course of 30 seconds etched their marks forever on the American landscape.
The Gunfight at the OK Corral has been portrayed on screen in one form or another (most of them horribly inaccurate from a historic perspective) since the early days of cinema. John Ford got it very wrong in the error-ridden My Darling Clementine while Lawrence Kasdan got it close to right in Wyatt Earp. More people prefer Tombstone with Kurt Russell, most have forgotten Gunfight at the O.K. Corral with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas (1957) and Hour of the Gun with James Garner and Jason Robards (1967), and by now readers are probably wondering why they’re getting a history lesson about that fateful half-minute and its immortalization in cinema.
Because it’s a good lead-in to this:
There is another gunfight brewing, not to be waged face-to-face with a lot of lead in the air, but in two very different arenas: political and legal. Yet these battles will be just as significant and for many just as desperate as the half-minute spent between the warring factions of an Arizona mining camp in an empty lot next to Fly’s Photographic Studio and not even in the O.K. Corral.
As former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr writes today on his blog, there is an international battle over gun rights unfolding in the United Nations, and one in Seattle that has been well-covered in this space. My colleague, David Codrea makes quick mention of it in his column of today here.
International gun prohibitionists have been pushing the United States to sign an arms trade agreement for several years. With Barack Obama in the White House and Hilary Clinton at State, this could happen. Barr’s column is a “must read” for anyone interest in that controversy. He calls it the “Perfect Storm” for the UN gun control agenda.
Meanwhile, yesterday afternoon, gun rights activists gathered at a restaurant in Seatac to set a course of action in response to the Seattle gun ban pushed by out-going Mayor Greg Nickels. That gathering received very prominent coverage on KOMO news broadcasts that included live shots at the restaurant and quick interviews with participants, and it is being discussed at length today on the Internet.
One way or another, these battles are likely to affect gun owners, perhaps in ways we cannot imagine.
Visit with other Gun Rights Examiners:
- David Codrea - National
- Ed Stone – Atlanta, GA
- Paul Valone – Charlotte, NC
- Howard Nemerov – Austin, TX
- Dan Bidstrup – Denver, CO
- Daniel White – Cleveland, OH
- Don Gwinn – Chicago, IL
- Anthony Bouchard - Cheyenne, WY
- Douglas Little - Phoenix, AZ
- Kurt Hofmann – St. Louis, MO
- John Longenecker – Los Angeles, CA
- Ron Bokleman – Boston, MA
- John Pierce - Minneapolis, MN
- Gene German -- Wisconsin
- Mike Stollenwerk – Washington, DC
- Skip Coryell – Grand Rapids, MI
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