Weapon that may be the official Texas handgun is 'so big, only a Texan could carry it'

A replica of the 1847 Colt Walker is seen above in Rep. Mike Lang, R-Granbury's Austin office. A replica of the 1847 Colt Walker is seen above in Rep. Mike Lang, R-Granbury's Austin office. Photo: Courtesy/Rep. Mike Lang, R-Granbury Photo: Courtesy/Rep. Mike Lang, R-Granbury Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Weapon that may be the official Texas handgun is 'so big, only a Texan could carry it' 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Texas has its own amphibian, dinosaur and pepper, but strangely enough, state officials have not yet designated a state handgun.

Lawmakers are primed to pull the trigger on a resolution this session that would designate the 1847 Colt Walker pistol, used in the Mexican-American War, as the state handgun of Texas.

Rep. Mike Lang, R-Granbury, got the idea for his resolution while running for office. Zachary Maxwell, Lang’s chief of staff, said during the lawmaker’s campaign they found the issue voters cared about most was the second amendment.

“We’ve got state pie and we’ve got everything else, a state knife,” Maxwell said, adding Lang thought the resolution “would be a fun thing to do.”

In the 1840s, a firearm designer and a Texas Ranger joined forces to create the Colt Walker pistol. Samuel Colt and Texas Ranger Samuel Hamilton Walker designed the weapon to be used for the Texas Rangers, the first law enforcement agency in the country, Maxwell said.

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Only 1,100 pistols were produced, and almost all were sold to military members, said former Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, adding that civilians at the time probably didn’t know the firearm even existed.

The Colt Walker, often referred to as the Walker Colt, did not use bullets and was instead loaded with black powder and a round ball. It weighed a heavy 4.5 pounds and came with a long barrel.

“It’s not exactly a concealed carry,” he said. “You put the holster on your waist and it might just pull your britches off.”

Texas would join the ranks of eight other states with designated guns, including Utah, Alaska, West Virginia, Indiana, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Kentucky, if the resolution is approved this session.

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By the 1860s, lighter firearms were invented, leaving little use for the Colt Walker, which was "just too damn heavy," Patterson said. Maxwell said Lang chose the pistol for designation because of its historical significance.

“Captain Walker carried two of them,” he said, adding Samuel Colt once declared the pistol was “so big, only a Texan could carry it.”

Lang’s resolution states that the pistol was a crucial element to Texas’ survival.

A similar resolution proposed by Sen. Don Huffines, R-Dallas, would designate the cannon as the official state gun of Texas. He cites the 1835 Battle of Gonzales, where Texans cried: “Come and take it!” when Mexican soldiers tried to steal their cannon, in his resolution.

“I thought that was a bad idea because that’s a cannon, not a gun,” Patterson said.

Lang's team requested a hearing for the resolution and they expect it to go through without much fuss.

“It’s pretty favorable across the line,” Maxwell said.

kbradshaw@express-news.net

Twitter: @kbrad5