Someone once said that “Democracy is when two wolves and a lamb vote for what to put on the dinner table; Liberty is when the lamb is well-armed.” As champions of Liberty, 45 Blast is happy to celebrate the tool that helped us attain and secure it. As an instrument of personal protection, a gun’s influence is absolute; as a metaphor for diplomacy, a gun’s characteristics are undeniable. After all, the unyielding presence of a gun, and the control of explosive power that must be banked and cooled by temperance and practicality, are no different from the talks of war and peace that are going on in the halls of politics every day. Truly, whether a gun or a government is a tool for oppression or liberty resides solely with the ones who wield it.
Indeed Sondheim was correct when he wrote:
What a wonder is a gun, what a beautiful invention.
First of all, when there’s a gun, everybody pays attention.
When you think of what must be done, think of all that it can do:
Remove a scoundrel;
Unite a party;
Preserve the Union;
Promote the sales of my book.
The History of the Gun
Though the firearm has been around for millennia (the invention of gun powder dating back to the 9th Century), the speed of its progression into the instrument we know today is quite staggering. It is important to note that a gun, in the most basic definition of the word, is an instrument that consists of a metal barrel or tube from which projectiles are driven by an explosion of nitrate powder. Naturally, the earliest examples of this didn’t resemble the type of guns 45 Blast accessorizes, but were instead spears with a bomb on the end of it which would propel shrapnel towards whatever target the spear was leveled against.
These explosive spears, called fire lances, contained the powder and projectiles in a paper bag until it was agreed that the weapon was too unruly and inconsistent. The paper was replaced with a metal chamber and guns have been made of similar materials ever since. Not long after this, the spear was done away and the metal tube was retained as a handheld device, becoming the first rudimentary handgun.
From Handcannons to Rifles
One of the earliest recorded battles to feature a handheld firearm occurred in the 13th Century against Kublai Khan and his Mongol army, where the unexpected weaponry caused panic and friendly fire on the opposing side. Shortly after, the Mongols brought the handguns to the Middle East where the Muslim nations made some important iterations. By the 15th Century, the musket was born.
As with all technological developments, once the glass ceiling had been shattered, other nations began to innovate and firearms became an integral part of warfare throughout Europe and Asia. Handguns and rifles began to see action in conflicts spanning Russia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, and on into the heart of Western society, in places like France and Germany.
The Modern Gun
As the 19th Century progressed and custom-made firearms and gun accessories were now a huge global business, the modern gun manufacturers began to rise in prominence. Companies out of Europe began to build repeating rifles, which allowed for more shots between reloads. Not since the invention of gun powder and development of the canon had an invention had such a powerful effect on warfare and the balance of power throughout the world.
Today, gun innovations occur yearly. Canik, the Turkish arms developer partnered with 45 Blast, has chosen to make the perfection of the handgun their ultimate goal. Over the course of just a few years, Canik has redefined what excellence can mean on the shooting range with their TP9 series of firearms — products for which 45 Blast is proud to make gun accessories.
