Colt Navy (foreground) and Colt Army (background). 19th-century laws restricting handguns to the Army and Navy pistol were the first &quot;Saturday night special&quot; bans.

Colt Navy (foreground) and Colt Army (background). 19th-century laws restricting handguns to the Army and Navy pistol were the first "Saturday night special" bans.

Title: Colt Navy (foreground) and Colt Army (background). 19th-century laws restricting handguns to the Army and Navy pistol were the first "Saturday night special" bans.
Description: These pistols were standard issue for Union and Confederate soldiers and were kept by many after the Civil War ended. In 1879, Tennessee enacted the Army and Navy Law, restricting handgun ownership to only these models, which were far too expensive for most freedmen to buy, but which many economically privileged whites either already owned or could acquire relatively easily. The Army and Navy Law became the first of many laws restricting the sale of cheap handguns, long argued as a tactic that specifically and purposefully targets Black and other minority communities.
Creator: Michael E. Cumpston See all items with this value
Publisher: Wikimedia Commons
Date: 1861 (Navy pistol), 1860 (Army pistol) See all items with this value
Type: Photograph of physical artifact.
Format: JPEG image.
Subject: Guns; gun control; Civil War; Saturday Night Specials. See all items with this value
Temporal Coverage: 1860-1861
Rights Holder: Michael E. Cumpston
Rights: Free to share and adapt, with attribution.; CC-BY-SA 3.0

Site pages: A Free State? The Second Amendment and Anti-Blackness in America’s Past and Present

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Race and the Second Amendment	Collection