Some Infamous Guns of History
Assassinations of national leaders and other high-ranking politicians and
celebrities are not only history-making events, they are also history-changing
ones as well. We can only speculate at what history would have looked like had
these public figures had not been murdered, but for better or for worse,
history was definitely altered. Here’s a list of the weapons used in some of
the more infamous history-altering public and/or political killings (the official versions anyway); the photos
are of the actual weapons used:
Wogdon .544 dueling pistols - These pistols were used by Aaron Burr and
Alexander Hamilton during their famous duel on July 11, 1804, which resulted in
Hamilton's death.
Philadelphia .41 Derringer - Used by John Wilkes Booth to kill Abraham
Lincoln on April 14, 1865.
Bulldog .44 revolver - Used by Charles Guiteau on President James Garfield
on July 2, 1881.
Iver Johnson .32 revolver – Used by Leon Czolgosz on President William
McKinley on September 6, 1901.
FN M1910 .380 – Used by Gavrilo Princip on Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June
28, 1914, which triggered World War One. This type of pistol was used in a
couple of other political killings, by Paul Gorguloff on Paul Doumer, President
of France on May 6, 1932, and by Dr. Carl Weiss on Louisiana Governor Huey Long
on September 5, 1935.
Carcano 91/38 6.5mm rifle - Used by Lee Harvey Oswald to kill JFK on
November 22, 1963.
Remington 760 Gamemaster .30-06 rifle - Used by James Earl Ray to kill MLK on April 4, 1968.
Iver Johnson Cadet .22 revolver - Used by Sirhan Sirhan to kill RFK on June
5, 1968.
Dishonorable mention:
Colt M1911 .45 pistol - Used by Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme of the
Manson family in an attempt on President Gerald Ford's life on September 5,
1975. Fromme's incompetence probably saved Ford's life, as she forgot to
chamber a round, which gave the Secret Service time to grab her.
Rohm RG-14 .22 revolver - used by John Hinckley in his assassination
attempt of President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981.
In most of these crimes, the perpetrators used cheap, easily available
firearms, were inexperienced and unskilled in their use, and killed their
victims from point-blank range. Lee Harvey Oswald was a veteran of the U.S.
Marine Corps, which intensely trains its personnel in rifle marksmanship;
however, JFK's vehicle, while moving slowly, was less than 100 yards away,
which isn't a very challenging shot for a trained shooter, even if the shooter
is armed with a low-quality weapon like the Carcano. MLK's killer also was
within several dozen yards of his target, and had a high-quality hunting rifle
as his weapon.
