“Sen. Don Huffines, R-Dallas, filed Senate Concurrent Resolution 8, suggesting that the cannon should become the official gun of Texas,” kvue.com reports “as it ‘has been an important weapon in the state’s fight for liberty and independence as well as a symbol of the defiance and determination of its people.'”

Huffines points to the 1835 Battle of Gonzales, the catalyst of the Texas Revolution when Texian rebels refused to surrender their six-pound cannon to Mexican soldiers and declared “Come and take it!” The event has become a symbol of Texas history.

Not to throw cold water on the whole molon labe thing, the canon in question originally belonged to the Mexicans. And the Battle of Gonzales was not exactly a rousing victory for the anglos. Click here to read the history of the incident.

Nick reckons a better choice might be a Winchester Model 94 lever action rifle. When people think of Texas they think of ranchers and cowboys and the old west. To Nick’s way of thinking, the Winchester Model 94 perfectly suits that theme. Right for hunting just about everything that roams the state and slightly more portable than the other options, it pays homage to the Texas of yesterday and today.

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52 COMMENTS

  1. Canon = list of accepted religious texts
    Cannon = big scary black thing that goes BOOM.

    • You took my comment. Mebbe’ RF should go on a Diet of Worms?In Illinois the state gun is the Hipoint fo-tay…gangbangers rejoice!

    • At least it’s right in the body of the post.

      That being said, I wouldn’t mind seeing “the lever action” as a category versus the specifically named Winchester. I don’t like the idea of government endorsing a specific model.

      • I think they ought to go with a Winchester ’73, since it’s really the most authentic. All the fun stuff was over by the time the 92 and 94 rolled out.

        • There was a period that extended from the end of the ‘wild west” era along the border with mexico that saw truly wild and down right deadly events in Texas, New mexico and Arizona that were every bit as wild and rowdy as the frontier days. The 92 and the 94 figured large in these.

          Columbus, New Mexico, 1916.

    • “Canon = list of accepted religious texts”

      Also the brand of a decent Japanese camera.

      (Their low-end models made elsewhere in Asia)

    • Actually a canon is any set of guidelines or official listing, e.g. the canon of law.

      And there’s still an incorrect use in the text. As it stands, I have to ask what canon of the Mexicans was being questioned by the Texans and on what grounds.

        • LOL

          Actually those aren’t “extra” books, Rome just drew the line in a different place.

          Once upon a time, the term “scripture” had different categories in it. Two of those are found within the “Protestant” New Testament, but not many people remember there are two categories or what they mean (the second category is supposed to never be a starting point for doctrine). Rome just drew the line after the second category rather than after the second.

          Though actually they did a bit more, by not keeping the distinction. In so doing they arrogated to themselves more authority than the ancient Fathers, who had carefully delineated differences in the categories of scripture. They were thus in rebellion against the Holy Spirit, without Whom said categories would never have been established.

        • The Christian Church delineated the canon of scripture in 324 A.D. It remained as those fathers decreed until some time after the Reformation when publishers dropped certain books (The “Apocrypha”) from their printings as these texts contradicted the ideals of Protestantism.

          • No books were dropped “from their printings as these texts contradicted the ideals of Protestantism.” Both Luther and Calvin, not the mention Melanchthon and Chemnitz, quoted extensively from the Apocrypha.

            According to one church history professor (a Benedictine, FWIW) I had, the real reason for the extent of the “Protestant” Bible is that printing the next level of scripture, the third level, would have required publishing in two volumes, and the printers preferred to have a single volume to sell, so the decision was made not on any doctrinal but on technological grounds.

  4. How apropos that Texas selected something that looks like a penile member…its a good match for, and quite representative of all the dickheads that live there these days. They’ll all chime in momentarily in 3,2,1…

    • I believe it was Freud who once said that those who find penile representations in all cylindrical objects are stuck in infancy.

      If you think a cannon “looks like a penile member”, hold your hands out in front of you — there’s ten items that look like one, too, and they’re close enough for you to suck on.

    • What state are you from, there, maddcapp? Some lilly white limp wristed limousine latte liberal Hillary voting state no doubt.

    • Oh that’s cute. Toss out an apple of discord, then oh so presciently anticipate some blowback? For your next trick, may we expect that you’ll let a foul one rip in a crowded elevator and predict an unappreciative response?

      This cannon thing is silliness, that I’ll concede. However, if you’re displeased with the people of Texas, feel free not to come here. In fact, I’d be fine if you convinced your state mates to return. Texas takes in over half a million refugees from failed states every year, including five figures worth from the worst places like California, Maryland, NY, and NJ.

      These uninvited, unwelcome interlopers bring with them their backward ideologies and dilute the viting power of the rest of us. Nothing we can do about that, other than remind observers that the troublemakers here are apt to be from someplace else, including YOUR state.

  5. This us my rifle, this is my (state’s) gun this is for fighting, this one is for shooting large iron balls, grapeshot, short lengths of chain, mortar rounds. . .

    Wait. Which one is for fun again? Whatever. That’s how they tell the TX state evil (D) to stop playing with themselves.

    Hoorah TX ! Lone Star deserves a cannon.

    What OK will do to top that i don’t know, but we’ll get to workin on that.

  6. I vote for the Colt Walker! Captain Samuel Walker of the Texas Rangers went to Sam Colt asking him to improve the Patterson and produce a bigger handgun that was capable of taking down the horse, not just the rider. Until the introduction of the .357 magnum the Colt Walker was the most powerful revolver. With that kind of Texas connection it deserves to be the official state gun.

    • Nuts!
      You stole my thunder… I was going to add the Texas was the only reason the Walker was introduced and thus the only thing at the time that kept Colt from going belly up.
      Nothing seems to change: if it wasn’t for government contracts, Colt would have vanished long ago. Hopefully one day they’ll learn to stop taking their civilian customers for granted.

    • This is what I came in to suggest. To me, that is the gun that best represents Texas. A gun from the oldest law enforcement agency in America!

    • I agree the Walker Colt should be Texas gun. It was the weapon of choice for the Texas Rangers even being used when the Texas Rangers pulled the Gen. Winfield Scott chestnuts out of the fire in Mexico.

  7. I am with Steve D on this one. The Walker Colt was the only gun I know of specifically designed for The Texas Rangers. Therefore, it should be the Official State Gun.

  8. I hereby nominate Johann Pachelbel’s Canon and Gigue for 3 violins and basso continuo, sometimes referred to as Canon and Gigue in D or simply Canon in D, as the Texas State Song. Now you might think that “The Yellow Rose of Texas” or maybe “Deep in the Heart of Texas” is the state song. Nope. It’s “Texas, Our Texas”. Yeah, I’ve never heard of it, either. I had to look it up and here’s a link to it: http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/texas/state-song/texas-our-texas Stirring, hunh? I can see the defenders of the Alamo singing it lustily as more Mexicans than they could count (or shoot) stormed their ramparts. However, if they’d had three violins and a continuo playing Pachelbel’s Canon the Mexicans would have been lulled into such a state of lassitude that they’d have all gone to sleep and Davy Crockett’s coonskin cap and Jim Bowie’s knife wouldn’t have gotten all bloody. Let the Texas Legislature hum along to this: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=pachelbel+canon+in+d&view=detail&mid=F62A0A96FD179949F349F62A0A96FD179949F349&FORM=VIRE

  10. Just “cannon”? That couldn’t be more vague unless the guy wanted to just name “a gun” as the official state gun.

    My vote is for the “Red Ryder carbine-action two hundred shot Range Model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing which tells time.”

        • I was reading a history of the Middle Ages that looked heavily at royal economic policies and their effects on international relations. One item I came across was that the idea of vehicle registration comes from clear back then, the idea being that since citizens who use vehicles have little choice in doing do, the king would be guaranteed a certain level of income from such a scheme!

          The more things change….

        • TX_Lawyer… what do you call The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles? “The place where you get your D. L.” ???

  14. Official gun? Seriously? Is it the kindergarten legislature? What about the state’s official soda pop? What is the official state ninja turtle? Does the state get “dibs” on the cannon? What if another state wants it?

    • State soda? Dr. Pepper (Waco, Texas baby!)
      Ninja turtle? Michelangelo, because…reasons.
      Cannon? Be more specific: Napoleon? Howitzer? Naval deck gun? 20Mm? 108mm?

      • bLoving, the Original Dr. Pepper made in Dublin TX. was The Best! ?

  15. “And the Battle of Gonzales was not exactly a rousing victory for the anglos.”

    Revolutions often begin with actions that have more symbolic significance than military effectiveness. The Gonzales cannon, Concord Bridge, and Bundy Ranch are good examples. The Gonzales cannon is a fitting Texas symbol. A “Come And Take It” license plate would be perfect. I want one now.

    • Garrison Hall, register your vehicle in Texas and you too can get the “Come and Take It” tags, extra fees of course.
      Poor little Don Huffines always appears to have a buzz going, bless his little heart! He’s just a poor little rich boy trying to do his part for his home state.
      Regarding knives, Texas knife law prohibits carrying a Bowie knife, imagine that. Doesn’t specify what criteria constitutes a Bowie knife. Carrying any blade over 5.5″ is prohibited unless carrying while hunting, etc.
      Go figure.
      Yes madcapp, we do have our fair share of asinine laws here, just as any other state and our share of assholes which is why we would prefer you stay wherever the hell you reside! Don’t know you and wouldn’t care to!
      Put that in your bong and smoke it ?

  17. I nominate the Minute Man III ICBM in place of the cannon. Instead of a corny “COME AND TAKE IT” symbol of a bygone era how about an image of a nuclear tipped missile with a message of “STAY WHERE YOU’RE AT, WE’LL SEND IT TO YOU” ?

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