The Colt 45, first went into use in 1873, and later became known as the Peacemaker. It was the colt 45 that Col. G. A. Custer used to make peace at Little Big Horn, but I think it was probably guys like Wyatt Earp, the U.S. Marshall who gave the gun it's legendary name.
These guns were the best thing going from 1873 right through the turn of the century, and remained in production right up until WW2. In 1911 Colt introduced a new 45 designed by John Browning, it was automatic, and the ammunition was stored in a magazine in the grip. It was this design that rendered the revolver obsolete. However, following the war, and driven by Hollywood western films Colt brought the peacemaker back into production in 1956.
What's my point, that the side arm, as a peacemaker, is the stuff of legend in American culture. For some it is more American than apple pie, but most of what we know about the wild west is the product of creative writing.
The problem I have with calling a handgun, a peacemaker, is that guns don't make peace–ever. Guns simply shut down one side of the conflict. Peace without reconciliation isn't peace. Peace is more than the absence of conflict, rather it is the resolution of conflict.
If we are truly going to change the kind of deadly violence that visits schools, we will have to get past the idea that we can kill evil. We can't kill evil because evil doesn't really exist. Evil is simply the absence of good, just like darkness is the absence of light, and cold, the absence of heat, and hate the absence of love. We've been trying to kill the bad guy since well before the wild west, and it's not working.
So while we argue about whether guns kill people, or people kill people, let's consider this, guns don't make peace, people make peace.
Blessed be the peacemakers.
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