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It’s not very hard for criminals in the United States to get their hands on a gun they can use to facilitate their illegal activities. However, one man in Oklahoma was arrested after going a very unconventional route during a liquor store robbery where he pulled out a firearm that was made before the airplane was invented.
There is no way to definitively determine just how many guns are currently in circulation in the United States, but there is evidence that suggests they outnumber the approximately 342 million people who call the country home.
The bulk of those firearms are owned by law-abiding citizens exercising their Second Amendment rights, but there are plenty of others in the hands of people who harness them for nefarious deeds.
In 2023, there were around 47,000 armed robberies in America that involved the use of handguns, which have come a long way since the production of the first documented “hand cannon” in China all the way back in the 13th century.
However, one man in Oklahoma turned to a relatively primitive pistol in an ill-fated attempt to rob a liquor store.
Police in Tulsa, Oklahoma arrested a man who allegedly used a single-shot pistol from the 19th century during an armed robbery
In 1863, Samuel Colt changed the handgun game when he filed for a patent for the five-shot revolver that ushered in a new era of firepower and made the pistols that had largely been limited to a couple of shots virtually obsolete (it’s worth noting he drew inspiration from a concept that was first dreamed up by Elisha Collier).
That includes the single-shot, muzzle-loaded pieces that Philadelphia gunsmith Henry Deringer started producing in the 1820s (Colt eventually acquired the patent), which you’ll typically only encounter today if you’re purusing the arsenal of a collector.
However, according to Fox23, a deringer-style pistol was pointed at employees at Primo’s Wine and Spirits in Tulsa, Oklahoma during a robbery that unfolded on the night of December 5th.
Police said workers refused to sell to a man who returned to the store a few minutes later and wielded the gun while ordering them to open up the cash register, which led to a 911 call concerning a crime that had been orchestrated with what was described as an “old-timey musket.”
Tulsa Police Department
The suspect, identified as 24-year-old Dyllon Redfern, was tracked down later in the evening and charged with first-degree robbery. Police also recovered the gun in question and determined it was “likely from the mid-1800s” after getting the chance to examine it.