OFFICIAL STATE FIREARM WV Senate Votes To Make Model Of Flintlock Rifle Official State Firearm
Reported by: Associated Press
Web Producer: Jeff Morris
Reported: Mar. 15, 2013 12:14 PM EDT
Eyewitness News Photo
Charleston
, Kanawha County
, West Virginia
Amid all the talk of guns at the Legislature this session, West Virginia may end up with an official state firearm.
The state Senate endorsed a measure Friday giving that designation to the Hall Model 1819 flintlock rifle.
John Hall developed the rifle and had it manufactured at Harper's Ferry in Jefferson County. The early 1800s weapon was one of the first breach-loading military rifles.
Senate Majority Leader John Unger, the Berkeley County Democrat who sponsored the measure, said it was the first such rifle adopted by the U.S. Army.
The Senate had a model of the rifle from the Harper's Ferry National Historical Park on display in its chamber for Friday's vote.
The measure advances to the House.
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