Lisa Hix highlights a key part of the violent history of guns in the American Old West:
“The gunfight at the O.K. Corral, which is a very well-known event, was something that had social, political, cultural ramifications,” [museum curator Jeffrey] Richardson says. “You had two sides. One was Northern Republicans; one was Southern Democrats. They had conflicting mining interest, and there was a love triangle. All of these things led up to the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. The actual shootout, which lasted 30 seconds, was ostensibly over gun control: The Earp faction, which was representing law and order, asked the cowboys to disarm as they were making their way into town at Tombstone. Well, the cowboys did not do so, and that ostensibly led to the fight.”
That’s right, the West had gun control. In the early days, the West was largely populated with rowdy young men working as miners or cowboys. But as more families flooded into the West, people started to be concerned about safety. Starting in the 1880s, many Westerners towns started to post gun-control ordinances that required anyone coming into town to check their guns at the local law-enforcement office or the hotel. “As they became civilized and people brought their wives and families out, they didn’t want a lot of gunplay,” [True West editor Bob Boze] Bell says.
The Dish 