Texas plans to designate official state gun

AUSTIN, Texas (KTRK) -- The Texas state dish is chili, while the official state footwear is cowboy boots and its state vehicle is the chuck wagon. Soon, Texas may have an explosive addition to its set of official symbols.

While legislatures across the country have discussed gun laws, Texas is once again unique.

A resolution designating the cannon as the official state gun passed through a senate committee hearing last week, the first step toward the plan becoming law.

Republican Sen. Don Huffines filed Senate Concurrent Resolution 8, suggesting that the cannon should become the official gun of Texas 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."

The cannon resolution references the 1835 battle of Gonzales, when Mexican soldiers tried to take a cannon from a group of Texans who resisted, marking the beginning of the Texas revolution.

If passed, the cannon would mark the first weapon officially recognized by the state.

However, another proposal calls to designate the 1847 Colt Walker pistol used in the Mexican American War as the official handgun of Texas.

There's also another proposition to make the Bowie knife, named for Texas folk hero Jim Bowie who died defending the Alamo, a state symbol.

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