IFL Science
The oldest firearm ever discovered in the continental US has been found at the site of a massacre that occurred in Arizona in 1541. Brought to America by the Spanish conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, the bronze cannon was supposed to protect the residents of the first European settlement in the American Southwest, most of whom were slaughtered before the weapon even had a chance to be loaded.
“Not only is it the first gun ever recovered from the Coronado expedition, but consultation with experts throughout the continent and in Europe reveal that it is also the oldest firearm ever found inside the continental USA,” write the authors of a new study. Though they can’t say for certain, the researchers go on to suggest that the weapon may be the oldest gun anywhere in the Americas. More
“Sorry Jack, you can’t own a cannon”
*46*
Has the AFT confiscated it yet?
Maybe.
“On April 20, 1534,[14] [Jacques] Cartier set sail under a commission from the king, hoping to discover a western passage to the wealthy markets of the East Indies.[15].” Wikipedia.
His ships took 2 months to cross the Atlantic. He discovered parts of eastern Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador. For sure the expedition was armed. They shot a whole lot of birds on an Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.