"Toronto Police Service Guns Seized" - Twitter Site
#offthestreets this week pic.twitter.com/emkWTVwBcQ
— Toronto Police Service Guns Seized #offthestreets (@TPSGunsSeized) April 21, 2021
I love following Toronto Police Service Guns Seized for the antique pieces they take #offthestreets with some frequency. Usually it's something like an old Iver Johnson break-top .32, or a British military Webley or Short Magazine Lee-Enfield. But this week's seizure takes it to a new level. This pistol was 'on the streets' practically before there were streets.
Assuming it's not a modern reproduction - and that looks very unlikely - what the Toronto Police Service have seized is a muzzle-loading caplock percussion pistol complete with ramrod, probably of 14-bore caliber, and seemingly of the French 1822 pattern. It may even be a caplock conversion of a flintlock [!] pistol. Whatever it is, there must be an amazing bit of military history in the story of how it turned up in Toronto in the year 2021.
If that one ends up being destroyed instead of sent to a museum, I'll be shaking my head for a long time.
9 comments:
Heard from gwb? I'm still around.
Sennacherib
That's good to know! As for gwb, I fear the worst. His last comment was on March 1. Dr. W. Dan Davenport has been missing since then.
Hmm, was he retired?
Last comment was me, Sennacherib!
Sennacherib: I don't know the details of gwb's life or his health condition, but I gathered he was of retirement age already, maybe had been for some time. So I interpret the sudden loss of signal as - sad to say - meaning his death or disability.
RIP. It's a lonelier place around here without him.
Is there anyway you can send a message to him?
Sennacherib
Senn: I never had any contact info for him, and haven't found any on the internet. He once ran a blog (with only two posts) and I've left a comment there asking how he's doing, but I don't have high hopes of him seeing that.
So far as biographical details, he has said that he lives in the Seattle area, and is married to a Mexican woman (who may be working in Mexico). He used "W. Dan Davenport MD" on the internet but, of course, that might not be his real name.
Here's what he posted about himself on his blog in 2016:
"So, just a little about who I am: A doctor of 'a certain age' (old) who will probably never be able to retire because I have never worked for the big corporate medical companies. Since 2005 I have worked for the government, which nowadays is one of the few places an independent contractor can get a regular paycheck without incredible expenses."
All in all, I have to think it's most likely that gwb must have fallen to the inevitable.
Maybe so, for even Caesar is dead. One bright ray is if is in the med profession he would have good access (or at least knowledge of) to good care. We may hear yet.
Sennacherib
Very true. We can hope.
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