Derringer

[L Verge]

(07-30-2018 06:11 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Just curious - Dave posted Derringers were usually sold in pairs - why? And for whom if it was a lady weapon? (Would one lady have carried two???)
Also (forgive my ignorance) - where were they sold? Weapon stores? (Did such exist back then?) No license required I guess...
My last question - if it was a lady weapons - didn't it have a "gay touch" for a man to possess one?

My thought on why they were sold in pairs is that the second one was a backup in case you missed your target the first time, had no time to reload, and the weapon wasn't that reliable???

Quora.com says that guns could be bought in general hardware stores or through catalogs by the 1850s -- or some folks just went directly to the manufacturers (but most of them were centered in the North).

Men used the weapons before women, so they were not considered effeminate. Prostitutes were some of the first women to use the derringer, so they might have owned a pair for safety's sake. Many of them probably got the idea from working in the saloons and riverboats and seeing the gamblers use them efficiently. Or, women were given one for protection by their husbands or fathers.