A Rebel With a Mauser

Han's blaster

When I was a kid I wanted a blaster like the one Han Solo carried in Star Wars.  I was watching the original movie the other day and it was interesting that, for me, the whole story picked up when Han entered the picture.  Then I realized it got exciting because Han was an outlaw and a renegade, and he carried a cool gun.  Luke didn’t show up in the movie with a weapon, so he was a bit of a pansy (I call ‘em like I see ‘em).  Han, however, wore that blaster like it was a part of him, and man oh man didn’t I want to be Han Solo!  Of course, I also wanted to be Luke Skywalker (I liked the Jedi Mind Trick thing), but the renegade with a pistol on his hip was too good to be true.  All my friends wanted to be Han Solo, too, and one kid even had the gun.  Which we all borrowed.  A lot.

Mauser C96

Luke’s weapons were boring.  He borrowed them—heisting a gun from a stormtrooper he’d just pounded, picking one up, etc, etc. . . .  Han’s blaster was unique.  In fact, according to the Internet Movie Firearms Database (more on that this weekend), the blaster was modeled after a Mauser C96 and was “the best known duplicate of a real gun [in Star Wars].”  I always liked the “broomhandle” grip and the box-ish sort of look.  It stood out—no one had a gun like that.  

So who would you rather be: (1) boring Luke from boring Tatooine with his boring blaster, or (2) Han Solo, a cool outlaw who carried a cool weapon and knew how to use it?    

Seriously?  It’s no contest.  Han—hands down.