The Red Dog Saloon is a genuine Old West, Gold Rush drinking establishment that 
opened up a century-or-so ago, in Juneau Alaska, to serve miners, explorers, travelers and assorted ne’er-do-wells. That’s its story, anyway. The Red Dog’s clientele today are passengers from cruise ships that regularly stop in Juneau. The Saloon sells them beer, sandwiches and Red Dog memorabilia. Proudly displayed on the back bar is Wyatt Earp’s revolver, left behind by the famous gunfighter, saloonkeeper, pimp and lawman.
Wyatt came to Juneau after the legendary Gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone Arizona, where he had been a law-enforcement officer. After leaving Tombstone, he made stops in San Francisco, Eagle City Idaho, San Diego, San Francisco again, and Yuma Arizona before meandering his way to Juneau. He was headed to the gold rush in Nome, where he opened a saloon, made a fortune, and eventually returned to California to promote Wyatt Earp, The Legend. While in Juneau, as was required, he checked his gun at the Marshall’s office. For reasons unknown, he left for Nome without reclaiming his weapon.
Earp was familiar with gun laws. Before Tombstone, he was Marshall Dillon’s – and Miss Kitty’s – predecessor in Dodge City Kansas, where he enforced the no-guns-allowed-in-town ordinance. The shootout later in Tombstone resulted from the Earp brothers, in accordance with local statute, trying to make the Clanton boys and their gang turn in their guns while they were in town.
In the fevered brains of RWNJs, the Gunfight at the OK Corral is just more proof that laws controlling firearms are bad and make everyone unsafe.
For a dispassionate overview of gun regulation in the U.S., read Jill Lepore’s report in the New Yorker magazine.
Powerful, enlightening article by Jill Lepore, from 2012. The situation is only worse. Makes me sad.