Editing Dual wield (section)

=== Modern ===
The use of a gun in each hand is often associated with the [[American Old West]], mainly due to media portrayals. It was common for people in the era to carry two guns, but not to use them at the same time. The second gun served as a backup weapon, to be used only if the main one suffered a malfunction or was lost or emptied.<ref name="OldwestFactorFilm">{{cite book|author=Jeremy Agnew | title=The Old West in Fact and Film: History Versus Hollywood | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R_mRcTRYcvsC | access-date=12 June 2013 | year=2012 | publisher=McFarland | isbn=978-0-7864-9311-1 | page=170}}</ref>

However, there were several examples of gunmen in the West who used two pistols at the same time in their gunfights: 
* [[John Wesley Hardin]] killed a gunman named Benjamin Bradley who shot at him, by drawing both of his pistols and firing back.<ref>Hardin, John Wesley (1896). The Life of John Wesley Hardin: As Written By Himself. Seguin, Texas: Smith & Moore. p. 20. {{ISBN|978-0-8061-1051-6}}. Retrieved March 30, 2011.</ref>
* The Mexican vaquero [[Augustine Chacon]] had several gunfights in which he was outnumbered by more than one gunman and prevailed by equipping himself with a revolver in each hand.<ref>Wilson, R. Michael (2005). Legal Executions in the Western Territories, 1847-1911: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. McFarland. pp. 43-44. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-4825-8}}</ref>
* [[King Fisher]] once managed to kill three bandits in a shootout by pulling both of his pistols.<ref name="ccchaney.com">[http://www.ccchaney.com/Genealogy/maternal/Damron/FisherJohnKing/kingfisher.html Texas Gunslinger, Outlaw and Lawman] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903094308/http://www.ccchaney.com/Genealogy/maternal/Damron/FisherJohnKing/kingfisher.html |date=2014-09-03 }}.</ref>
* During the [[Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight]], lawman [[Dallas Stoudenmire]] pulled both of his pistols as he ran out onto the street and killed one bystander and two other gunmen.<ref>Metz, Leon Claire. 1979. Dallas Stoudenmire: El Paso Marshal. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. 162 p.</ref>
* [[Jonathan R. Davis]], a prospector during the [[California Gold Rush]], was ambushed by thirteen outlaws while together with two of his comrades. One of his friends was killed and the other was mortally wounded during the ambush. Davis drew both of his revolvers and fired, killing seven of the bandits, and killing four more with his bowie knife, causing the final two to flee.<ref>[http://www.jcs-group.com/oldwest/pistoleer/davis.html The Spell of the West: Captain Jonathan R. Davis.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304113433/http://www.jcs-group.com/oldwest/pistoleer/davis.html|date=March 4, 2016}} Retrieved October 31, 2012.</ref>

[[File:Alison Carroll 20080927 Festival du jeu video 02.jpg|thumb|Model dressed as [[Lara Croft]] dual wielding pistols]]
Dual wielding two handguns has been popularized by film and television.<ref name="GunDigestGuide2010">{{cite book|author=Jerry Ahern|title=Gun Digest Buyer's Guide to Concealed-Carry Handguns|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ulWbH-4xtd8C|access-date=12 June 2013|date=5 October 2010|publisher=F+W Media, Inc|isbn=978-1-4402-1767-8|pages=135–137|chapter=18}}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>