I find it amusing that snowflakes would pick the safety pin as their new symbol. It was invented by a man named Walter Hunt, who also happened to contribute to firearms technology. Oh the irony
A Short History of the Levergun
"Magazine repeating firearms are not a new invention. There are some in existence that were developed as early as the 17th century, with several variations known. Almost all of them are finely built arms. Most are of European manufacture and are of flintlock ignition. And importantly, all them are basically impractical and most are dangerous to shoot, not because of workmanship, but because of design.
What opened the way for a practical magazine-fed repeating levergun to be built was fixed ammunition. A self-contained metallic cartridge with the bullet, primer and powder in one unit is what made a useful levergun possible.
This advancement is generally acknowledged to have begun with
Walter Hunt of New York with the patent and manufacture of his Volition Repeating Rifle."