If you’re looking for a solid concealed carry gun or just another range toy for 2022, the U.S. Space Force might have your next firearm on its list. Of course, you could always go with the boring and reliable Glock 19 or Sig Sauer P365. Then there’s the affordable Taurus G3c, and the classic 1911 would surely fit the bill. But space requires some extra effort. All of these guns got solid marks from the new military branch.

“We kicked off the program with an aggressive targeting of tactical options,” said U.S. Space Force Col. Max Savage, head of the branch’s Advanced Alternative Rifle Program, or AARP, which is also tasked with acquiring handguns, knives, and other gear for the new military branch. “In fact, right out the gate, Ka-Bar hooked us up with the Space-Bar, and there were some guns that really already seemed to fit our mission.”

While they originally set out with an eye on more modern and tactical options, it quickly became apparent to the U.S. Space Force procurement team that what the service really needed was something unique and out of the ordinary.

“I’m a huge fan of the video game Fallout. So, at first, we did start off with that older Gyrojet rocket pistol. It had that space-age feel, but the ammo was just a bit too pricey and rare for regular training,” said Savage. “I just kept the sample gun on my desk for now.”

“That said, the concept was solid from a morale perspective,” he continued. “The thing about some of these unique guns, something you can’t find in functional modern firearms, is that they come with special psychological qualities. It’s really about how the gun makes you feel, and some of these more unique firearms are just fantastic at giving you that ‘I’m very special’ vibe.”
 

“The Force,” as some members like to refer to the mostly Earth-bound organization, did find a new use for some really old technology. Savage went on to say, "If you get a chance, you really need to wrangle in an Alien fast, which is a lot harder than you might think. They’re actually quite rare. From our testing, this line thrower is perfect! Because you don't want to kill the alien, you just want to snag them for further study."
 

Really, the whole space game is giving new life to old guns. Because of the whole gravity issue, the Department of Defense recently put in a new order for 100 manually-operated Gatling guns, officially bringing 21st-century space travel into the 19th century. 

Savage did, however, mention that the Space Force was working on a new design for their gloves after the first round of testing resulted in an unfortunate breach of an astronaut’s uniform while in the dark vacuum of open space. The whole living situation requires a lot of extra effort, and even normal quantities of gun oil don’t last long because of the conditions.
 

“Morale matters. That’s what our studies show, and as a bit of an offshoot of the Air Force, we also took a look at some space trap-shooting guns that we could roll out to make sure our competition squad remains sharp whether they’re on terra firma or magnetized to the shell of one of our long-range interplanetary modules,” Savage added. “It’s super boring floating around up there, and shooting guns inside the space capsules proved to be problematic.”

“That’s how we came across the Ljutic, which seemed like a reasonably cool 12-gauge space shotgun,” he continued. “But it all went a bit pineapple after we tried to scale the order up.  That’s when we discovered finding any large number or Ljutic shotguns was going to take at least a task force or two and several committees to pull off. We’re working on a proposal for that in the next few years.”

For the record, this is fake news for April Fools, but we do think strange guns are cool, and we’re confident Space Force is taking a more focused look at the firearms they need. But if buying weird guns makes you a fool, we’re also happy to put on the dunce hat to get a chance to try them out. April 1, 2022, only rolls around on very, very rare occasions. That being said, you can always add some quirky or cool guns to your collection well before we master the ability to rewind time.