From Saturday Night Special to Early Bird Special

Katherine Mangu-Ward | December 8, 2008

No denying that a bullet to the head will cure what ails you, but now there's another way to combine shooting sports and the pangs of old age:

Called the Palm Pistol, the weapon is designed for people who have trouble firing a normal handgun due to arthritis and other debilitating conditions.

"It's something that they need to assist them in daily living," says Matthew Carmel, president of Constitution Arms in Maplewood, New Jersey, which hopes to manufacture the Palm Pistol - now just a patent and specifications.

Better still, Constitution Arms is hoping to qualify the squeezable gun for Medicare reimbursement by claiming that the gun is a medical device, like a wheelchair.

One can only hope that all Americans be entitled to one of this babies (should we call them Early Bird Specials, in a nod to the Saturday Night Specials of yore?) when universal healthcare finally comes upon us.