It looks like the disabled and the seniors, as long as they have at least one working hand, would be able to defend themselves with a firearm with the introduction of the Palm Pistol. Made by Constitution Arms, it is billed to be the “World’s First Production Firearms For The Disabled.” While it is indeed designed for the disabled and senior citizens in mind, it is now actually a unique or original design as over the years there have been various designs of pistols that are similar to the Palm Pistol.

According to Constitution Arms, the Palm Pistol was inspired by the design of the T-handle screw driver to help students learn how to shoot. The principle here is that the thumb is used to press the button to shoot rather than pull trigger. The designer of the Palm Pistol is Matthew Carmel who is an NRA Certified Pistol Instructor. He also has a formal background in regulatory compliance, industrial hygiene, safety, environmental laboratory and expert witness testimony. It is a single shot pistol and uses the .38 special.

The zero bore axis of the pistol eliminates muzzle rise when fired with the recoil directed forces directly into the palm. It can be fired using the thumb or combinations of other fingers which for those unable use a regular pistol or firearm, is very much needed convenience to own a firearm for protection. As for the safety, the Palm Pistol has two independent safeties and they must be pressed to close the chamber to make the pistol ready to fire. When firing, you will need to flip-up the cover to reveal the button, which is the “trigger” and push it to fire the weapon.

The Palm Pistol looks simple and innocuous enough that discovering it is a weapon held by someone who looks defenseless will always be too late. Even if it is small and simple, it can be enhanced by adding some accessories such as a picatinny rail for adding laser or a small weaponlight, extended barrel, a thread protector and even a suppressor.

Constitution Arms plan an initial production of 200 units and a .22LR version is also being developed. If a pistol version is not enough, there is a Palm Carbine that still uses the same principle, fires the same ammo and is designed for target shooting, plinking and small game hunting. Women who also need a defensive weapon that they can put into their purses and which doesn’t look like a gun can consider getting a Palm Pistol rather than the compact pistols available in the market.

I wonder if someone would also experiment an airsoft version, especially the Palm Carbine one.