Austin Magic Pistol

In the late 1940s, a Michigan company released a toy that, by today’s standards, would be categorized as a firearm in many states. The Austin Magic Pistol was a toy gun that fired a Ping-Pong ball. But the ball wasn’t launched by a spring or anything else so benign — it was launched by an explosive chemical reaction between calcium carbide and water. rnThis produced acetylene gas, a colorless, highly flammable gas that could turn into a fireball. Firing the Austin Magic Pistol was therefore fraught with danger, not only because of the flames shooting out the end of the barrel, but also due to the risk of the gun itself exploding. Sales began to dwindle after a few years and the toy was largely removed from stores by the late-1950s.