Left Handed Gun

As a tribute to Paul Newman who died last week, I thought I'd mention his 1958 film, Left Handed Gun, about Billy the Kid.

Here's what I found out on Wikipedia:

"While Billy the Kid was right-handed, it was widely assumed in the 20th century that he was left-handed. This belief stemmed from the fact that the only known photograph of Bonney, an undated ferrotype, shows him with a Model 1873 Winchester rifle in his right hand and a gun belt with a holster on his left side, where a left-handed person would typically wear a pistol.

The belief became so entrenched that in 1958, a biographical film was made about Billy the Kid called The Left Handed Gun starring Paul Newman. Late in the 20th century, it was discovered that the familiar ferrotype was actually a reverse image.

This version shows his Model 1873 Winchester with the loading port on the left side. All Model 1873s had the loading port on the right side, proving the image was reversed, and that he was, in fact, wearing his pistol on his right hip. Even though the image has been proven to be reversed, the idea of a left-handed Billy the Kid continues to widely circulate.

Perhaps because many people heard both of these arguments and confused them, many hold the belief that Billy the Kid was ambidextrous. "

Source: Wikipedia