Does your nation have a weapon that is particularly associated with it, and what does it symbolize?
The "national weapon" of The High Tatras is the "samopal". It was an ancient flintlock smoothbore weapon loaded from the muzzle, cheaper than a musket and with the range of a harquebus. It was a fully stocked firearm, with a long slim barrel of a relatively small caliber. The barrel had fixed front and rear iron sights. The fore-end had a pivot that enables a horn bipod to be used, which was often quite long for shooting in the kneeling position. It also had a sliding patch box fitted to the underside of the buttstock behind the trigger guard. It was a smoothbore, giving the option of using ball or shot. They were used both for hunting and in combat, and were often cheaply and crudely homemade by local gunsmiths. However, they could withstand lots of abuse. It was not unheard of for some wilderness hunters with little knowledge of metal craftsmanship to hold the barrel or loose screws in place with leather straps and ropes, or to make other DIY repairs. One unique and interesting derivation of the basic design had two shots and one barrel with two hammers, one on each side. It was loaded with one charge over the other, with a soft wax wad placed between them. The wax wad plugged the bore and prevented ignition of the lower charge when the first one was fired. Such weapons were highly valued as a more affordable alternative to expensive two-barreled hunting weapons that came from far away.
The samopal was considered a peasant's or commoner's weapon since it was often cheaply and crudely made, could withstand lots of abuse, and required little training to learn to use somewhat effectively. It was one of the main weapons used by the earliest Tatrans, many of whom were serfs who had fled from their masters in neighboring countries. As a result, the samopal represents egalitarianism and resistance to oppression.
