Permis de détention d'arme, émis par le Secrétariat de la Défense nationale du Mexique, pour un revolver Colt de calibre 38 special

BUÑUEL Luis. Firearms license issued by the National Defense Secretariat of Mexico, for a Colt revolver of caliber 38 special
Secreteria de la Defensa nacional – Registro federal de armas, Mexico 23 february 1974, 11,9 x 7,9 cm, one plasticized card
Plasticized firearms license issued by the National Defense Secretariat of Mexico, bearing the Mexican Government logo and with the number A458156. Signature and fingerprint of Luis Buñuel on the front. On verso, technical specificities of the weapon concerned: Colt revolver of caliber 38 special, with its serial number.

“I like weapons and shooting. I owned up to sixty-five revolvers and rifles, but I sold most of my collection in 1964, believing I was going to die that year. I practiced shooting everywhere, and even in my office, thanks to a special metal box that I place in front of me on the shelves of the library. You should never shoot in a closed room. I lost an ear in Zaragoza. My specialty has always been reflex shooting. We walk, we turn around, we shoot a silhouette – a bit like in westerns.” (Luis Buñuel, My last sigh, 1982).
Although in his autobiography Luis Buñuel devotes only a brief paragraph to his passion for firearms, this one nevertheless occupied an important place in his life. This passion came from his father, Leonardo García Buñuel, who was the agent of Remington and Smith brands in Havana in the late nineteenth century. A weapons dealer in addition to his hardware business, he quickly amassed a large fortune thanks to this thriving market: “His father […] owned a weapons business. When the young Buñuel is ill, he gives him a revolver to entertain him. He also brings him to the shooting range, which Don Luis will do later in Mexico with his sons Juan-Luis and Rafael. He has a real passion for these objects and at the age of fourteen, he takes the habit of walking with a Browning hidden in his clothes, gun that will be confiscated to him at school. The sequences where firearms are portrayed in his films are endless, especially during his Mexican contemporary.” (Manuel Rodríguez Blanco, Luis Buñuel, 2000).