Today in weird Wichita: What is this gun and how did it get here?

It’s nearly impossible to say how the gun got there — or how long it’s been there — but what looks like a revolver lodged in a square of concrete in east Wichita is raising plenty of questions.

How old is the gun?

We asked around at gun stores and ranges in Wichita and have come up with the early 1900s, or more specifically, the 1940s. That’s based on the deterioration of the gun itself.

How long has it been buried?

There’s no easy answer here. We called Reggie Perez at Wichita’s Public Works & Utilities Street Maintenance department to ask when the last time that street had been paved. After some digging around, he said that the last street improvement was in 2005.

The gun is nearly hidden in a single block of concrete surrounded by bricks on Circle Drive, just south of Douglas. When there are missing bricks, or improvements that need to be made, crews fill those spots with concrete the level the ground.

But that still doesn’t tell us how long it’s been there.

What type of gun is it, specifically?

That’s a harder question to answer. One gun store owner guessed it’s a single action revolver. Another group came to the conclusion that it’s an old kid’s cap gun.

What’s your guess?

Strange Kansas stories in the news

Today’s story isn’t the first time an unusual Kansas story has made the rounds.

Here are some other stories you may remember:

• She tried to kill a bug but set her apartment on fire instead
• Drunken swordsman freed in Supreme Court stabbing case
• Plan to flush evidence backfires when marijuana clogs toilet
• Kansas’ infamous goat gland doctor may be subject of Hollywood
• Intruder spends night in Kansas home while residents slept
• Wal-Mart customer, angry with self-checkout machine, loses tooth in fight
• Mice chew into evidence bags, eat and nest in marijuana
• Parents arrested after doing heroin in Chuck E. Cheese parking lot, police say
• Brothers celebrate lottery win by blowing up house
• Man who tries to rob 92-year-old woman suffers skull fracture
• Wichita boy’s garage-sale buy holds a treasure for his family
• Crack smoking, having sex in car net couple a trip to jail, Wichita police say
• Man uncooperative after being stabbed in scrotum with hypodermic needle
• Police: Drunken man fed children’s parakeet to his pit bull
• Man lay in basement four days after being robbed
• Woman urinates in yard, slaps child, police say
• Woman takes beating, but won’t surrender her beer
• Man’s suicide shot also kills sleeping wife
• Tattooed bicyclist miffed about being pulled over while wearing a thong
• Couple robbed while inside Dumpster
• Bachelorette party prop spooks Wichita police horse, prompts arrest
• Error on state test slips past everyone -- except for East High student
• Clay Center hunter shoots 27-point doe
• Sheriff: Woman sat on boyfriend’s toilet for 2 years
• Police arrest man suspected of having sex with dog

This story was originally published August 11, 2017 at 2:13 PM with the headline "Today in weird Wichita: What is this gun and how did it get here?."