What is the origin of “pistol?”

What is the origin of “pistol?” Shayla Trickey Mesa, Arizona The word comes from the French pistole or pistolet. Some say the French got it from Pistoia, Italy, where Caminello Vitelli is believed to have developed the first handguns in the 1540s. Others claim the term comes from the medieval French word pistallo, or saddle pommel, where the first holsters were carried. Whatever the origin, pistol was in common usage by the 18th century.