Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US, also gun-slammer) a gunman, esp. in the (fictional) ‘Wild West’; thus gun-slinger n.

1932		Z. Grey Robbers’ Roost 142: I’m only a wandering rider—a gunslinger and—a member of a gang of robbers.
1934		(con. 1870s) E. Cunningham Triggernometry (1957) 53: Hardin, his rival in the Smoky Seventies for top-honours at gun-slinging.
1940		O. Strange Sudden Takes the Trail 146: Bah! Yo’re finished – that gun-slinger has licked you every time.
1948		N. Nye Breed of the Chaparral (1949) 135: A hired gun-slammer in the employ of Stokes?
1952		W.D. Overholser Fabulous Gunman 56: A gunslinger with your reputation.
1961		‘M.B. Longman’ Power of Black (1962) 140: Did you hire the gunslinger, Colonel?
1972		Nova Apr. 99: You’re what made America great. A real gunslinger.
1983		N. Heard House of Slammers 89: While a famous gunslinger named Sammy-the-Stinger / Covered him well from behind.
1995		G. Small Ruthless 242: As much as the Spanglers’ ‘straight-up’ gangsters are role models for many a youthful, would-be rudie gunslinger, they try to keep children and teenagers on the straight and narrow.
2000		T. Blacker Kill Your Darlings 241: Like gunslingers with their Colt .45s at the ready.

2. (US black) a sexually powerful man.

1969

H. Rap Brown Die Nigger Die! 27: I’m the bed tucker the cock plucker the motherfucker / The milkshaker the record breaker the population maker / The gun-slinger the baby bringer.

3. (US campus) a woman who rejects a man’s attentions rudely.

1991		Eble Campus Sl. Mar.
1996		Eble Sl. and Sociability 71: Gunslinger, ‘female who rejects a male’s attentions rudely’.

4. one who is dedicated to a task, irrespective of drawbacks/opposition.

1985

T. Wolff ‘Missing Person’ in Back in the World 26: ‘You don’t mess around. You don’t get hung up on details. You do whatever you have to do and keep going. [...] You have to be a gunslinger’.

5. an employee dedicated to troubleshooting.

1990

R. Campbell Sweet La-La Land (1999) 72: She might even find herself working for him as a hired legal gunslinger.

6. an aggressive male; a troublemaker.

1997

E. Little Another Day in Paradise 124: Bobbie [...] has gunslinger written all over him, trouble waiting to happen.