(IL) Sheriff wants to melt down Dillinger's Tommy gun

Status
Not open for further replies.
Originally posted by Hkmp5sd
Blueduck,

There is a quite a difference between Charles Manson, who is alive and in prison, writing and recording songs that are then distributed around the world on CD and a single piece of history from a guy that's been dead for 75 years.

Not to be contrary but...

So that means when Manson's been dead a certain period of time the knife used to slit Sharon Tates pregnant belly open is a "piece of history"??? Maybe Robin Leach's grandson can do the auction, or our children's children can go look at it in some museum:rolleyes:

Lots of Tommy guns out there, got way better things to worry about than what happens to that particular one. Would have been a lot more upset if the Sheriff had claimed the laws we have to put up with didn't apply to him or his department.
 
My first reply here.

The people need to know their sheriff, is going to melt down a million bucks.

We need email addresses of the local media.

waterdog
 
"Lots of Tommy guns out there........................"

There probably are a lot of Thompsons out there. But there are not going to be any more. It is certainly possible to make a copy, you might not even be able to tell the difference, but it won't be a Thompson. I would be against melting down a Hi-Point, let alone a firearm with the history of a Thompson.
Using this kind of logic, it wouldn't be any loss to melt down firearms owned by Hitler or whatever.
I agree that there are plenty of things to worry about, but that doesn't mean we just let some of them slide. We certainly can worry about a lot of them at the same time.
 
Actually, they didn't split Sharon Tate's belly open. However, to answer the question, yes the knife used to kill her is part of history. So is the buntline .22 revolver they used to dispatch a few of them. So is the 6.5 mm Mannlicher-Carcano rifle used to shoot (in theory) JFK. If someone creates a museum to display these items, there is nothing wrong with that.

Should they level the concentration camps in Europe that are now open to the public just because we don't like what happened there? How about destroying the Alamo? Doesn't it glorify the slaughter of some American Patriots by the Mexican army?

This reminds me of the big argument a few years ago over whether or not the Smithsonian should display the Enola Gay.

These items do not glorify anyone. They are artifacts that remind us of our past.

A generation which ignores history has no past and no future.
- Robert Heinlein, The Notebooks of Lazurus Long
 
What about John Dillenger's private part ? I was told from reliable source FBI used to display it to other LEO's when you went to train at HQ's- kinda a guy joke. At same location was his phony wooden pistol LEO source told me 30 years ago. Seems there has ALWAYS been a macabre glorifacation of outlaws. :cool:
 
"History" is I guess the sticking point. To Blueduck: Enola Gay=History, Concentration Camps=History, Caracano used to assasinate a US president during one of the most important turning points of the most powerfull nation on earth=history.

Thugs gun used to kill innocent people because he thought he was too good to work for living=trash, not history. Whether it was Dillingers gun 75 years ago or some guys lorcin who killed a $5.25 an hour clerk robbing a liquer store two weeks ago, same thing. Like a certain sportscasters knife, these things just don't qualify as "history" to me.
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by Bergeron
If the sherriff is that concerned about glorifing Dillinger, how about issuing the Thompson to officers to use as a duty weapon? The Thompson could then assist the officers and help them enforce the law, "restoring its honor."

Or maybe the sheriff is just an idiot.

I like that idea. Matter of fact, I think the deputy carrying that weapon would like that idea too. (Think of the look on a thugs face when said deputy hauls out Mr. Thompson and charges it...... )

And yes, the sherrif is an absolute moron.
 
dedhorse.gif
 
I read a Thompson SMG book once, have it somewhere. It said the original run of Thompsons only amounted to 10,000 units built by Colt's for Thomas Fortune Ryan's Auto Ordnance. Most of the 10,000 languished unsold until WWII when the US Gomt snapped up anything that woudl shoot. They were just too blamed spensive for normal people to buy at IIRC $200/per.

SO either a 1921 or 1928 is a piece of history that should be preserved for that sake alone, given how many were sent overseas. :(
 
Almost Three Years Later.

Okay so its been almost three years since this news article. Did Dillinger's Thompson get melted down? Does anybody know what has happened?
 
"What about John Dillenger's private part ? I was told from reliable source FBI used to display it to other LEO's when you went to train at HQ's- kinda a guy joke. At same location was his phony wooden pistol LEO source told me 30 years ago. Seems there has ALWAYS been a macabre glorifacation of outlaws. "

Actually they never caught Dillenger, the guy they caught was proven in the autopsy to have differences like eye color and heart defects (from birth)... But when you have a corpse on your hands, and lots of pictures, you make the story fit the circumstances. I bet dillenger couldn't a been happier.
 
They could permanently alter the weapon to a non firing status and then sell it as a historical artifact.

No, not really. DEWATS are a thing of the past. The only way to turn it into a "non gun" is to cut the receiver in 3 places. Granted, they could then build the parts into a dummy gun on a dummy receiver, but the original gun is pretty much destroyed when the receiver is cut up. It would be like Washington's ax. You know, the one where the handle has been replaced twice and the head three times.
 
if it is illegal to be transfered, how did the FBI get away with returning it to it's proper owners?

The gun was stolen BEFORE the National Firearms Act of 1934 required that all machine guns be registered. The police department couldn't then register it when the law changed because they didn't have it at that time. The FBI was able to return it because the last owner of record was a law enforcement agency. If it had been stolen from a private citizen, that person would have probably been SOL. (Unless it had been returned before 1986 when the NFA registry was closed)


I'm sure even ATF would write some kind of waiver or permit or something like this.

The ATF can't write a waiver. The NFA registry was closed in 1986. The ATF doesn't have the power to make an exception. That means that no new registrations for privately owned machine guns can be added to the registry. Congress would have to pass a law to allow it to be added to the registry. Fat chance of that. The Sheriff's department could get the paperwork for the gun that says a LEO agency can own it, but they can't transfer it to a collector. If they did sell it to another LEO agency, that agency also could not transfer it to a private party.

The Smithsonian would be the best bet, in my opinion.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top