Posted on 12/13/2013 7:10:34 AM PST by JoeProBono
A Pennsylvania police chief said housekeeping efforts to clear storage space will not affect a Thompson submachine gun reputedly bought to fight John Dillinger.
Sharon Police Chief Mike Menster said the announced project to get rid of some old records to free up storage space will not mean the sale of the .45-caliber Thompson submachine gun, which local legend holds was purchased for the department by a bank to dissuade Depression-era outlaw John Dillinger and his gang from robbing banks in the area, the Sharon Herald reported Thursday.
"The legend is that Dillinger was robbing banks in this area in the 1930s," Menster said. "I've been told the Tommy gun was bought for the department by McDowell Bank, but I don't know if anybody could confirm that. The story goes that all the banks were worried about being robbed and they knew Dillinger had a Tommy gun so they wanted to level the playing field."
Lt. Gerald Smith said the police department had previously looked into selling the Tommy gun to raise funds for modern weapons, but the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms forbade the department from selling the gun to a museum.
"It was bought for law enforcement use and they told us in a letter that it could only be used for law enforcement or sold in parts," Smith said.
Sharon police Chief Mike Menster, right, holds a Thompson submachine gun the department has had since the 1930s. The historic gun was once favored by gangsters and used by the military. Its magazine held 50 45-caliber bullets. Set on automatic, the gun’s full magazine could be emptied with one pull of the trigger. Lt. Gerald Smith holds a Smith and Wesson Military and Police AR-15 more suited for law enforcement purposes than the Tommy gun.
Neither one is suited for law encorcement. Either would be OK cor citizens ownership. Oh wait I forgot, sice ‘68 we’re no longer citizens, but serfs.
“It was bought for law enforcement use and they told us in a letter that it could only be used for law enforcement or sold in parts,” Smith said.”
That’s interesting.
Hmmm...looks like an early one. Reduced diameter barrel up toward chamber without cylindrical ridge cuts (maybe what looks like lengthwise fluted barrel)...also looks like an early Cutts compensator, too.
Okay, I would like to buy ALL of the parts.
If you are a popo gun nut you can keep your arms, period.
The Thompson machine gun is a piece of crap. So tell me, are they still using it?
I’ll take one of each.
It's not transferable since it is on a departmental 'Form 10'. It can only be transferred to a museum or cut up to make a parts kit minus the demil'ed receiver.
I think it has the cuts... the picture is just low quality.
Yes, I saw, but it is still too small of a diameter for the ones later on. The Cutts compensators (later ones are almost double the barrel diameter IIRC)
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