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Sheriff wants to melt down Dillinger's Tommy gun
Chicago Sun-Times ^ | December 27, 2002 | MICHAEL PUENTE AND LUCIO GUERRERO

Posted on 12/27/2002 3:59:02 PM PST by FreedomCalls

A Tommy gun stolen by John Dillinger after a brazen 1934 jail escape in Indiana could soon be molten steel.

Newly elected Lake County, Ind., Sheriff Roy Dominguez--no fan of Dillinger because he killed a cop--is thinking about throwing the infamous Colt Thompson submachine gun into a furnace at one of the county's steel mills. History experts say the gun could be worth $1 million.

"I see no sense in glorifying him or that gun...[the Tommy gun] was used in the commission of a felony," Dominguez said. "I would consider melting it down or find another way to properly dispose of it.

"By giving it notoriety continues the glorification of John Dillinger, which I think is wrong," said Dominguez, who takes office next Wednesday.

Dillinger made off with two Tommy guns after he broke out of Lake County Jail on March 3, 1934. One of them belonged to Lake County; the other was on loan from neighboring Porter County.

The guns were thought to be lost until a gun-tracking expert found both of them in FBI storage in Washington, D.C. Porter County got its gun back last year and Lake County a few months later.

Lake County's gun hasn't been on display much; it was only last month that outgoing Lake County Sheriff John Buncich publicly displayed it for the first time.

Tony Stewart, an expert on early American crimes and author of Dillinger, The Hidden Truth , points to the historical significance of the Indiana outlaw.

"Dillinger was a very important factor to the FBI's existence in the '30s. It's true, with Congress breathing down the bureau's neck, the FBI was in trouble. [Director J. Edgar] Hoover needed a big catch to save the bureau," Stewart said.

But Dominguez and other Lake County officials said they see no reason to preserve the gun.

"I don't think [having the gun melted] would destroy history," said Dominguez.

It has not been proved that Lake County's gun was used to kill anyone, but it is believed to have been used by Dillinger and his cohorts in the holdup of three or four banks following their Crown Point jailbreak. History buffs say the gun could fetch as much as $1 million at auction, but Lake County officials said they can't sell the gun.

Lake County sheriff's spokesman Loy Roberson said there is no documentation for the gun ownership and that selling it would violate the federal firearms act.

"You cannot get it titled. It doesn't have paperwork," Roberson said. "You can't sell something if you don't have paper on it. It belongs to the Lake County Sheriff's Department, but we don't have title paper on it."

The other gun stolen with the Lake County weapon is on display at the Porter County sheriff's office. The only catch: It's in the department's training room, which is not open to the public.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: banglist; crime; donutwatch; guncontrol; history; historylist; idiots
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More destruction of history in the name of political correctness. While not on the scale of the Bamiyan Buddhas, it is possible to link the thought process used to decide to destroy something historically significant that you personally don't like.
1 posted on 12/27/2002 3:59:03 PM PST by FreedomCalls
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To: FreedomCalls
"You can't sell something if you don't have paper on it."

AAAAAHH, bask in the glow of the wisdom of a state bureaucrat.

2 posted on 12/27/2002 4:04:40 PM PST by servantoftheservant
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To: *History_list
bump
3 posted on 12/27/2002 4:05:38 PM PST by The Obstinate Insomniac
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To: FreedomCalls
"I see no sense in glorifying him or that gun...

It's a trophy sherrif! The spoils of war. It doesn't glorify the loser, it exalts the winner. It serves to remind us of who won!

4 posted on 12/27/2002 4:06:26 PM PST by templar
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To: FreedomCalls
What a load of crock. And I suppose that the preservation of Ford's Theater in Washington is glorifying John Wilkes Booth and that WW2 Nazi memorabilia is glorifying Adolph Hitler. People that want to destroy and burn our historical artifacts are dangerous to a free society.
5 posted on 12/27/2002 4:07:12 PM PST by SamAdams76
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Comment #6 Removed by Moderator

To: templar
"I see no sense in glorifying him or that gun...
I guess the FBI feels the same way. Yeah, right.
They have a whole throphy room full of weapons used
by various "Bad Guys" on public display, and for the same reasons you stated. They are like hunters trophies.
They probably sorry there isn't any heads to go with them up on the walls.
7 posted on 12/27/2002 4:13:47 PM PST by YOMO
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To: FreedomCalls
Newly elected Lake County, Ind., Sheriff Roy Dominguez...

is an idiot!

"You cannot get it titled. It doesn't have paperwork," Roberson said. "You can't sell something if you don't have paper on it.

Total BS.

8 posted on 12/27/2002 4:14:34 PM PST by BikerTrash
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Comment #9 Removed by Moderator

To: FreedomCalls
More destruction of history in the name of political correctness.

Only in our sick culture are the deeds of an insignificant thug are considered history. This is no more history worth preservation than the leftover food from the stree-corner diner.

10 posted on 12/27/2002 4:18:34 PM PST by TopQuark
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To: FreedomCalls
. . . Sheriff Roy Dominguez--no fan of Dillinger . . .

Ten to one this guy is just another foreign a**hole, first or second generation, who is, in all likelihood, and if truth be told, no fan of capitalism, democracy, or America.

11 posted on 12/27/2002 4:21:18 PM PST by LibWhacker
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To: FreedomCalls
Another anti-2nd. Amendment LEO doing his best to make press connections for a run at a second term. Elected or politically appointed police chiefs or sheriffs rarely support the right of arms. I hope the voters "melt him down", come next election.
12 posted on 12/27/2002 4:22:27 PM PST by elbucko
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To: FreedomCalls
You can't sell something if you don't have paper on it

Then I will drop by and just make it disappear. No paper, no crime.

13 posted on 12/27/2002 4:24:58 PM PST by Flyer
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To: *bang_list
Stupid Idea.....That Tommy Gun is American History
(More PC Crap)
14 posted on 12/27/2002 4:25:35 PM PST by Fiddlstix
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To: FreedomCalls
You can't sell it because you don't own it. But you can destroy it.

And how much does a million bucks buy in extra law enforcement?
15 posted on 12/27/2002 4:31:01 PM PST by Snowyman
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To: LibWhacker
Ten to one this guy is just another foreign a**hole,

My sentiments, exactly. I wonder what kind of stink would be made "South of the Border" if a US museum had Pancho Villa's "pistolas" and wanted to melt them down. Geeze, The cries of "Hate Crime" could be heard from Brownsville to Winnipeg.

Send the Thompson to the Smithsonian and be done with it.

16 posted on 12/27/2002 4:36:33 PM PST by elbucko
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To: Snowyman
And how much does a million bucks buy in extra law enforcement?

It's not like Lake County, Indiana is rolling in so much money that they can afford to melt a million dollars.

17 posted on 12/27/2002 4:37:48 PM PST by Heyworth
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To: Snowyman
This numbskull should be ostracised, and jammed with emails and letters.

I visited the NATIONAL LANDMARK Biograph Theater in Chicago a few months ago, and got a brief tour by the manager. This is where he was killed, in the alley down the block...betrayed by "The Lady in Red." Why is it a NATIONAL LANDMARK if it is of no value? I know a two-bit Sheriff, however...
18 posted on 12/27/2002 4:40:31 PM PST by PoorMuttly
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To: FreedomCalls
Dillinger didn't escape with a Thompson. He carved a bar of soap into the shape of a gun, painted it black, and used that in the escape. One of the guards probably helped Dillinger escape. There is no evidence that the Thompson in question was stolen by or ever possessed by Dillinger. Lake County purchased it with taxpayer funds.

cookiedough
19 posted on 12/27/2002 4:57:10 PM PST by cookiedough
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To: cookiedough
Dillinger didn't escape with a Thompson. He carved a bar of soap into the shape of a gun, painted it black, and used that in the escape.

The story says he acquired the Tompson after he escaped, not that he used it to escape.

Dillinger made off with two Tommy guns after he broke out of Lake County Jail on March 3, 1934.

20 posted on 12/27/2002 5:29:59 PM PST by FreedomCalls
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