Here it is. Here's a link to more.
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.
Here it is. Here's a link to more.
;>)
Stay safe; stay armed.
Here is a photo of him posing with the fake pistol he used to escape with in one hand and a Tommy Gun in the other (is it the same one the sheriff has?).
I wonder if it will still fire with all that drool on it?
Funny. The History Channel seems to disagree with you.
America's Fifth Column ... watch Steve Emerson/PBS documentary JIHAD! In America
New Link: Download 8 Mb zip file here (60 minute video)
Too bad the previous Sheriff didn't donate the weapon to a museum before this grandstanding lunatic was elected.
Classic flick.
History Channel is a commercial enterprise that satisfied the demand of the increasingly ignorant population. If anything, it agrees with me.
Funny, how Americans are suspicious of the government and does not trust it even when it tells the truth. But when it comes to the private sector, they have no clue as to who is doing what.
Newspapers are not in the business of information, although they love to tell you that: they sell sentiment to the masses. Which is why you only hear the news that are already on your mind. Which is why anything negative about management and "the rich" is going to be amplified ("yea, go get them rich pigs").
Just check how many programs on History Channel --- and, even better, on The Learning Channel --- do not involve warfare, ammunition, calamities, and crime.
Then go and check out some history books from the first half of XX century or before. You'll see what I mean by our culture being sick.
Wrong. The History Channel understands that Dillinger was an important historical figure just like every museum, newsreel archive and encyclopedia does that has a section about Depression-era crime.
America's Fifth Column ... watch Steve Emerson/PBS documentary JIHAD! In America
New Link: Download 8 Mb zip file here (60 minute video)
Yeah. It could be displayed next to the other famous (ahem) Dillinger "weapon" owned by the Smithsonian.
Just kidding - I know that's an urban legend.
And when the History Channel will devote to calamities, crime, and warfare the same proportion of space-time, I will treat it with the same respect as an encyclopaedia.
Your respect is misplaced. An "encyclopaedia" is a one-dimensional repository for modern history. Film and tv tell the stories much better. For example, have you ever run across the correct pronounciation of Dillinger's last name in an encyclopedia? Probably you won't.
America's Fifth Column ... watch Steve Emerson/PBS documentary JIHAD! In America
New Link: Download 8 Mb zip file here (60 minute video)
A gruesome thought. But there are actually a few heads I wouldn't mind seeing on display.
Your criterion for what constitutes knowledge is too profound for me. I guess, I'll call it the night.
Sweet dreams.
America's Fifth Column ... watch Steve Emerson/PBS documentary JIHAD! In America
New Link: Download 8 Mb zip file here (60 minute video)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.