Airborne Falcon
Member
My former Grandfather in Law, Mother in Law's side, was Theordore Eickhoff ... designer of the Thompson.The narrow purpose of the NFA was to make full-auto weapons (specifically, the Thompson submachine gun) unaffordable. The broader purpose was to remove ostensibly "dangerous" weapons from the civilian population. Technology has leapfrogged this. Semiautomatic weapons (unregulated by the NFA) have been developed that (even according to this thread) are more effective and "dangerous" than the ones regulated by the NFA. Example: a semiautomatic AR-15 is probably, all things considered, more effective than a full-auto Thompson (considering range, weight, ammo supply, etc.).
My late father-in-law was in the U.S. Army in the North African theater in WW2. He was originally issued a Thompson, but exchanged it for a Garand the first chance he got. According to him, the Thompson was too heavy for such a short-range weapon. The Garand had the power and range. So there you have it: The NFA is a failure because it regulates the Thompson but not the Garand. Once again we have an example of why gun control is kabuki theater. Always has been and always will be.
I don't think he ever intended it to be used as a front line assault type weapon but more of a CQB carbine and trench sweeper.
Well, anyways, in his own words ....
http://www.mikesmachineguns.com/Eickhoff_p3.html
FWIW I fired serial #3 at the family camp in Hendersonville NC which Theodore, Jr., had in his possession at the time ... pretty sure he still does. That was some years ago. I never met Senior personally but knew his daughter quite well and she worshipped him ... she still does last time I talked to the ex.
You might say I knew his granddaughter very well. Wonderful beautiful woman at one time, until she hit menopause, then it was game over.