berettaprofessor
Member
Some of these stories of what happened to the guns make me sad....
Your first recollection sounds surprisingly close to the actual true story of how the WW I German machine gun captured by the both reluctant and great-without-peer American Hero Sgt. Alvin York ultimately came to rest in the museum exhibit dedicated to his family near his Tennessee home. I remember when this was in the news...a "Happy Ending" to a pre-NFA weapon that no one ever thought to register (I'm told that MANY did not bother prior to '68 and later '86 and that the NFA was regarded in many circles as a remote Fed Gov tax scheme that had NO ONE to enforce it...so why bother? This, of course, has changed since the 1973 creation of the ATF). https://www.oakridger.com/article/20100202/NEWS/302029987Some stories I have heard about "found" weapons:
-A MG from WW2 was carried (pulled) in a red wagon by a local Boy Scout troop in Veteran's day parades in a small town long ago. The practice ended (also long ago) and the MG was stored in the attic of the local library, forgotten, and discovered decades later during renovations.
-2 suppressed M3 grease guns were found in the attic of an old home in New England
- A friend who was with USMC EOD at Camp Pendleton has been dispatched several times to homes in Ca to remove ordnance WW2 Veterans decided to bring back as souvenirs- including American and japanese grenades
- Weapons have been found stashed inside of ceiling tiles at various locations in the US in barracks that were being demolished
- An AK with iraqi marks was found in a swimming pool after a tornado in Fayetteville. NC (Ft Bragg area) that destroyed and took roofs off of several homes in the Cottonade neighborhood. In this case, the homeowner notified the police of the find- I personally know the officer who was sent to the address and removed the weapon with the homeowner's leaf net. He cleared it, inspected it, and determined its origin and FA capability. Not surprisingly, it was never reported as missing.
Tark: I LOVE the story; it has a hero smart and brave enough to know that he might end up in serious legal jeopardy if caught but in pursuit of a goal that is noble, true and worthy... and likely a matter of personal importance to him for reasons we can only guess at. And through actual physical & potential legal perils, he causes the very power that might otherwise prosecute and imprison him to champion the goal of his quest and to in fact *literally* enshrine the object of his passion as one of their own relics. I am reminded of the line from the boy in James Joyce's story "Araby" when I guess at what it might be like to just SHOW UP at RIA with such an item: "I imagined that I bore my chalice safely through a throng of foes". And indeed that one fellow did exactly that .This happened years ago before I started working at the Arsenal Museum, but it is a legendary story.
Late one afternoon, near closing time, and before 9-11 happened, It was very easy to get onto Arsenal Island. One simply drove past an empty guard shack. Someone did, with a gun wrapped in a blanket. They entered the museum and there was no one at the counter. This person called out for help and a voice answered from the back of the room " Be with you in a second. "
The man responded "You can have this." and he walked out, leaving the weapon lying on the counter, still wrapped up in the blanket. No one saw him or got a description of what he was driving. I don't know who was on duty that day, but whoever it was unwrapped the gun, gasped in horror and called the Arsenal Police.
The gun was a first pattern FG-42. The ATF was contacted and they had no record on the gun. It was determined that the receiver was cracked and the bolt rusted shut. The gun was junk, but still an unregistered machine gun. After some wrangling, it was decided that the gun was to be donated to the Museum.
The gun is the third from the top in the pic, below the two second pattern guns.
The guy was never caught.
And
* A 1928 Thompson submachine gun. In obviously used condition. Apparently in good working order. A pouch containing 3 30 round magazines.
I looked at my friend and said; "buddy, you need a good lawyer."
I agree completely. No one knew it was there. Not like some government types are going to randomly show up because they tracked it down. Pure nonsense. He didn't need a lawyer, he needed a good hidey hole...Tommy - I almost hate to say this but I would have found a way to clean and make sure that gun was fully functional, then greased it up good and stashed it away for the day it will be needed. That day is likely to come sooner than any of us would like and we need to be ready for it.
As a 1st Lt he was able to be among the first "guests" in Hermann Goering's house in Bavaria, liberating several handguns. There was no available info/provenance on them.
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