[QUOTE=dragoon500ly;33787][QUOTE=Raellus;22333]According to the book
Public Enemies (on which the film of the same name is based), the Thompson was used in some numbers by many of the bank robbing gangs (Dillinger's, Floyds, Nelsons, Bonnie & Clyde, etc.) and the fledgling FBI. The book was well researched and written and I have no cause to doubt what the author described is not accurate.
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What a lot of people forget is that many of the gangs actually used M1918 Browning Auto Rifles stolen from NG armories, or purchased. There is a photo of Bonny & Clyde for example that shows part of their arsenal on the hood of their car, including no less than four BARs. Dillinger is another one that used the BAR...
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The Tommy gun looked good, it's undeniably one of the most impressive looking weapons of the era. Image goes a long way in crime, we see it today in inner-city gangs who try to promote the image that they are bigger, more bad-ass than the other guys. As a result the Tommy became the "poster boy" for proabition criminals. You point it at the other guy and hope intimidation does the job because no professional criminal wants to actualy kill someone as it adds time to any prison sentence and you run a greater risk that the cops will shoot to kil rather than risk their own lives taking you in.
The BAR was a superior weapon, this thing was a killer and criminals who didn't give a damn about consequences (such as bonnie and clyde) used such weapons because they enjoyed killing.
This is why the more public criminals had tommy guns and also why it's become associated with the era.