Weapons Timelines for the Twilight War

[dragoon500ly]

[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.[QUOTE]

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...

[95th Rifleman]

[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.

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...

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.

[Panther Al]

For what its worth, my mothers father did some work for Al C. in Chicago back in the day. When he died (Committed suicide by shooting himself in the back of the head with 3 different weapons, handcuffing himself to the steering wheel of a car, and driving real fast off of a dock in Miami, according to the local PD - No joke!) he owned 4 BAR's, and no Tommy guns. According to friends of the family that knew him I am told that by and large they felt the BAR was the way to go, the Tommy was nothing but show for people who wasn't man enough to handle a real rifle.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Originally Posted by Panther Al

For what its worth, my mothers father did some work for Al C. in Chicago back in the day. When he died (Committed suicide by shooting himself in the back of the head with 3 different weapons, handcuffing himself to the steering wheel of a car, and driving real fast off of a dock in Miami, according to the local PD - No joke!) he owned 4 BAR's, and no Tommy guns. According to friends of the family that knew him I am told that by and large they felt the BAR was the way to go, the Tommy was nothing but show for people who wasn't man enough to handle a real rifle.

OT
While I certainly am NOT trying to demean or condone his death (really that should be 'his murder'), I find a strangely ironic sense of the poetic in this only for one reason.
In your sig you have the line "Never use finesse when force works."

[Panther Al]

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

OT
While I certainly am NOT trying to demean or condone his death (really that should be 'his murder'), I find a strangely ironic sense of the poetic in this only for one reason.
In your sig you have the line "Never use finesse when force works."

OK, have to admit, that got a really good laugh out of me, thanks.

But yeah, Ironic isn't it? His old 45 is still in the family possession, my mother - to the shock of many considering her age - used it to qualify for her CC permit. But only after ensuring that it wouldn't have its ballistics run. The local cops know the history, and the sheriff, when he saw her, looked at her gun and said, "The Chicago PD would love to get their hands on that, wouldn't they?" To which, Mom goes, "I don't know what you are talking about..."