Muskegon's Thompsons

[ACARLG]

Company that supplies weapons for movies swaps for Muskegon's collection

April 14, 2005, 2:59 PM

 

 

MUSKEGON, Mich. (AP) -- A company that provides weapons to the film industry has given the city 20 modern police rifles worth $19,000 in exchange for six submachine guns that are useless as law enforcement tools but valuable as movie props.

 

Besides unloading weapons it can't use, the city will now be able to replace its aging stock of patrol car shotguns, said Tony Kleibecker, Muskegon's public safety director.

 

In exchange for the submachine guns, Cinema Weaponry LLC of Glendale, Calif., has agreed to provide the city with new Colt M4 .223-caliber semiautomatic carbines.

 

"To us, in these tight budget times, it makes sense to trade these weapons that we will never be able to use for weapons that we can use," Kleibecker recently told city commissioners.

 

He said the city received various offers for the submachine guns from gun collectors and dealers, but Cinema Weaponry's offer best met the city's needs.

 

The submachine guns -- two Thompsons and four Uzis -- apparently came into the city's possession as government surplus over the years. It is unclear how much the city paid for them, Kleibecker told The Muskegon Chronicle for a story Wednesday.

 

City documents indicate that the Thompson "tommy guns" date from the 1920s and were obtained in the 1950s. The four Uzis came into the city's hands in 1994.

 

Kleibecker said the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has advised the city that all the guns are properly registered and the trade is legal. The agency will assist the city in handling the necessary paperwork.

 

The guns could not be sold to the general public but are salable to a dealer like Cinema Weaponry, he said.

 

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Information from: The Muskegon Chronicle, http://www.mlive.com/muchronicle

 

[Zamm]

Now That, is a Hollywood happy ending! http://www.machinegunbooks.com/forums/invboard1_1_2/upload/html/emoticons/wink.gif

Z

[full auto 45]

Maybe I'll have to call old Mike there and see what I can buy one for. He's a very interesting person to talk to.

[Merry Ploughboy]

I'm guessing these are all Form 10 guns.