Sheriff's department has vintage gun for sale
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By Sam Kusic
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Editor's note: The headline of this article was modified Saturday, April 30, 2005, to correct information about the seller of the gun.
It was the weapon of choice for fedora-wearing, Duesenberg-driving mafia bootleggers from the days of prohibition.
But Indiana County Sheriff Robert E. Fyock says his deputies have little need of the vintage Colt Model 1921 AC Thompson submachine gun that has been in their arsenal as long as anyone can remember.
Better known as a tommy gun, the heavy weapon with wood pistol grip below the barrel and a big, round, menacing ammunition clip, is for sale.
"It's not doing my department any good," Fyock says.
For one thing, nobody is trained to use it. And the sheriff says he sees no real need for it.
"It's a liability for our department."
So instead of allowing it to continue to collect dust, the department will sell it to the highest bidder, using the proceeds to pay for deputies' training.
And the proceeds from the sale will probably pay for a lot of training, if the price another submachine fetched is any indication.
In 2003, Irwin Borough's police department sold its tommy gun for $14,500.
There is a big collector's market for tommy guns, says Dan Smith, a licensed gun dealer who is helping the county sell the weapon.
In fact, he received 50 inquiries within 24 hours of posting a classified ad on a gun collectors' Web site.
And this particular gun, he says, is enticing to collectors because it is has had only one owner, is in good shape and has hardly ever been fired. Plus, it comes with a 50-round drum clip and two 20-round "stick" clips.
Most likely, the gun will be sold to an investor, collector or dealer. And because of that, Smith says, it probably will never be fired.
No one is sure when it was fired last, or even how long the department has had it.
"We don't have anybody who goes far enough back to know when it came in," Smith says.
It's likely, he says, that it was purchased in the 20s or 30s, when lawmen and the lawless were carrying them.
Back then, Smith says, Tommy guns were sold in hardware stores. No license and no paperwork required.
Sam Kusic can be reached at skusic@tribweb.com or 724.463.8742.
