By Dean Weingarten
Arizona – -(Ammoland.com)- The Chief Deputy of Forsyth County, North Carolina, came up with a smart move to save the taxpayers money: Trade two vintage 1928 Thompson submachine guns with drum magazines for eighty eight Bushmaster AR-15 type rifles, even up, about a $60,000 dollar value.
The Sheriff’s department was smart enough to register the guns in 1968, during the amnesty that was allowed for one month. Most people did not even know that the amnesty period existed. Thus, these two Thompsons are legal to be sold to private citizens, and are worth over $30,000 each.
It is far past time that another amnesty be provided for. How can anyone argue against it? It would bring undocumented NFA firearms that have been productively existing in this country for decades, out of the shadows and back into full contributing capacity as legal firearms.
Bills have been put forward toward this end, but have not gained any traction.
The article lets slip another item of government malfeasance that the Sheriff remembered from his training with the FBI and the Thompson.
He is quite familiar with the Thompson submachine gun, since he had to qualify with it during training for his career in the FBI. He said leaders eventually determined that it was not something that should be used on the streets to enforce the law, so hundreds of the guns were destroyed.
“Because of the stigma attached to the Tommy gun and the organized crime and the bad guys back in the early days, it was determined that these weapons were not applicable to modern day,” Schatzman said.
Consider that. Hundreds of vintage Thompsons, that were owned by the FBI, destroyed for no reason other than the perverse desire to prevent anyone but the government from owning them. As a bureaucrat/scientist for over 30 years with the Department of Defense, I became inured to waste. Some of it is simply part of having a bureaucracy.
But to have these finely crafted pieces of American history, highly desired by responsible collectors, destroyed as a sacrifice to the gods of political correctness, is a shining example of how bureaucracies can do incredibly stupid things.
Yes, I know there are many examples, but it is good to point to a specific one now and then.
©2013 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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About Dean Weingarten;
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
Sort of like when the muzzies destroyed the Buddas of Bamiyan, which dated from the 6th century.
I despise bureaucratic azzhole creeps at EVERY level but none worse than those st the federal level , I believe they need strung up just as much as those progressive azzes they work for . I watched them cut up hundreds of the venerable ” grease Guns ” and 1911 45’s at Camp Lejuene and have been in stark fear of the American government ever since , and in fact that fear grows daily .