St. Louis Police selling their Thompson sub-machine guns

[Bogart761]

Saw this on their website today. STLPD has had these weapons for 70+ years and has decided to put them on the market. Awesome weapons.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/c...b3e9ecf65.html

[gyvel]

Yes, and the bigoted comments are already starting to flow as a result of the announcement. It just amazes me how ignorant people really are about firearms and how quickly they love to jump to bigoted, one-sided conclusions.

[Tom Servo]

Private possession of a fully automatic weapon requires a federal license. Obtaining the permit can take up to year. An applicant must pass a background check, pay a $200 federal tax and obtain approval of the local police chief.

What are these licenses and permits they speak of?

Meh. At least they made it clear these weren't just cash-and-carry sales.

[Theohazard]

Originally Posted by Tom Servo

What are these licenses and permits they speak of?

It's the fabled "Class 3 permit" that everyone says you need if you want to own a "Class 3 weapon" .

[Tom Servo]

Well, now I'm just confused.

[Model12Win]

Well written article, as a former resident of the extended STL region, this was interesting to read.

[shooterdownunder]

Are they transferable?

[gyvel]

Are they transferable?

I am assuming they are transferable since they presumably have been in the registry since before 1986. I guess it all depends on how they obtained them in the first place.

That's actually an interesting question

[Tom Servo]

Are they transferable?

I'd presume so. The article implies that they're going on sale to the general public.

[Cowboy_mo]

Living in the St. Louis region, the article intrigued (puzzled) me . So I did a little research. According to the article they need $1.4 million to replace all the sidearms in the department. According to the SLPD website they have 2000 commissioned officer and civilians total.

Now if you do the math, that equates to $700 per employee total and you know they don't all carry a sidearm. When you figure the trade in value of their existing sidearms, that probably means they are spending $1000 or more per pistol. I'm sure they can buy .40 Glocks for a lot less than that.

Sorry for the rant, but ST. Louis' political attitude about law abiding gun owners is ridiculous. The Mayor is one of Bloomberg's boys.

[Machineguntony]

I can't find any info on this auction. Does anyone have any info on the auction? Can registration and bids be made by phone? I am very interested in the Colts.

[JT-AR-MG42]

How are the guns recorded in the registry?
Or are they?
Seems like I read somewhere that the guns were not in the registry, yet the article mentioned at least one 1942 (post NFA act) '28.
Seems like the war two gun should have a paper trail of some sort.

My personal opinion (not a dealer, or versed in ALL the myriad of scenarios concerning those guns status)
would be that ATFE can't just let the P.D. move them to dealers as transferables UNLESS the existing paperwork allows them to do so.

We all know the registry has flaws from 80 odd years of entries. ATFE can't just OK this one without stirring up a hornets nest.
Knowledgeable dealers around the Country would recognize paperwork that seemed questionable.

I sure hope the guns are papered in such a way that they can transfer to dealers and then out on form 4s.
Be a shame otherwise and a big surprise for St. Louis P.D. as to the value.

And St. Louis needs all the help it can get.

JT

[Skans]

Looks like they have 29 to sell - I bet prices on Tommy Guns drops a little. I might have to consider buying one.

[Machineguntony]

Imagine if they're in pristine condition, having sat around that long. The Colt would look mighty nice in a secure glass display case in a living room.

*droooool*

[jimpeel]

Here is an article with a video discussion and great pics of the guns.

VIDEO LINK