When john Taliaferro Thompson developed a lightweight, fast-firing weapon, he was hoping to give American troops an advantage in World War I. He didn’t anticipate that the Thompson submachine gun would become the weapon of choice for bootleggers, gangsters and bank robbers. This is the story of the Tommy gun, a weapon created with the best of intentions, and made infamous by those with the worst of intentions.
Blumenthal crafts an interesting narrative for the gun, which details crimes and criminals, including such infamous characters as public enemy number one, John Dillinger, as well as the equally infamous Bureau of Investigation that pursued such criminals.
The introduction of the Tommy gun into society created a need for new regulation and gun laws, which were almost nonexistent before massacres and robberies committed with the gun made it national news. Blumenthal shows how the arguments made for and against gun regulation and laws back in the 20s and 30s weren’t so different from the arguments we hear today. This is an interesting book that contains the kind of unbelievable drama you’d find in a gangster movie, but it’s all true. (I watched 2 James Cagney movies after I finished it.)
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