{"id":2544,"date":"2019-06-21T19:00:58","date_gmt":"2019-06-21T19:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/?p=2544"},"modified":"2020-02-12T15:38:26","modified_gmt":"2020-02-12T15:38:26","slug":"20th-century-gangster-guns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/20th-century-gangster-guns\/","title":{"rendered":"20th Century Gangsters and the Guns They Made Famous"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"p1\"><b>Mob Weapons<\/b><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Most Americans have gained their knowledge of early-twentieth-century gangster guns from TV shows and movies. Those of us who watched <i>The Untouchables<\/i> on television in the late 50s and early 60s sat enthralled as Special Agent Eliot Ness chased down the Capone mob in one episode after another. Later, in a 1987 film, Kevin Costner took on the role of Ness and helped to send Robert De Niro\u2019s version of Al Capone to prison. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Do you remember a film from 1967, <i>The St. Valentine\u2019s Day Massacre<\/i>, in which <\/span><span class=\"s3\">Capone orders his men to\u00a0disguise themselves as police officers? The fake cops line up seven members of rival George \u201cBugs\u201d Moran&#8217;s gang against a garage wall and mow them down with machine guns.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">There are many other examples of shows and movies that were loosely based on real events. They all have two things in common: the events were not always presented accurately and there were plenty of guns involved.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Historians will be the first to tell you that history is anything but an exact science. It\u2019s a moving target that changes with additional research and the information gleaned from it. The history of gangsters is no different. Much of it was romanticized, and it was often sensationalized to help sell newspapers, books, and movie theater tickets.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">So, here are some of the infamous historical figures from the 20s, 30s, and 40s whose trademarks were terror and violence, along with the guns they used to provide it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">It\u2019s only fitting that we begin with the all-time king of crime:<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Al \u201cScarface\u201d Capone&#8217;s Gun<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n<div id=\"attachment_2647\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2647\" class=\"wp-image-2647 size-large\" title=\".38 spl smith and wesson model 10 al capone's gun\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-SW-10-1024x750.jpg\" alt=\"a photo of a .38 special smith and wesson model 10 al capone gun\" width=\"1024\" height=\"750\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-SW-10.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-SW-10-300x220.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-SW-10-768x563.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-SW-10-790x579.jpg 790w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-2647\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Smith &amp; Wesson Model 10, commonly chambered in .38 special, was a favorite sidearm of gangsters and lawmen alike.<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Alphonse Capone was born on January 17, 1899,\u00a0in Brooklyn, New York. He would grow up to be America\u2019s most famous gangster, controlling organized crime throughout Chicago from 1925 to 1931. After quitting school at the age of 14, Capone worked a series of odd jobs before becoming involved with several youth gangs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Within two years he would graduate from petty crimes when he began working for future crime boss Johnny Torrio. It was while working for one of Torrio\u2019s associates in a brothel-saloon that Capone was slashed across his cheek with a razor for making a crude comment about another hoodlum\u2019s sister\u2014hence, the nickname \u201cScarface.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h4>What Did Al Capone Do?<\/h4>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">As Capone moved up through the mobster ranks, he was tied to several brutal acts and even murder. It wasn\u2019t until Torrio went to prison and he became crime boss of Chicago that Capone\u2019s violent tendencies escalated. While handling prostitution, gambling, and bootlegging in the city, Capone expanded his territories by gunning down his rivals, all of which went unpunished.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">While his most notorious blood-letting, the St. Valentine\u2019s Day massacre, was staged in 1929. It was a conviction for possessing a concealed handgun that sent him to a Philadelphia prison for ten months that same year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Al Capone\u2019s luck ran out in 1931 when Capone was indicted on 22 counts of federal\u00a0income-tax\u00a0evasion and found guilty of three. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison and fined $50,000.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4>Al Capone&#8217;s Death<\/h4>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Ravaged by late-stage syphilis, Capone was released from prison in 1939, eventually retiring to his Florida estate. He died there in 1947 from heart failure.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">One of Al Capone\u2019s legacies is the pistol he preferred: a Smith &amp; Wesson .<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/handgun\/38-special-ammo\">38-caliber<\/a> Model 10 revolver.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>One such weapon was reportedly taken from him during a 1928 arrest in Miami. It spent some time on display at <a href=\"https:\/\/themobmuseum.org\/blog\/capone-gun-mob-museum\/\">The Mob Museum<\/a> in Las Vegas recently.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">The revolver, manufactured in 1925 and shipped from the Smith &amp; Wesson factory, was sold by Wolf &amp; Klar Company, a gun dealer located in Fort Worth, Texas. Wolf &amp; Klar was famous for installing pearl grips on the revolvers it sold, which could explain why a flashy gangster might be drawn to it. Capone is said to have purchased the gun because he felt he needed extra firepower for protection.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"p5\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>George \u201cMachine Gun\u201d Kelly<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n<div id=\"attachment_2649\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2649\" class=\"wp-image-2649 size-large\" title=\"45 acp thompson submachine gun machinegun kelly gangster guns\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-Thompson-submachine-gun-1024x750.jpg\" alt=\"a photo of a 45 acp thompson submachine gun machine gun kelly gangster guns\" width=\"1024\" height=\"750\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-Thompson-submachine-gun.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-Thompson-submachine-gun-300x220.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-Thompson-submachine-gun-768x563.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-Thompson-submachine-gun-790x579.jpg 790w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-2649\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chambered in .45 ACP, the Thompson submachine gun has seen combat in more than a dozen wars since 1918.<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">You\u2019ve likely heard it more than once: Behind every successful man is a strong woman. Although that isn\u2019t always true, in the case of George &#8220;Machine Gun&#8221; Kelly, it was a woman who propelled him from a small-time criminal to one of the most famous gangsters from the prohibition era. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">George Kelly Barnes was born on July 18, 1895, to a prosperous family from Memphis, Tennessee. While his childhood was traditional and uneventful, Kelly&#8217;s troubles started in 1917 while he studied agriculture at Mississippi State University. Poor grades and problems with various faculty members resulted in him quitting school and marrying a young woman named Geneva Ramsey. But low wages and long hours as a cab driver put a strain on the marriage. By the time he had turned nineteen, he was out of work and separated from his wife and two children.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">It was around this time that Kelly started working with a small-time hoodlum and began bootlegging. He enjoyed both the financial rewards and the notoriety of his new work. But after being arrested for illegal trafficking, Kelly thought it best to leave Memphis. He headed west with a new girlfriend and began to earn a reputation as a veteran gangster, having survived a host of jail and prison stays.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4>Doing Time In The Pen<\/h4>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">After finishing up a sentence at the State Penitentiary in New Mexico, Kelly moved to Oklahoma City where he met Kathryn Thorne, a shady character in her own right. Thorne came from a family of outlaws. She had already been arrested for robbery, prostitution, and a few other offenses. The two were married in September of 1930.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Many historians believe that it was Thorne who created the image that would become \u201cMachine Gun Kelly.\u201d They are also convinced that she planned several successful bank robberies that Kelly committed in Texas and Mississippi. A 1933 FBI wanted poster described Kelly as an \u201cExpert Machine Gunner.\u201d This helped to cement his standing among his gangster brethren.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4>How Did Machine Gun Kelly Die?<\/h4>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">After the seemingly successful kidnapping of a businessman in 1933, Kelly, Thorne, and the rest of their gang was eventually captured, convicted, and sent to prison. George \u201cMachine Gun\u201d Kelly died of a heart attack in Leavenworth on July 18, 1954. It was his 59th birthday. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">George Kelly earned a much-deserved dark reputation for the life he led. Unfortunately, he also tainted the name of the Thompson M1921\/M1928 &#8220;Tommy Gun&#8221; submachine gun, although it later recovered its prestige by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/the-weapons-of-world-war-ii\/\">performing admirably on the battlefields of World War II<\/a>, Korea, and Vietnam.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"p7\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>John Dillinger&#8217;s Gun<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n<div id=\"attachment_2645\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2645\" class=\"wp-image-2645 size-large\" title=\"38 special colt 38 super john dillinger guns\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-38-Super-1024x750.jpg\" alt=\"A photo of 38 special colt 38 super john dillinger gangster guns\" width=\"1024\" height=\"750\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-38-Super.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-38-Super-300x220.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-38-Super-768x563.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-38-Super-790x579.jpg 790w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-2645\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Dillinger favored the high capacity of the Colt .38 Super, legend has it he had a gunsmith modify his pistol to shoot full auto with extended magazines and a Thompson fore-grip.<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"p8\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cMy buddies wanted to be firemen, farmers, or policemen, something like that. Not me; I just wanted to steal people&#8217;s money!\u201d &#8211;<\/span><span class=\"s1\">John Dillinger<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">If nothing else, the charismatic gangster was honest about his intentions. And he followed through with twelve bank robberies between 1933 and \u201934, stealing more than $300,000 in the process. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Born in 1903 in a middle-class residential neighborhood in Indianapolis, John Herbert Dillinger was often in trouble during adolescence. His mother died when he was three, and he resented and disliked his new stepmother.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">When he was 20 years old, Dillinger stole a car and took an extended joyride through Indianapolis. His criminal career was off and running. After being caught and nearly shot, he enlisted in the Navy to avoid being arrested. His time in the military was brief. Dillinger deserted in 1923 and was eventually given a dishonorable discharge.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p10\"><span class=\"s1\">Dillinger and his violent gang terrorized the Midwest starting in 1933. They were responsible for the deaths of ten men while wounding seven others. After robbing several banks and police arsenals, and staging three jailbreaks, Dillinger was named America&#8217;s first \u201cPublic Enemy Number One\u201d by the FBI.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4>How Did John Dillinger Die?<\/h4>\n<p class=\"p10\"><span class=\"s1\">Dillinger was shot and killed by the FBI as he exited Chicago\u2019s Biograph Theater on July 22, 1934. His friend, Anna Sage, had betrayed him to the FBI. In return for her cooperation, she avoided deportation to her home country of Romania. Sage would forever be known as the &#8220;Woman in Red&#8221; because of the dress she wore that evening.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s3\">Although he was never convicted of killing anyone, John Dillinger was known to have carried a variety of weapons during his relatively short (but very productive) criminal career. One of his favorites was the Colt .38 Super Automatic with a 22-round magazine, but <\/span><span class=\"s4\">it was a\u00a0Model 1908 Vest Pocket single-action pistol that he reportedly drew before being gunned down in that Chicago alley. \u00a0He was thirty-one years old.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"p5\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>\u201cBaby Face\u201d Nelson&#8217;s Gun of Choice<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n<div id=\"attachment_2643\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2643\" class=\"wp-image-2643 size-large\" title=\"colt 1911 45 acp babyface nelson gangster guns\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-Colt-45-1024x750.jpg\" alt=\"a photo of colt 1911 45 acp babyface nelson gangster guns\" width=\"1024\" height=\"750\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-Colt-45.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-Colt-45-300x220.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-Colt-45-768x563.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-Colt-45-790x579.jpg 790w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-2643\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Colt 1911 provides magnum firepower, something a gangster like &#8220;Baby Face&#8221; Nelson desperately needed during shootouts with law enforcement.<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"p11\"><span class=\"s3\">Soon after John Dillinger was shot and killed by FBI agents, J. Edgar Hoover announced that \u201cBaby Face\u201d Nelson would now replace him as &#8220;Public Enemy Number One.&#8221;<\/span><span class=\"s5\"> That seemed fitting since Nelson had <\/span><span class=\"s3\">participated in robberies with Dillinger and his gang in 1934.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Nelson was born Lester Joseph Gillis in Chicago, Illinois, on December 6, 1908. He began building his criminal resume at 13 years old and did his first stint in jail when he was 14. Nelson started out stealing cars, bootlegging, and committing armed robberies. It wasn\u2019t long until the youthful-looking hoodlum had also become a ruthless killer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">In 1930, Nelson and his partners-in-crime raided the home of a wealthy magazine owner. They came away with jewelry that would be worth about $3 million in today\u2019s dollars. Later that same year, they stole about $18,000 worth of jewelry from the wife of Bill Thompson, the mayor of Chicago!<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">In partnership with Dillinger, Nelson completed a series of extremely profitable bank robberies. Unlike Dillinger, however, Nelson was unusually fond of senseless bloodshed. Writer Richard Lindberg describes Nelson: \u201cStanding only five feet four inches, Gillis (Nelson) compensated for his physical limitations with a murderous temper and a willingness to employ a switchblade or a gun without hesitation or remorse for the intended victim.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h4>How did Baby Face Nelson Die?<\/h4>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">In the early afternoon hours of November 27, 1934, FBI agents spotted Nelson in a stolen car with his wife, Helen Gillis, and long-time friend John Paul Chase. The Chicago office of the FBI received word of the trio and sent three agents to find Nelson\u2019s car.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Within an hour, the agents caught sight of Nelson. During a firefight, one of the agents managed to shoot a hole in the radiator of Nelson\u2019s car. Nelson pulled off the road, and the agents stopped about 150 feet away. Nelson and Chase fired on the agents with automatic weapons before they could exit their car, killing one and mortally wounding another. Nelson\u2019s wife was not hurt.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">During the battle, Nelson was hit seventeen times but managed to escape with Chase\u2019s help. He died that evening in Wilmette, Illinois at the age of 25.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Except for military battles, the gunfight between these two FBI agents and two desperate gangsters may have been the most violent firefight on American soil. Three of the men had automatic weapons, while the fourth used a short-barreled, semi-automatic 12-gauge riot gun.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Nelson also used a Colt M1911A1 in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/handgun\/45-acp-ammo\">.45 ACP<\/a>. Plus, there were other handguns, including a Colt .38 Super Automatic, found at the scene<\/span><span class=\"s6\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"p12\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>\u201cPretty Boy\u201d Floyd<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n<div id=\"attachment_2641\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2641\" class=\"wp-image-2641 size-large\" title=\"32 acp colt 1903 pocket hammerless pretty boy floyd\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-Colt-1903-1024x750.jpg\" alt=\"a photo of 32 acp colt 1903 pocket hammerless pretty boy floyd\" width=\"1024\" height=\"750\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-Colt-1903.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-Colt-1903-300x220.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-Colt-1903-768x563.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WRS-20th-Century-Gangsters-Guns-Template-Colt-1903-790x579.jpg 790w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-2641\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Colt 1903 Pocket Hammerless, it&#8217;s size and ammo capacity made it a favorite of bank robbers and gangsters alike.<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">There are several versions of how Charles Floyd picked up his nickname, but the most likely one comes from his youth. His neighbors gave him the moniker because he was constantly grooming his hair and was meticulous about his clothes. The fact that he was attractive and friendly also made an impression. But no matter the source of his nickname, Floyd hated it and spent his short life trying to shake it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Charles Floyd\u00a0was born in Georgia in 1904 but grew up on an Oklahoma farm that his parents bought a few years after his birth. Like most Midwest farmers of the early 20<\/span><span class=\"s7\"><sup>th<\/sup><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> century, his family was dreadfully poor. Floyd grew impatient of living in poverty and turned to crime. His first arrest, at the age of 18, was for robbing a local post office of $3.50 in coins.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">In 1925, Floyd began a four-year stretch in Missouri Penitentiary for his part in a payroll robbery. While there, he sold drugs and assaulted guards. And when he was released in 1929, he set his sights on robbing several rural banks with the help of his Colt 1903 .32 Automatic Pistol. But it was Floyd\u2019s involvement in the so-called \u201cKansas City Massacre\u201d that catapulted him to fame\u2014and a top spot on the FBI\u2019s Most Wanted List. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">The firefight started when Floyd and two other hoodlums, Vernon Miller and Adam Richetti, attempted to free their friend, Frank Nash, who was being escorted back to Leavenworth Prison. Four law enforcement officers were killed during the confrontation. Nash was also killed, he was shot in the head accidentally by his potential rescuers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4>Pretty Boy Floyd&#8217;s Death<\/h4>\n<p class=\"p13\"><span class=\"s1\">Not surprisingly, Pretty Boy Floyd died in a hail of bullets from a Thompson machine gun used by FBI agents. There are multiple versions of the details of his death, but all agree that Floyd died in a rural area near East Liverpool, Ohio, on October 22, 1934. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p13\"><span class=\"s1\">Tens of thousands attended Floyd\u2019s funeral. He was thirty years old.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p7\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Gangster Guns: A History Of Violence<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Crime doesn&#8217;t pay. It\u2019s an overused phrase but true nonetheless. Of the gangsters mentioned here, only \u201cMachine Gun\u201d Kelly died of natural causes at the ripe old age of 59\u2014in prison. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">These criminals used a variety of notorious weapons to spread terror. Many of them and their cohorts died violent deaths by the same types of guns they themselves used indiscriminately.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">While most of their lives were brief, their infamy has survived well into the next century. For some, their deeds expanding into folk hero status. But the suffering they caused is anything but heroic, and their deeds leave a dark cloud over the history of the mid-west in the 1920s, the 30s, and 40s.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mob Weapons Most Americans have gained their knowledge of early-twentieth-century gangster guns from TV shows and movies. Those of us who watched The Untouchables on television in the late 50s and early 60s sat enthralled as Special Agent Eliot Ness chased down the Capone mob in one episode after another. Later, in a 1987 film, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2635,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[326,267,417,422,424,112,421,413,420,419,416,414,415,423,418,113],"class_list":["post-2544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","tag-38-special-ammo","tag-45-acp-ammo","tag-al-capone-gun","tag-baby-face-nelson","tag-colt-1903","tag-colt-1911","tag-colt-38-super","tag-gangster-guns","tag-john-dillinger","tag-machine-gun-kelly","tag-mafia-guns","tag-mobster-guns","tag-organized-crime","tag-pretty-boy-floyd","tag-smith-and-wesson-model-10","tag-thompson-submachine-gun"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>20th Century Gangsters and the Guns They Made Famous - Wideners Shooting, Hunting &amp; Gun Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn about the guns used by 20th century gangsters in this article featuring illustrations of the gangster guns used to commit notorious crimes.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/20th-century-gangster-guns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"20th Century Gangsters and the Guns They Made Famous - Wideners Shooting, Hunting &amp; Gun Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn about the guns used by 20th century gangsters in this article featuring illustrations of the gangster guns used to commit notorious crimes.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/20th-century-gangster-guns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wideners Shooting, Hunting &amp; 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