« Justice Scalia takes Justice Kagan shooting | Main | Another research discovery »
Research discoveries
Been too pained with rattlesnake bite to do much writing, but while out of town I researched the papers of Homer Cummings, Attorney General in the 1930s. Found an interesting 1935 memo to him from J. Edgar Hoover (who then signed his name John Edgar Hoover). Hoover is shocked that they have invented the .357 magnum. He adds as a secret tip (apparently they had informants in Smith and Wesson) that the company intends to bring out ... jacketed bullets for it.
He says that the only purpose of such a round is to penetrate body armor, since we all know that stopping power isn't helped by high velocity bullets, but by heavy slow ones.
He also worries about zinc bullets (I know this was explored in the 1980s, didn't know the idea was then half a century old). SInce zinc is less dense than lead, but much harder, these cast bullets could be pushed at much higher velocities and thus might also pierce body armor.
There are also AG memos on how to push more gun control. The tools are pretty much what they were decades later. Send press releases to all newspaper editors. Get radio interviews. Rope in the League of Women Voters and the International Assn of Chiefs of Police. Appeal to labor unions by tipping them off that big corporations own full autos and tear gas guns, presumably for use against strikers.
The big push was to be for national handgun registration. The original form of the NFA 1934 had taxed and thus registered not only full autos and short barrels, but also pistols. Congress took pistols out, and Cummings' people had drafted another bill to put pistols back in.
Comments
Wow! I find this kind of history amazing. I'm sorry about your recovery being painful. I hope things level out soon!
Posted by: Cory Brickner at October 26, 2010 10:23 AM
There are recordings of Cummings in the National Archives. He did fireside chats on radio in the 30s as did FDR. In these and other documents Cummings talks of the threat of theft of guns from the National Guard armories and the need to place those weapons under more positive control (AKA his control). His comments in the brief for the Miller case and the references to the Encyclopedia of Social Sciences are used to attack the legitimacy of the National Guard as even the militia mentioned in the 2ndA.
Posted by: james N. Gibson at October 26, 2010 10:49 AM
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Perfect evidence could not be more forthcoming than simply looking at the actions of those we elect to serve us. No longer content to serve honorably, they have become our masters.
And they believe themselves to be above the law and superior to We the People.
They can worry about the projectile all they want. Lyman sells a bullet mould for a lead cast bullet the when cast using linotype with penetrate 3/16" steel plate. I believe it comes in both .357 and .44 sizes. And it that don't work, one can always use a lathe to turn out whatever one wants.
Posted by: fwb at October 26, 2010 12:28 PM
You just gotta love the Goldilocks syndrome with government and firearms. Here, the AG is whining about full metal jacket bullets because they are too good at penetrating. A few decades down the road and the anti-gun types take the opposite position, it is the evil hollow-point bullets which must be banned because they expand too much. Same with guns. This one's too small (handguns) that one's too big (AWB).
Goldilocks will never be satisfied until all are banned.
Posted by: happycynic at October 26, 2010 03:47 PM
Thanks for doing this, Mr. Hardy. I hope the notes, memos, etc. will be posted for public perusal.
Posted by: Diomed at October 27, 2010 12:23 AM
"Hoover is shocked that they have invented the .357 magnum."
That's interesting. As best as I recall at the moment, part of the reason the .357 magnum was developed was as a more effective arm for police officers. Cops at the time were facing increasingly mobile criminals, and found that the standard issue revolvers couldn't penetrate car doors and such.
Point being, I'm pretty sure the FBI was well aware that S&W was developing the .357. As a matter of fact, I think J. Edgar Hoover was presented one of the first Registered Magnums S&W produced.
"He says that the only purpose of such a round is to penetrate body armor..."
My recollection is that there was also a major issue at the time with heavily armed gangs (such as Dillinger's) wearing body armor, too. I think there are mentions of this in *Public Enemies*, but I'm at work right now and don't have references in front of me.
Posted by: Dwight Brown at October 27, 2010 09:17 AM
I'd love to hear Cummings' fireside chats. I wonder if that's possible.
Posted by: Hank Archer at October 27, 2010 09:49 AM
That is fascinating stuff. I would be very interested to see the documentation/sources when you get a chance to post them.
Posted by: Greg at November 1, 2010 02:42 PM