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Bonnie and Clyde's guns go up for auction
If you happen to be a crime aficionado and have a bunch of extra cash on lying around you just might have a chance to nab two very historic weapons.
The guns recovered from the bodies of notorious gangster couple Bonnie and Clyde are expected to fetch more than $100,000 each at an auction on Sunday, an auction official said.
The Colt .45 was found in Clyde Barrow's waistband, and the .38-caliber Colt was strapped to one of Bonnie Parker's legs on May 23, 1934, when they were killed in an ambush near Gibsland, Louisiana.
"This is one of the finest Bonnie and Clyde collections you will ever see," said Bobby Livingston, vice president of RR Auction in Amherst, New Hampshire. "We expect the guns should sell anywhere between $100,000 and $200,000. But really the sky is the limit for these types of guns."
In January, a submachine gun and shotgun reportedly seized at one of Bonnie and Clyde's hideouts was sold by a Kansas City auction firm for $130,000 and $80,000, respectively, The Joplin Globe reported.
According to the website for RR Auction, the Colt Model 1911 U.S. Army pistol was Barrow's "personal pistol." When police officers searched the car Bonnie and Clyde were driving when they were gunned down, they found many weapons, including nine other Colts, but this was the one he favored, Livingston said.
An extra clip for bullets is included, along with a letter from Frank Hamer Jr., the son of one of the Texas Rangers who killed the notorious couple.
Parker's .38 was taped to her inner thigh, Livingston said.
"My father said that one reason she had the gun taped to the inside of her leg was that, in those days, no gentlemen officer would search a woman where she had it taped," a letter from Hamer states, according to the auction site.
Livingston told CNN that part of Hamer's fee for tracking and killing Bonnie and Clyde was the promise he could take some of their possessions, which he split with other posse members and police officers from Louisiana.
"This is a well-known gun in Texas as it was displayed in several major museums (including the LBJ Library in Austin) for a two-year exhibition in the early 1980s," the RR Auction listing reads. "There can be no other gun with a closer association to Bonnie Parker than the one taped to her body at her death."
Before the guns could be auctioned off the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms had to make them legally compliant.
"ATF understands the importance of this historically significant firearm," Guy N. Thomas, Special Agent in Charge, ATF Boston Field Division," said in a press release.
ATF said that all proceeds from an open house before the auction will be donated to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
The auction also includes items, including his pocket watch, from the estate of Clyde's sister, Marie Barrow, a release from the auction company said.
Potential bidders can register at the www.rrauction.com, Livingston said. The live auction will contain more than 100 lots of gangster-related items.
Bonnie and Clyde, whose legend grew larger through the years in song and film, went on a crime spree in 1932 that lasted 21 months during the height of the Great Depression, according to Britannica.com. They robbed small-town banks and gas stations throughout the Southwest.
According to the FBI's website, Barrow murdered at least 12 people, but Parker "probably never fired a shot."
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Give them to good folks at NRA. They sure will build a church for them
Wow! You must really hate the 2nd amendment in order to make such a scathing conjecture.
they wouldn't build a church you fool, but the pair would make a fine alter-piece
I am just marveled by the beautiful designs of the guns and the watch. Wow.
I bought a new 1911 just the other day. There is really nothing different between the one picutred here and the one I bought. It is the best firearm in history.
It's funny how thieving murders get folk hero status in the US when people who do honest work are screwed and forgotten.
Yeah. Real funny!
They would have spent their lives doing honest work, but they got screwed and forgotten.
RR Auction is a fantastic place to obtain historic memorabilia! They are super professional and painstakingly check out every item for authenticity before being listed. So bid with confidence! I personally have been buying items from them, as well as consigning, for more than 20 years. Never a problem! Gangsters, Outlaws & Lawmen will no doubt be one of their best auctions ever. Truly some amazing artifacts!
"Livingston told CNN that part of Hamer's fee for tracking and killing Bonnie and Clyde was the promise he could take some of their possessions, which he split with other posse members and police officers from Louisiana."
It's probably just me, I just found this quite tasteless. Especially for a law enforcement officer.
Just wondering why nothing has bullet holes in it like the make up case.
Palintwit -Hello
jIngle-that is kinda morbid.
Maybe it didn't get shot? I like the crusty old makeup at the bottom, Nice touch.
It is what it is. Movies are made about couples like this. Love and a .45. Natural Born Killers, etc. It's a "being young" thing, an "us vs. the world" thing. Nothing to get yourself all mad about. It happened 80 yrs ago.
Like disobediate behavior, Bad boy, and sherking the law. Yeah, Jesse James, Jimmy Hoffa, you are probable right.
I used to be deeply in love with Bonnie Parker. She was so precious.
So it is not only women liking bad boys. You like bad girls?
You are, Gia? Let's talk about it.
Yeah she is like a flower. not.
You forgot "delicate".
Gene Hackman 🙂 One of the best if not the best actor. I loved him in this.
Remember: The french Connection
Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle: This is Doyle. I'm sittin' on Frog One.
Lol
Great Movie. Hackman genius.
@ Obama Mama, did you see him in "The Chamber"? If not, that's a *must see*
So the coppers get to murder people in an ambush then divide their victims possessions. Guess nothing much has changed. They still work for the bankers.
Hello Larry:
Thanks for taking the time and sharing that story. It was very interesting and I really enjoyed it!.
Cheers,
Bubba
Hey, where's Clyde's B.A.R. ( Browning Automatic Rifle ) ?? that's the gun I want !
These guns should be melted down to wikpe thge memory of these internal terrorists from history. I would prefer to buy a new or suprlus Colt 1911A1 .45 or a Colt or S &W .38 without the evil attendant a upon these weapons. As for shotguns or BAR destroy them if the purchasers are known have ATF buy them back and destroy them.
Use only non criminal weapons and ANY criminals weapons should be destroyed .
Is it just me or does Bonnie Parker have a fivehead?
At LEAST a fivehead. Maybe even a sixhead!