CAS TOPICS > The Longbranch

INFAMOUS FIREARMS SERIES - The Gun that killed 20 million people

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Major 2:
It was the Browning FN 1910 that Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb nationalist, used to shoot Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife Sophie, as their motorcade passed through Sarajevo, killing both the date was June 28, 1914.
The terrorist act gave Austria-Hungary the excuse that it had sought for opening hostilities against Serbia and thus precipitated World War I.
 With its compact design, it was a perfect assassin’s weapon. A M1910 also claimed the lives of Paul Doumer, the president of France, in May 1932, and Huey Long, the governor of Louisiana, in September 1935.

(not this very one however, this one from my collection)

Major 2:
The Revolver that tried to take on a Bull Moose !

 On Oct. 14, 1912, John Flammang Schrank shot Theodore Roosevelt in Milwaukee, Wisconsin while Roosevelt was campaigning. Roosevelt was running for a third term as president at the head of his newly formed Progressive Party "Bull Moose". His opponents were Republican incumbent William Howard Taft and Democrat Woodrow Wilson.
As Roosevelt was leaving a dinner for supporters at the Gilpatrick Hotel, Schrank stepped forward and shot Roosevelt with a Colt revolver chambered in .38 S&W Police Positive not unlike this one. (M2 Collection)
 The .38-caliber slug struck Roosevelt in the chest, passing through his steel glasses case and a folded copy of the speech he was about to give.
Roosevelt, after coughing and seeing no blood, decided to continue to the Milwaukee Auditorium. He delivered the planned speech rightly believing Schrank’s bullet had not punctured his heart or lungs and his life was not in immediate danger.

"Friends, I shall ask you to be as quiet as possible. I don’t know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot; but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose. But fortunately, I had my manuscript, so you see I was going to make a long speech, and there is a bullet — there is where the bullet went through — and it probably saved me from it going into my heart. The bullet is in me now, so that I cannot make a very long speech, but I will try my best."

EDIT  Griff's addition of TR's undershirt is very cool, here then is TR's glasses Case that along with the folded speech saved his life.

Coal Creek Griff:
The undershirt that TR was wearing when his was shot is on display at the TR National Park visitor center in Medora, ND.  The bullet hole is indicated by the circle in the card on the left.

As a side note, I was not familiar with the off-center buttons in a shirt like this.  I wonder if it had a purpose (making a tie or cravat more comfortable?) or was just a style.  I think that it looks kind of cool...

Griff

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Major 2:
A champion of non-violent resistance

Mahatma Gandhi became the leader of the movement for Indian independence from British rule. On Jan. 30, 1948, he was assassinated in New Delhi by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist who objected to Gandhi’s acceptance of Muslims.
The gun a Beretta M1934 semi-automatic pistol like this one. (from M2 Collection)

Major 2:
The Mayor of San Francisco

San Francisco mayor George Moscone, and Harvey Milk a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors were both assassinated Nov. 27, 1978.
The murderer, Dan White, himself a former member of the Board of Supervisors used a Model 36 S&W in 38 Special.
White reportedly targeted the two after not being reappointed to the city board and because of opposition to their police violence and abuse.

The gun shown, a Mod.36 Chiefs Special in my collection.

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