John’s story continues:
When JB returned from France and was mustered out of the Army, he brought a piece of ordnance, a Thompson submachine gun. From time to time, he would clean the weapon and test fire it. Reports were that the test firing of the weapon coincided with periods of serious labor unrest at the factory. In 1954, we learned that possession of this weapon was illegal and donated it to the Carroll County Sheriff’s department. In 1995 John III, working with Carroll County Sheriff Lucas, arranged for the sale of the weapon for $10,000, with the money to be spent on the department’s needs.
