RONALD L. KOVAR

Well lets start this story in the same manner as it was told to me, very sinister and mysterious, with a sense of Chicago gangster history. Back in 1992, I was watching an untouchable story that was on video. The story was on a dealer gunsmith who was supplying guns to the local Chicago gangsters. I found it interesting enough to remember it years later, on my Thompson gun searches thru Chicago and at the local gun shows. I had come to meet a man in his sixties, who we will call Jimmy, who resides in the Hedgewish area of Chicago, on it's lower east side, who had told me a tale of his still living 92 year old father. His father was a retired Chicago Police Lieutenant, who in his past had worked alongside Al Capone in Cicero and Berwyn, which are known hangouts for the gangsters at that time. Al Capone, at this time, had acquired thru some sinister channels, a pair of full auto Scaramuzzo Thompsons. I had said back in return to this statement, don't you mean Colt Thompsons. Jimmy said back, with a wink in his eye," Not 100% correct Sonny." Then I flashed back and remembered the early untouchables show that had mentioned the dealer/gunsmith who was selling guns to the locals. However, I was thinking these were Colt commercial guns from Auto-Ordnance. Guess again folks, not true. So I had asked more questions, and had received the answers I wanted to hear. Some locals had ordered parts from Colt and this gun smith had made some unnumbered frames and receivers, and with the pans had duplicated two Thompson submachine guns. He had done this for Mr. Al Capone himself. The guns had the standard blue finish and the proper wood. However, since it was of local manufacture, it was devoid of any markings or serial numbers. They would be the prefect pair, untraceable. They would work with deadly efficiency as their Colt brothers. In essence they were born of that model.

How did it work out that this older unassuming man know of this story? Most likely because his father had acquired them thru his dealings with Al Capone and the gangsters of the time, and had shown them to his son many times. His son was sworn to secrecy, for they could have been two extra guns tagging along to the scene of the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre or could they have been used to gun down some other unsavory characters that raised a gun to Capone? How many clashes had they been involved in?

Now they would never bark again, for they were hidden away wrapped in some oily cloth, in a dark and dank crawl space or basement, or maybe in some hidden wall or closet resting in peace. Not proudly on display under glass in some museum, or in a collectors case, made available for the camera's eye. These twins of the gunsmith's art were made for a purpose outside of Law and Order, and as such had to be disposed of, and put out of the light of public scrutiny. Even today a sum of money would not bring them to the light of day to be photographed. So who knows maybe for the next fifty years they will remain hidden.