Historical Guns

Guiseppe “Joe” Zangara stood all of five feet tall and spoke poor English. Back in 1933 this angry little guy very nearly killed the President.

While serving with the RAF he received the heartbreaking news that his father had been tortured to death by the German security services. In response, Longchamps planned an elaborate operation to strike Gestapo headquarters in Brussels. His RAF commanders rejected the request, claiming it was too risky. On January 20, 1943, Jean de Selys Longchamps did it anyway.

Capstick abandoned a successful Wall Street career in his twenties seeking adventure. Like Theodore Roosevelt and Ernest Hemingway before him, Capstick found that for which he quested.

Back in the 1860s, a Tennessee farmer with a grudge used a muzzleloading single-shot Kentucky Long Rifle to terrorize thousands of Federal troops. His exploits stand in bitter testament to the chaos that can be wrought by a single determined rifleman with a gun.

The similarities between 19th century Manchester Police Detective Jerome Caminada and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional Detective Sherlock Holmes are compelling.

The seething racial vitriol that drove Mark James Robert Essex to blast the holy crap out of downtown New Orleans continues to drive headlines today. Within this sordid tale, however, there resides any number of legitimate tactical lessons. Law Enforcement tactics nationwide evolved markedly as a result.

8,000 miles South of the UK and 400 miles east of Argentina lie the Falklands Islands. The UK has held possession of the Falklands since 1833, and the islands are liberally populated with British subjects, some three thousand or so by 2006.

Hans-Ulrich Rudel was the most highly decorated German soldier of World War 2. He remained an unrepentant Nazi to his death.

Labalaba spent his childhood on an island and craved adventure. He initially enlisted with the Royal Ulster Rifles and also served with the Royal Irish Rangers. He was a stone-cold warrior.