{"id":112332,"date":"2019-07-24T00:23:18","date_gmt":"2019-07-24T04:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=112332"},"modified":"2019-07-24T00:23:18","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T00:47:57","slug":"the-assassination-of-john-lennon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/the-assassination-of-john-lennon\/","title":{"rendered":"The Assassination of John Lennon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Beatles was the most popular musical group in all of human history. John, Paul, George, and Ringo are a study in what happens when you take four regular guys and make them rich and famous beyond all imagining. Given their circumstances, it\u2019s a wonder they didn\u2019t turn out worse than they did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Young John Lennon\u2019s childhood was chaotic and difficult. Here he is shown with a small friend. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We focus this day on John. John Winston\nOno Lennon was born in October of 1940 to Julia Stanley Lennon during the London\nBlitz. He was so named after the esteemed Prime Minister. John\u2019s father Alfred was\na Scottish merchant seaman who was gone for long periods supporting the war effort.\nHe sent money back for Julia and the child until 1944 when he went absent\nwithout leave. When he finally returned six months later John\u2019s mother was\npregnant by another man, and their tenuous marriage unraveled. At age five\nyoung John was forced to publically choose between his parents. The resulting\nchaos undoubtedly scarred the child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
John\u2019s musical proclivities were obvious at a young age. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

John had a tumultuous childhood. He was communally raised by five different female family members. Along the way, he learned to play the banjo and eventually the guitar. His aunt Mimi once opined of his inexpensive acoustic guitar, \u201cThe guitar\u2019s all very well, John, but you\u2019ll never make a living out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
John Lennon was the most outspoken of the four Beatles. His radical positions on the Vietnam War made him enemies within the US government. There was once an effort to have him deported as a result. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Throughout his formative years, John cultivated a reputation as a troublemaker. Though he was clearly exceptionally gifted, he admitted that he was the kid that other kids\u2019 parents worried about. When he was eighteen John\u2019s mother Julia was struck by a car and killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Music<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"The
Stuart Sutcliffe left the Beatles to attend art school. He tragically died unexpectedly at age 21 of a cerebral aneurysm. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There have actually been six Beatles.\nStuart Sutcliffe played bass, and Pete Best was the original drummer. In what\nhas got to be the world\u2019s most profound lost opportunity\nSutcliffe\u2019s interest waned, and he dropped out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Pete Best was pushed out of the Beatles and replaced for reasons that remain a bit murky. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pete Best was fired and replaced with\nRingo Starr. This unfortunate turn of events inspired the hilarious Rainn\nWilson comedy The Rocker.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The evolution of the Beatles either followed or drove the evolution of youth culture around the globe. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Beatles made music for eight years. Their stage personas evolved from fairly restrained, well-dressed gentlemen to drug-using hippie counterculture activists. Along the way, they developed a spectacular international following. Among every large group of human beings, a small percentage of them will be tragically unbalanced. Certain attributes of the Beatles meteoric success now began to plant some dark seeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
John\u2019s chaotic worldview and not insubstantial ego were eventually his undoing. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In March of 1966 Lennon was quoted as\nhaving said in an interview with the Evening\nStandard<\/em>, \u201cChristianity will go\u2026it will vanish and shrink\u2026We\u2019re more popular\nthan Jesus now\u2014I don\u2019t know which will go first, rock and roll or Christianity.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Mark David Chapman was a delusional zealot who took what he read in the news way too seriously. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This bit of sacrilege didn\u2019t make much of a splash in the UK. However, on our side of the pond, the more puritanical Americans took enormous umbrage. There were formal burnings of their records, and the Ku Klux Klan took an interest. Among those deeply offended by John Lennon\u2019s god complex was one Mark David Chapman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Shooter<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"The
Mark David Chapman represented the toxic combination of mental illness and suboptimal home life. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mark David Chapman was an Air Force brat\nwhose service member father was distant and abusive. He showed delusional\ntraits from a young age and began dabbling in drugs at 14. That same year he\nran away from home and lived alone in Atlanta for two weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Chapman became fixated on the JD Salinger novel The Catcher in the Rye.<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 1971 Chapman became active in the Presbyterian church and seemed to be turning his life around. He worked on a variety of mission projects and was described as hard-working, friendly, and genuine. Around this time Chapman read JD Salinger\u2019s novel A Catcher in the Rye, <\/em>and he began to go off the rails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
As Mark David Chapman grew older he became more and more unstable. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The subsequent years were tumultuous for\nChapman. He attempted suicide, ended and started relationships with women,\ntraveled literally around the world, and qualified as an armed security guard.\nHe began drinking heavily and, incensed by Lennon\u2019s obvious atheism\nand blasphemous proclamations, began plotting his demise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Killing<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"The
Chapman\u2019s choice of targets ultimately boiled down to geography. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Chapman had his theological nexus with\nLennon, but his proposed hit list was both long and variegated. Paul McCartney,\nJohnny Carson, Elizabeth Taylor, George C. Scott, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis,\nand Ronald Reagan were all targeted. He later admitted that he had picked\nLennon because he was convenient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Lennon is seen here with Chapman some five hours before Chapman killed him. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Chapman bought a Charter Arms .38 Special revolver and traveled all the way from New York City to Atlanta to secure hollowpoint rounds to feed it. Chapman had already been to NYC once before to kill Lennon but changed his mind and went home. On the day of the shooting, he posted himself outside of the Dakota apartment building where Lennon lived with Yoko One and his son Sean. Earlier that day Chapman visited with five-year-old Sean and his nanny while they were out taking a walk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The album that Lennon autographed for Chapman was later found in a planter outside the Dakota apartment building. It eventually sold for $1.5 million at auction. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On the afternoon of December 8, 1980, Chapman\ncaught Lennon and Ono outside their apartment building as they were heading to\na recording session. They apparently had a fairly pleasant exchange, and Lennon\nautographed a copy of the album Double\nFantasy<\/em> for Chapman. Lennon and Ono returned home around 1050 pm. Chapman was\nstill standing outside the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Chapman killed Lennon outside the Dakota apartment building where he lived with Yoko One and his son Sean. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There were rumors that Chapman called Lennon\u2019s name, but he later denied any recollection of that. Without a great deal of fanfare, Chapman fired five rounds from his inexpensive .38 Special revolver. The first missed Lennon and struck a window in the building. The other four connected. Lennon staggered into the lobby of the building with blood pouring from his mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first two hollowpoint rounds struck\nthe singer in the left side of his back. The other two hit his left shoulder.\nTwo rounds passed through his body, and another ended up in her left arm. The\nfourth lodged in his aorta near the heart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
These are the glasses Lennon was wearing when he was killed. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One round severed Lennon\u2019s subclavian artery. Another severely damaged his aorta and aortic arch. Lennon\u2019s left lung was also badly perforated. Surgeons at Roosevelt Hospital performed an emergent open-chest heart massage to no avail. A post mortem evaluation estimated that Lennon lost 80% of his blood volume before he died. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When police arrived Chapman had placed\nhis weapon on the ground and stood calmly reading The Catcher in the Rye.<\/em> He was arrested without incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gun<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The Undercover .38 was Charter Arms first successful offering. This is the gun used by Chapman to kill Lennon. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Douglas McClenahan was a gun designer who\nhad previously worked for Colt, High Standard, and Ruger before starting\nCharter Arms in 1964. His first revolver was the five-shot short-barreled\nUndercover model ultimately used by Chapman. Unlike other contemporary designs,\nMcClenahan built his revolvers around a one-piece frame for strength, reduced\nthe number of parts in the mechanism, and introduced a novel safety device. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The transfer bar ignition system, shown on the right, adds an extra measure of safety to a revolver\u2019s mechanism. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to its website, Charter pioneered the transfer bar ignition system used in most modern revolvers today. As opposed to the exposed firing pin of more traditional wheelguns, this transfer bar system ensures that the firing pin cannot contact the cartridge unless the trigger is pulled fully to the rear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The gun used by Chapman currently resides in a modest museum run by the NYPD. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Charter Arms Undercover .38 is a\nsnub-nosed five-shot wheelgun of conventional layout. The cylinder release\npresses forward in the manner of Smith and Wesson guns and allows the cylinder\nto pivot open to the left for reloading. Chapman\u2019s Undercover\nsported slightly oversized grips and an unshrouded ejector rod. The actual\nassassination gun is retained by the New York City Police Department and is on\ndisplay in the small museum associated with their Forensic Investigation\nDivision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The Charter Arms Undercover .38 remains in production today. This is the gun used by Chapman. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Charter Arms went bankrupt in the 1990s\nbut was resurrected some years later by the Ecker family in Shelton,\nConnecticut. This new company succumbed to nuisance lawsuits and closed its\ndoors in 2005. A subsequent restructured Charter Arms still produces revolvers\ntoday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Denouement<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The Beatles both reflected and personified the Age of Aquarius. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the final years of the Beatles, John Lennon developed an abiding enthusiasm for the hallucinogen LSD. The drug\u2019s influence on such Beatles classics as Strawberry Fields Forever, All You Need is Love, I am the Walrus, and, obviously, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds seemed to me to, if anything, improve their work. As an aside, Lennon recorded Twist and Shout,<\/em> a personal favorite, in 1963 while suffering from a wretched head cold. If you listen to the song closely you can hear it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark David Chapman pled guilty to murder in\nthe second degree and was sentenced to 20 years to life imprisonment. He has\nbeen considered for parole and denied every other year since 2000. He is held\nin solitary confinement for his own protection and is granted one 48-hour\nprivate conjugal visit with his wife on prison grounds each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Nearly a quarter-million fans packed Central Park to pay their respects to John Lennon. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

John Lennon\u2019s death triggered\nan outpouring of grief around the planet on an unprecedented scale. Three fans\ncommitted suicide after the murder. Yoko Ono had Lennon cremated and refused to\nhold a service. Ono had to ask grieving fans singing outside the Dakota to\nleave as they were keeping her awake. She later requested a ten-minute period\nof silence to commemorate her late husband. 225,000 mourners subsequently\ngathered in Central Park to take part. Annie Leibovitz\u2019 iconic portrait of\na naked Lennon embracing Ono was shot on the day he died at age 40, gunned down\nin cold blood by a psychotic fan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
This iconic image graced the cover of Rolling Stone<\/em> magazine. It was shot on the day Lennon was killed. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Charter Arms Undercover<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n Caliber\n <\/td>\n .38 Special\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Barrel Length\n <\/td>\n 2 inches\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Weight\n <\/td>\n 16 ounces\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Capacity\n <\/td>\n Five\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Finish\n <\/td>\n Blued\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The story of the assassination of John Lennon and a quick rundown of the revolver that was used. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":112345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[257,772],"tags":[1422,132,604,102,752,331],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-112332","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-historical-guns","8":"category-will-dabbs","9":"tag-assassination","10":"tag-buzz","11":"tag-charter-arms","12":"tag-feature-articles","13":"tag-historical-guns","14":"tag-revolver"},"yoast_head":"\nThe Assassination of John Lennon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Assassination of John Lennon - Will Dabbs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" 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However, shooting guns and claiming it was work seemed like a pretty sweet hustle. As a result, Will serendipitously transformed an avocation into a vocation. Raised in the Mississippi Delta, Will flew UH1H, OH58A\\\/C, CH47D and AH1S helicopters operationally as an Army Aviator. He is SCUBA-qualified and has parachuted out of perfectly good airplanes at 3 o'clock in the morning. Will has summited Mount McKinley, Alaska, six times\u2026always at the controls of an Army helicopter, which is the only way sensible folk climb mountains. Will has delivered sixty babies and occasionally wrung human blood out of his socks. He is married to his high school sweetheart and has three awesome adult children. 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