Here’s What You Need to Remember: The first U.S. government customer was actually the United States Postal Inspection Service and the weapon was carried by agents to protect mail on trains and in ...

Just about the only downside to the venerable Thompson submachine gun was its price point. At more than $200, the Thompson was really expensive. Put into today’s dollars, it would have cost more than ...

Tom Hanks famously depicted Captain John Miller in “Saving Private Ryan” toting his trusty Thompson submachine gun — “Tommy gun” — from the beaches of Normandy far into the interior of France in 1944.

This article, "The First Thompsons," appeared originally in the February 2006 issue of American Rifleman. To subscribe to the magazine, visit the NRA membership page and select American Rifleman as ...