When Capone’s gang massacred people, Congress wasted no time banning Tommy guns

On a cold St. Valentine’s Day in Chicago in 1929, seven Prohibition gang members were shot and killed in a North Side garage. The infamous “massacre” was attributed to a war between Al Capone and Bugs Moran.

On a warm St. Valentine’s Day in Parkland, Florida, in 2018, at a high school named for Marjory Stoneman Douglas, 17 high school students and teachers were massacred. This time the killer was an 18-year old former student.

Both incidents sparked outrage, and both threw a spotlight on the problem of particularly devastating firearms.

In the Chicago Prohibition shooting, two “Tommy guns” (.45-caliber Thompson submachine guns) and several shotguns were used. The police recovered 70 shell casings from the murder scene, and several Capone gangsters were suspected. In the Parkland massacre, a single AR-15 semi-automatic rifle was used — by a single shooter — to spray 100 rounds.

In both shootings, people were horrified to see how swiftly innocent people could be mowed down. After the 1929 shooting in Chicago, the Tribune asked a question that remains relevant in our time: “The butchering of seven men by open daylight raises this question for Chicago: Is it helpless?”

In the aftermath of the 1929 massacre, that question was answered with action, passage of the historic National Firearms Act. Now, as we struggle with how to keep our kids safe in 2018, we should look to the effectiveness of that law.

Passed in 1934, the original National Firearms Act imposed a tax on the making and transfer of certain firearms, as well as a special (occupational) tax on persons and entities engaged in the business of importing, manufacturing, and dealing in NFA firearms. The law also required the registration of all NFA firearms with the secretary of the Treasury. Firearms subject to the 1934 act included shotguns and rifles having barrels less than 18 inches in length, certain firearms described as “any other weapons,” machineguns, and firearm mufflers and silencers.

While the NFA was enacted by Congress as an exercise of its authority to tax, the law’s underlying purpose was unrelated to revenue collection. As the legislative history of the law discloses, its real purpose was to curtail, if not prohibit, transactions involving NFA firearms.

Congress was tired of such firearms being used in gangland crimes like the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre and decided it was time to focus on the safety of American communities. The $200 tax on most NFA firearms was considered quite severe and adequate to carry out Congress’ intent to discourage or eliminate transactions in these firearms.

The law was surprisingly effective and non-controversial and, in 1986, Congress strengthened the NFA definition of “silencer” by adding combinations of parts for silencers and any part intended for use in the assembly or fabrication of a silencer.

As of this writing, the Parkland students, as well as students and parents nationwide, are asking why we, America’s adults, cannot keep them safe in their schools. They wonder why we act like we are helpless in the face of a powerful lobby group, the National Rifle Association. The NRA is demanding more guns in schools while referring to student activists as “socialists.”

It makes one wonder: Who are the true patriots in this situation?

The true patriots are certainly not the executives of the NRA, who have stopped speaking for responsible gun owners. In their thirst for money, they want to strip silencers from those things regulated by the National Firearms Act, allow concealed carry of handguns, and the open carry of AR-15-style semiautomatic rifles. They would allow open carry at demonstrations, bars, places of worship and even airports.

Many positive suggestions have been made as to how we can make our schools safer. I would add one more: Amend the National Firearms Act, against the NRA’s wishes, to include semiautomatic “assault” rifles and supersized magazines. Collectors still could possess them after complying with the same regulations that have been working since 1934, yet these firearms could not be purchased by 18-year-olds who have evil intent.

Which is the true reflection of our times? Will we be defeated again by the powerful gun lobby? Or will we be guided by a powerful new generation of smart and dedicated young people?

David Ziegler is a retired agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

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