Now let me say up front that Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were vicious killers and that there's no reason to idolize them. Nevertheless, Americans seems to have a fascination with the outlaws of days gone by. Maybe it's a pathological variation of the celebrity worship syndrome that afflicts so many people.
OK, now that we've got that out of the way, some of Bonnie and Clyde's tools of their trade are going up for auction. One is a Colt .38 Special that was allegedly found taped to Bonnie Parker's thigh when she died. Apparently, the ambush came so suddenly she didn't have a chance to retrieve it. Another is a Colt 1911 .45 found in Clyde Barrow's waistband. Maybe it's the same one peeking out of Clyde's pants in the photo on the right.
In any event, those guns were very ordinary at the time, and there was nothing special about them other than who owned them.
But this one is fairly unique. The nickel plate gives it a sparkle, and you can see how it was customized into a Fitz Special. That cutaway trigger guard would seem to make it unsafe. But then, "safety first" probably wasn't Clyde's favorite motto.
These old guns will probably bring a good price at auction. And relatives of modern day outlaws might be tempted to hoard the tools of their favorite bad guy's trade. But somehow owning Bernie Madoff's computer wouldn't seem to provide nearly the gratification of owing Bonnie Parker's little snub nose .38.
Updated 10/1/12: SOLD! Bonnie's .38 and Barrow's .45 were purchased by the same buyer for $264,000 and $240,000 respectively. Source.
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