My citizenship in the gun world can be blamed on a number of factors: a student whose persuasive essay argued that if we can ignore the Second Amendment, the First could receive the same treatment. A colleague in a writers’ group whose stories featured a variety of nineteenth century firearms. The increasing hostility of the right wing in America. But of interest today is the “Luger” episode from the History Channel’s series, Tales of the Gun—back when the History Channel had shows about things other than pawn shops, the Alaskan working class, and aliens.
Back in my days of innocence, I had seen Lugers in the war movies I would watch after getting my weekend chores done—though a number of those Lugers were in fact Walther P38s, but I did say something about being innocent—Where Eagles Dare comes immediately to mind, though I am sure that Hogan’s Heroes had something to do with my awareness of that pistol.
Ah, the glorious days of the Sunday afternoon matinee and classic TV reruns.
In any case, how could I not be fascinated by a pistol with ears? And when I learned that it operated by this odd knee-bend toggle action, well, I had to have one.
But even though some three million handguns of the Pistole Parabellum design were made, they consistently command a hefty price—not nearly as high as full-auto firearms or guns that have not survived the ravages of history quite as often, yet still spendy. At last, however, I found one with an excellent bore that was within my willingness to suffer financially, and I am finally a Luger owner.
It was what I consider to be affordable in part—in large part, I imagine—because it is a Weimar Republic era model, sold on the commercial market in 1921. Given the gun controls imposed by the Versailles Treaty, I assume that it was sold to the police, but that is a guess. What it is not is an Imperial pistol or a Nazi pistol. Like my post-war P38, it comes from a period of rebuilding after defeat for Germany.
And this brings me to the question I wish to address in this article: Is there something dark—I might say sinister, but I am left-handed—about the market for naughty-era guns?
The fact is that a German firearm with the correct proof marks from the Nazi period or from the First World War will cost more, and frequently a lot more, than a gun of the exact same design made at some other time or place. My Yugoslavian M24/47 is a Mauser K98k as far as the 7.92x57 round and my shoulder are concerned, but a Germans example will fetch a higher price. As I said above, my P38 was manufactured after the Second World War and is thus much cheaper than the Walthers represented in those movies that I still enjoy. And given the market, I have to conclude that Lugers from the defeated interlude are in less demand.
In part, this is because war is a more interesting time, as horrifying as that may be upon reflection. A sign declaring that at this location on the 19th of June 1373 nothing happened may be amusing, but tourists want to see the location of memorable events, not of ordinary life, and objects often come with the same requirement. A weapon made before or during a big war was likely used in that war, and it is all the more desirable as we can add evidence of specific use for specific actions. Gavrilo Princip’s FN 1910 is certainly priceless, but were it ever to be sold, it would beyond doubt bring in far more for its owner than Cousin Maude’s that rode around in a purse and was never employed as anything other than a paperweight.
This is natural, and it is driven by collectors whose interest is in artifacts that can be demonstrated as having some unique historical status. For me, the design and my ability to take a gun to the range to feel and master its function is what I find interesting. I can say from experience that the Luger’s sights would make a modern tactical instructor curl up in a ball and weep without having to spend more than what my practical used car cost me. And I do not feel bad putting rounds through my particular Luger, since I am not wearing out something that ought to be in a museum.
But is there something wrong with wanting to own pieces of the bad parts of history?
In a pacifist’s point of view, all guns are to be described that way, perhaps. Any weapon has the potential to do violence against another. But most people agree that acts of violence have a moral character determined by the circumstances. My SMLE No. 4 Mk 1 was thus on the side more in the right than a German Mauser manufactured in the same war, for example. The same applies to a comparison between an Inglis Hi Power and a Luger.
For the sake of completion, a collector may wish to have one of each type of small arms used by soldiers in the Second World War—the semiautomatic models, anyway. Or someone might argue that the Nambu pistol is worth having as the inspiration for the Ruger .22 handgun that a lot of us plink with or use to qualify for a carry license. Or someone could view having direct knowledge of the tools used by evil regimes helps in understanding the conflicts in which those regimes were ultimately defeated.
Which is to say, there are many reasons—historical, practical, aesthetic, etc.—for wanting to own any of a number of types of firearms. What if the collector’s desire is to bask in the supposed glories of Nazi Germany?
I would view this as the collecting equivalent of seeking to own firearms for the purpose of murdering innocents in a mall or school. No, a yearning to own, say, a Luger that belonged to an Einsatzgruppen officer in order to celebrate his evil deeds is not immediately harmful to others, but it is indicative of a warped personality.
The world is fortunate in that reasons for wanting to possess a given collector’s piece are many, and most are good—or at least most of the time pleasantly crazy, since the mania to collect is a bit of a neurosis. It is up to each of us who collect to examine our motivations, as there is simultaneously a dark side to collecting and no necessity for inhabiting that realm.
In this respect, collecting is like life.
I don't own anything "collectable" in that sense, although I don't simply because I'm too cheap. Just some nice examples of firearms. I think the closest I have to collectable is an early sixties, High Standard Supermatic Trophy made in the Hamden, CT plant. Got it from my stepdad when he stopped shooting it.