SOLDIERS SINCE the world was young have been "souvenir hunters," fetching home everything from dames to diamonds. Uncle Sam's wandering warriors are champs (or chumps) in the souvenir department, whether they collect by "liberation" or by purchase with cigarettes or GI chocolate rations. And the first prize in the World War II souvenir grab bag was--a foreign pistol. Judging by the number of European pocket automatics in this country today, every GI must have come home with his pockets loaded.I'm surprised no one in the gun ban camp has gone hysterical over "The Greatest Generation Loophole"--there must be hundreds of thousands of these "weapons of war designed solely to kill people" still out there "on the street."
This isn't the only thing that's changed in 50 years, as you'll see when you click on the title link (Note: It's a big file, so if you're on dial up, be warned). The January 1958 issue of GUNS Magazine is now online.