What Happened to 2 Million WW2 German Luger Pistols Sold at Sears for $7.95 After 1968 Gun Ban?

Описание: In the years following World War II, something extraordinary happened in America. Millions of German Luger pistols—the iconic sidearm of the Wehrmacht—flooded the civilian market. These precision-engineered weapons, manufactured in factories across Nazi-occupied Europe, became so abundant and cheap that by the 1960s, you could order one through the Sears catalogue for just $7.95. Yes, the same Sears where you bought your work boots and kitchen appliances. American soldiers discovered vast warehouses filled with these weapons, and instead of destroying them, the U.S. Department of Defence sold them to licensed dealers who then distributed them to the general public. For nearly two decades, military-grade German firearms were as accessible as any consumer product. Gun dealers couldn't keep them in stock. They appeared in pawn shops, gun shows, and estate sales across the nation. But this unprecedented access to surplus military weapons wouldn't last. The assassinations of President Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King Junior in the 1960s, combined with rising urban violence, forced America's hand. The Gun Control Act of 1968 ended the era overnight—no more mail-order firearms, no more importation of foreign military weapons. The millions of Lugers already in circulation remained, forever reminding us of a fleeting moment when ordinary Americans could casually purchase pieces of history for pocket change. Today, those same pistols fetch hundreds of dollars in collectors' markets, not because they became more deadly, but because we finally recognised what we'd given away.

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