Mob FilesPublic-domain archive of American organized crime
Three men outdoors at a rifle range. The man on the left, in a flat cap, and the Army officer in the center, in a campaign hat, hold a Thompson submachine gun between them; the man on the right holds a second Thompson upright and a drum magazine.
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Army captain explaining the mechanism of a Thompson submachine gun to a Hartford police captain, Camp Perry, Ohio, 1930 (National Archives)

U.S. Army Signal Corps photograph from the 1930 National Rifle Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio. The original caption describes the Thompson submachine gun as "a favorite of Chicago gunmen." Two Thompsons are visible, and the man on the right holds a drum magazine.

Date
1930
Kind
photograph
Source
National Archives Catalog
Retrieved
2026-10-12
NAID
405231070
Rights
A U.S. Army Signal Corps photograph, a work of the United States government, public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105. The National Archives catalog records the use restriction status as "Unrestricted." The copy stored here is the catalog's digital image.

The National Archives titles this photograph “Captain C.B. Norris, of the U.S. Army, Explaining Mechanism of Thompson Submachine Gun to Captain Edward Lanrish of the Hartford, Connecticut, Police Department.” It was made at the National Rifle Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio, which ran from 25 August to 14 September 1930. The original Signal Corps caption reads: “Thompson submachine gun, a favorite of Chicago gunmen. Captain C.B. Norris, US Army, explaining mechanism to Capt. Edward Lanrish, left, of Hartford, Conn. Police Department. E.E. Richardson Maumee, Ohio, on the right.”

Two Thompsons are visible; the man on the right holds a drum magazine in his hand, and the photograph does not show it fitted to a gun. The phrase about Chicago gunmen is the 1930 caption’s wording, not a finding of this archive. The photograph itself shows men at a rifle range handling the weapon; it does not show a crime. The stored copy includes the scanner’s color target along the bottom edge.

Object: Thompson submachine guns, two, and a drum magazine
Maker: not stated in the caption
Date: August-September 1930
Provenance: U.S. Army Signal Corps; National Archives, Record Group 111, Local ID 111-SC-95390-38
Appears in: National Archives, series Photographs of American Military Activities (NAID 530707)

itemJohn Taliaferro Thompson, portrait, 1915 (Library of Congress)Phillips Studio portrait photograph of John Taliaferro Thompson, whom the Library's title identifies as an Army officer, founder of the Auto-Ordnance Corporation and inventor of the Thompson submachine gun.itemThompson submachine gun, 1920s (Smithsonian, National Postal Museum 2013.2011.158)Smithsonian Open Access record and CC0 image of a Thompson submachine gun with canvas strap, transferred to the National Postal Museum from the United States Postal Inspection Service. The museum says Postal Inspectors were the first law enforcement agency to use it against criminals.