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The Bureau of Investigation (BOI) was created in 1908, and continues to this day, although it was renamed Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 1935. It is well known that the BOI issued guns to agents as early as 1917. Agent Roy McHenry served from 1917 to 1920, and he authored an article in "The Grapevine" in which he said he was issued a .35 S&W Automatic, but because he did not think it had enough "punch" he carried either of two personally owned weapons, a .45 1911 or a 4 inch S&W 38 Special. Another letter shows that one "Agent Harry Jentzer" returned BOI property when he resigned in 1919. Among Bureau property returned was Jentzer's badge #112, Maltby Handcuffs and key, S&W 38 Caliber revolver 214478, a "brief bag," and Code Book No. 96. If agents had no power of arrest, one questions the need for handcuffs.
Albert Pike, the Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Investigation in those days, was in charge of the Bureau's ordnance. Agent McHenry, however, said that agents had to buy their own ammunition.
If Agent McHenry sounds familiar, it is because he co-authored, with Walter Roper, the book "Smith and Wesson Handguns." McHenry, a lawyer, worked for the Department of Justice after leaving the Bureau in 1920. He talked Mr. Pike into ordering 4 inch S&W revolvers to issue instead of the .35 Automatics.
Agent McHenry said that no one questioned the authority of agents to carry weapons as it was seen as part of their job. Some agents were known to obtain carry permits from local authorities at the time, but not all did. Nor, were they required to do so.
As to power of arrest, agents of the Bureau had the same power of arrest as any citizen, which was to arrest for felony, misdemeanor or breach of the peace. Agent McHenry said that BOI agents, in addition, were often commissioned as federal marshals just to be sure of their power of arrest. It should be noted that no federal law authorized federal marshals to carry weapons at that time either. Apparently, if you were commissioned in law enforcement, people expected the agent to be armed and no one really questioned it.
It is well known that agents carried issued weapons prior to the 1934 legislation, and that agents made arrests prior to the 1934 legislation. What, then, was the purpose of the 1934 legislation? No one is alive today who can tell us for sure, but the best educated guess made by people who have studied the matter is that the law was passed so that agents would have a uniform standard no matter in what jurisdiction or state they were assigned. Thus, instead of having to learn the laws of arrest for each state, one federal law allowed the federal agents the same power of arrest everywhere. The same reasoning is given for carrying firearms. The 1934 Act more or less codified the standard common law definition of citizens' arrest, but it made that standard the same for federal agents regardless of where they were serving. Prior to that time, such matters as arrest and carrying weapons were matters of local law. Mr. Hoover desired, it is thought, to have a single standard on these topics that could be taught to agents that would apply no matter where they served.
Finally, there are many, many well-known and well-publicized Bureau shoot-outs prior to the 1934 Act. So, it is clear that agents had firearms. Were they issued? Clearly, some were, although agents often bought and used their own weapons. We know the Bureau issued weapons prior to the 1934 Act because there are FBI documents showing the inventory counts as to the number of Colt and S&W revolvers in inventory at each field office. In addition, well-known agent Ralph Colvin, in 1933, wrote a letter to Mr. Hoover in which he essentially requested more firepower in the war on the Dillinger-era gangsters. In the letter he says that, "we only have the small light pistols furnished by the Bureau which are entirely inadequate for the purpose."
Further, the Bureau's 1929 training manual provided:
"Section 11, Firearms: Employees are instructed:
a - That they are legally entitled to carry firearms for defensive purposes.
b - That, however, as a matter of policy, they are not to
carry the same unless such action is authorized by their Special Agent In Charge.
c - That they are never to use such firearms except for strictly defensive purposes.
d - That a supply of firearms is kept in each field office
to be issued, when necessary, to the employees by the Special Agent In Charge."
Lastly, I will point out that the 1933 Weapons Committee met and selected the Colt Police Positive revolver using the 38/44 ammunition the year before the 1934 Act was passed. An inventory was done to determine how many of the revolvers were needed to make sure every agent could be issued the same revolver. The inventory shows both the Colt and S&W revolvers already in stock. The revolvers, holsters and ammo were ordered the year before the law was passed, and Mr. Tolson directed that training begin immediately. It should be noted that in one memo, Mr. Clegg (known as "Troutmouth" behind his back for the unusual way he parsed his lips) wanted agents to check out revolvers only when needed, and he urged that position on Mr. Hoover. Mr. Tolson, on the other hand, insisted that each agent be issued a revolver to kept with him at all times. Hoover followed the advice of Tolson and made sure each agent was armed.
So, there is plenty of evidence that the BOI agents were armed and could make arrests (under the provisions of the laws of each state, there being no federal law on the topics at the time), and the BOI issued weapons at least as early as 1917 (per McHenry). The federal act of 1934 gave a uniform standard that applied everywhere on the topic of carrying arms and making arrests, but certainly did not mean that agents could, for the first time, be armed or make arrests. One need only look at the historical record of many of the gangster era shootouts that occurred prior to 1934 to see that agents were armed and using machine guns prior to 1934.
So, let us put to bed forever the "old wives tale" that the FBI had no power of arrest or authority to carry fire arms prior to 1934. I can see perhaps why people may think this due to it being repeated so often over the years, but the facts show otherwise.
Many of the documents to which I refer here are readily available through FOI requests, some information is from the biography of Hugh Clegg, and some is courtesy of Larry Wack, retired FBI agent and Dr. John Fox, FBI Historian via Larry Wack.
For additional information on the above, check out Larry Wack's web site at:
Faded Glory: Dusty Roads Of An FBI Era
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