Abbott Hall continues to thrive in history as a World War II Nazi machine gun was recently found in a safe.
As town officials were clearing out the basement and disposing of safes, they were tipped off that one of the safes may contain a gun. After a further inspection of the safes, officials stumbled across an MP40 machine gun created in 1942.
The machine gun came from the late Peter McManus who served in WWII in the Navy on the USS Augusta. McManus was also a former Lynn police officer. When he passed, his wife decided to donate the gun to Abbott Hall for the Marblehead Maritime Museum’s collection.
The initial thought stemming from town officials was to sell the gun and use the revenue to fund future activities. The estimated value of the gun would have been upwards of $50,000 according to Abbott Hall Collections Manager Peter Stacey.
Unfortunately due to the Firearms Owner’s Protection Act in 1986, the gun was not registered before then meaning it could not be resold. The act prohibited all possession of machine guns that were not legally owned prior to May 1986.
There were recent efforts to register the gun, but due to the strict laws in place, it was unsuccessful. Despite the historical significance, the gun cannot be legally owned or transferred.
According to Stacey, the gun was most likely shown at Abbott Hall for some time, but because of legality issues, it had to be removed and stored in the safe where it was later found.
Another question that stems from the resurrection of the gun is how it was brought back to the United States.
According to the Neutrality Acts created in the 1930s, it was restricted to selling firearms to any belligerent nation. This created a ban on importing any weapons from countries involved in the conflict, including Nazi Germany.
It was very common at the time for soldiers who were overseas in Germany to return to the United States with Nazi memorabilia. Due to the illegality, they were forced to hide it.
The gun is currently being stored at the Marblehead Police Department waiting for its departure to the Springfield Armory.