How did it get here?

[Puretexan]

Ok I looked in the FAQ, searched the Internet, but still can't figure out how this got here. I bought it from Legacy.
It has no import markings on it anywhere. I understand the bring back deal, but this was a Police issue and not sure how someone got it away from a police. Didn't think during the war they were killing the police and taking their guns. I don't see any bring back police badges. So anybody got a clue as to who brought it to here?

[Chickenthief]

The US was (and still is) in Germany after the surrender and there when the state infrastructure was rebuilt. So plenty of contact between issued German arms and GI's. Maybe a German police man sold it for cash or traded it for: gum, cigarettes, silk stockings (and condoms to go with the stockings ;-) or other sought after luxury goods.

[Dwight Gruber]

It came here the same way every other police Luger came here.

In Germany, the police were combatants like any other, and in fact under the command of the SS. As territory in Germany was occupied by the Allies the police were no longer in authority and were disarmed along with everybody else. An individual policeman might have been serving with the army as a feldgendarme (MP), or assigned to a police battalion in occupied foreign territory.

--Dwight

[Puretexan]

So they brought them back to the US before they required them to have import markings?

[Chickenthief]

Yup!

Markings was'nt before 68?
Right?

[Puretexan]

I did a bunch of searching and never found the date that started. It seems
like when I was young you could order lugers from a magazine without any
problems. Been a long time ago though.

[George Anderson]

Originally Posted by Puretexan

So they brought them back to the US before they required them to have import markings?

The US required country of origin marking around 1905, many years later the government expanded the requirement to "Made In.....".

[Dwight Gruber]

The Country of Origin stamp became law with the U.S. McKinley Tariff Act of 1891. It only applied to commercial imports, not individual military bring-back.

--Dwight

[DavidJayUden]

I believe that the dreaded "import mark" was a result of the Gun Control act of 1968.
dju

[Puretexan]

Well then I guess I'm lucky someone brought this one back stuck in their back pocket
and didn't get it stamped anywhere. I didn't realize that we required that so early. I guess in the 50's all the stuff was stamped Made In Japan. We use to laugh at that
back then. Well that and then 5 minutes later, it broke.

[Jim Mac]

I'd be curious as to how many lugers were brought back, imported etc without a import stamp. I'm not a big collector, I've got 3 now, had a 4th luger that I sold. But none of them are import stamped. I did see one in a pawn shop with a stamp. Just curious. Jim

[Chickenthief]

German officers was tought to throw away the sideplate to render the pistol unshootable, so many bringbacks has a mismatched sideplate.

[Puretexan]

I said that and they said it was a myth that a bunch got lost in shipping is why there
were so many with mismatched sideplates.

[alvin]

Importer mark is still not clear in certain cases. I visit an auction house last year, they had an excellent Mauser pistol made in 1930s for sale, it's an big ticket item consigned by a collector in Germany. Say, imported in 2016, it should have importer stamp, maybe a high-tech laser one? right? No. I searched the whole gun, no importer stamp. There was "Germany" stamp applied back in 1930s, but there is absolutely no 2016 importer stamp. I asked them, "why there is no importer stamp?" They did not know, so they carried the item to another room consulted an expert, a few minutes later, coming back, told me "it's an antique".

[Dwight Gruber]

Country of Origin stamp (GERMANY) for imported manufactured goods: McKinley Tariff Act of 1891, revised in 1923 to add "made in".

Importer identification stamp: Gun Control Act of 1968. Firearms imported before this date had no importer stamping requirement.

Firearms brought back by servicemen as war trophies were not "imports" within the terms of the tariff act.

All imports of firearms with a military origin must be imported by a licensed importer, and so stamped. It is possible for an individual to import a non-military firearm by oneself. It requires reams of paperwork, months of time, and probably a fee or two, but it can be done. The purchase must not be intended for resale, and since it is not being imported by a licensed commercial importer, no import stamp is required.

This supplies three possible answers to the wellspring question of this discussion: serviceman's bringback, commercial importation before 1968, or importation by a private individual (police are not military, and a thorough knowledge of proof marks to demonstrate this is required).

No good answer for Alvin's post, except to note that the "experts" at this auction house display the kind of ignorance which could get one into some trouble.

--Dwight

[Edward Tinker]

ALSO, that guns imported prior to 1968 would not have import markings.

After WW2 it seems you don't see used lugers being required to have made by Germany stamped on them, so there were tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands lugers, P38's, rifles, etc, sold by importers in the USA. Those magazine ads can still be seen where for $28 you can get a luger, $35 for a complete artillery (or close to that amount).

[Puretexan]

Yeah and they use to mail it to you in a box. Then again you could buy a used Ford
Mustang GT500 from Hertz for $2500.....those were the days.

Paul