FRENCH M1935A 7.65MM LONG

MIKE’S SHOOTIN’ SHACK

- Mike Venturino

Modern folks might ask, “Why would anyone give a handgun to a preteen?” My father did just that for me when I was about age 12. He had three reasons: The first was because I wanted a “real” handgun badly. The second reason was because I was trustworthy. He ordered me not to take it out of my room or show it to friends without his permission. I never did. The third reason, and probably most important, was that there was no ammunition available for my very first pistol.

How Dad knew there was no ammunition available for it I’ll never know, nor could I find out how that pistol came to our small West Virginia town. I do know that our chief of police gave it to my father, and I believe contributing factors were that both men were part of the sizeable Italian community there, and that Dad was a bill collector.