A look at how easy it was for Oswald to get his murder weapons
13-Year-Old Gary Turner ordered the same revolver (British Army "Commando") as Oswald. Credit: El Paso Herald Post, March 12, 1963
Background
In an eerie but prophetic occurrence, an El Paso, Texas teenager with the help of his mother, showed just how simple it was to order a handgun through mail-order in 1963. This story does shed some light in similarity on how Oswald obtained his Smith/Wesson .38 revolver around the same time period.
Virginia Turner was the City Editor of the El Paso Herald Post newspaper. After reading about a boy ordering a mail-order gun, loading it and killing himself by accident, she became outraged with mail-order weapons getting sent to kids with little regard and lack of stricter oversight regulation. Mrs. Turner did not like guns, so she decided to have her son order one and write up an article illustrating an actual purchase to show the public how easy it was for a kid to obtain a handgun.
Gary Turner explains how he got a handgun
My mother said, "Would you like to send away for a gun?"
I thought she was kidding. Guns make her nervous. But she was serious.
Then I got a little worried.
"It sounds neat", I said. "But won't I go to jail? How can a kid get a real gun?" (I am 13.)
"Well," she said, we heard it is so easy to buy a gun by mail even a child can do it. So we're going to find out."
Gary then went about to find a gun he liked. Looking through Western magazines that had a lot of gun ads, Gary chose his weapon. It was a Smith-Wesson .38 snub-nose revolver. The total price was $19.50.1
Gary goes on to explain.
The ad said, "Designed for quick draw! The ideal weapon for the plain clothes detective or personal protection. Send only $10 deposit. Balance C.O.D".
I went to a Tigua supermarket and bought a money order for $10, which costs 20 cents. You fill out the blanks yourself. There are blanks to write in the name of the company and your own name and address. Then I wrote a letter ordering the gun in the ad and enclosed the $10 money order. The gun firm is in California.
Gary mailed the money order and in about a week he received a returned note from the mail-order house. Thanking him for his $10 deposit, they requested Gary to sign a statement to conform to the U.S. Federal Firearms Act. It read as follows:
"I hereby certify that I am a citizen of the United States, have never been convicted of, nor I am under indictment for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, am not a fugitive from justice nor a drug addict, am of legal age and sound mind".
This suggests that Gary Turner most likely bought his Smith-Wesson .38 from a different mail- order firm (unnamed in the article) in California than Oswald's purchase from Seaport Traders in Los Angeles. Seaport had a similar statement on the coupon itself, which Oswald endorsed. Also, Oswald's purchase was $29.95.
Struggling with the "legal age" requirement in the statement, Gary's mother crossed out his initials and used hers to comply with the law and mailed back the note. Approximately one week later, mailed to his home address, Railway Express sent a note to come pick up the package at their terminal in El Paso.
Note: Railway Express was a licensed gun transporter. The FBI used them all the time.
Arriving at Railway Express, Virgina Turner signed for the package and the remaining C.O.D. charges of $9.50, plus $2.90 Express charge and $1.08 Service charge were paid by Gary.
Gary went onto explain just how simple it was for a kid to get a gun:
It would have been easy for me to have signed the statement (Federal Firearms compliance) which said I was of legal age, since it came by mail. The gun company had no way of checking how old I really am. Any other boy could have done it too.
I could have picked up the package with the gun in it. There's no law that says I couldn't have it. But if I had trouble getting it, I could have had an older friend go with me and sign for it.
It's really pretty easy to get a gun, even if you are only 13. And have the money of course.2
Railway Express explains their policy to Virgina Turner
As this article points out, this is how easy it was for Oswald to pick up his revolver at the Railway Express located on 515 South Houston in Dallas, near the Union Railroad station. Mrs. Turner was curious about the Railway Express policy about picking up guns. She asked Railway Express clerk, Eddie Orellana to explain:
The only thing we're required to do when turning over a package containing a pistol is to get identification.
Apparently, Mr. Orellana was aware of the problem with kids getting guns and expressed his views here:
A few years ago I read how youngsters could send off and get a gun by mail. A bunch of us in the office talked it over and decided from then on to ask parents or guardians to sign for the guns when they come addressed to children. We don't have a lot of such packages. But we do have some.
It's not against the law for us to give a package containing a gun to a child!
We know from the serial number the package contains a gun. When we accept shipment of guns, our agent signs for them. But if the child has proper identification, such as a Government ID card, driver's license or other evidence, and if he raises cain about getting the package, we would have to turn it over to him. He could insist it contains an air gun.
We can't make him open the package. We are not police. We can't notify authorities of our suspicions.
Actually anyone can sign the firearms statement. The shipper has no way of knowing if the person signing it is a criminal, is insane, a child or dope addict.
The shipper has obeyed the law by getting the signed statement. When we give out packages, we do so in good faith. We must take the shipper's word the person getting the package is responsible. He doesn't know who getting the gun.
Mr. Orellano went on to say there needed to be more oversight and laws to prevent guns by mail ending up in kids' hands.
Why did Oswald use mail order to get his weapons?
First and foremost, if you are about to commit a heinous crime such as murder, isn't it logical to remain as anonymous as possible when buying murder weapons? In this case, both the Klein's Carcano rifle and the Seaport Traders revolver were purchased under Oswald's fake alias, A.J. Hidell.
Warren Commission CE 795
Mrs. Turner also points out this advantage Oswald had using mail-order weapons, and correctly so:
Officials say there is no gun registry required of a gun purchased by mail. (If a gun is purchased at a local store, the dealer is required to keep record of the purchaser and serial number).
Gun retail dealers, such as gun shops, sporting goods stores, pawn shops, etc. were required to keep records on guns sold, including the address of the buyer. This was a federal requirement under the 1938 Federal Firearms Act of 1938. Each retailer had to pay an annual nominal $1 fee to obtain the FFL (Federal Firearms License). In 1963, the ATF (Alcohol Tabacco Firearms) were the Feds oversight enforcement agency. Any ATF agent could walk into any gun shop and ask to see their records of gun sales in enforcement or investigations.
Texas had their laws as well, including this archaic provision on buyers of handguns:
......provided that no person may purchase a pistol unless said purchaser has secured from a justice of the peace or district judge, in the county of his or her residence, a certificate of good character. Said certificate to be kept with the permanent record of the dealer. No person may purchase a pistol who has served a sentence for a felony.3
That provision of Texas law was vague and archaic. Submitting and storing a certificate of good character, without penalties of non-compliance, seemed meaningless. Most Texas attorneys at that time agreed it would never stand up in court.4 Although some gun retailers did comply with it, but for the most part it was widely ignored.
Senator Thomas J. Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Juvenile Delinquency Subcommittee cited Mrs. Virgina Turner's article:
Perhaps the best illustration of how legal loopholes hinder law enforcement by, permitting the extensive sale of these guns to persons who should not have them was given by a Scripps-Howard paper in El Paso.5
Sadly, there are still misguided conspiracy theorists out there that still believe Oswald was involved with the Dodd Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. In the crazy world of Oswald "Patsy" apologists, this is to be expected, as they will say anything to get Oswald off the hook.
Controversy over Oswald's Klein's Carcano mail-order rifle and the U.S. Post Office
Oswald's rifle was shipped by Klein's to the U.S. Post Office in Dallas under his Post Office box #2915. Since a rifle shipping box would not fit in the P.O. box, a note would have been placed in his box to claim it from the front window postal clerk. Most assuredly Oswald did present his fake Hidell ID card at Railway Express, but at the post office that may or may not have been required.
However, as mentioned earlier, the Oswald "Patsy" apologists always try to cast doubts, plant false suspicions and anything to prove Oswald's innocence. In this case the conspiracy folks cite two postal forms that were required by postal regulations to be kept on file on firearms. Vicente Velasco, an excellent level-headed researcher, looked into this claim. Copied from his response:
EDIT (11/01/2019): I have decided to expand my answer because of Jim Morrison's allegation that the shipping and receiving of firearms back in 1963 required the use of Post Office Forms 2162 and 1508. This serves as a response.
Jim Morrison (among others like Jim DiEugenio) are depending too much on these forms to cast doubt on whether Oswald ordered the MC rifle in the first place without this form.
This allegation seems to have originated from this excerpt on U.S. postal regulations as quoted by Mark Lane:
846.53a -- Delivery receipts for firearms, and statements by shippers of firearms (Forms 2162, 1508) Records for these forms should be retained for 4 years.
This passage seems to imply that all firearms sent through mail-order required receipts, even though that is not what the quote above actually says.
The only references to forms 2162 and 1508 that I have found that might be in effect in 1963 seem to indicate that they were used in relation to the mailing of handguns and other concealable firearms. It must be noted that mailing such weapons has been prohibited since 1927 when the U.S. Congress passed the Mailing of Firearms Act (18 USC § 1715) in reaction to the mob violence resulting from Prohibition, but with certain exceptions, which is why Oswald's .38 S&W Victory model was shipped through Railway Express, not the Post Office. If the receipt applied to handguns alone, this means that it did not apply to either of Oswald's firearms purchases.
Checking on the Rules and Regulations as stated in The Code of Federal Regulations of the United States of America Title 39—The Postal Service (Federal Register Vol 26 (1961), issue 234, pages 11528-29) there is a section 15.5 entitled "Concealable Firearms". https://books.google.com/books?id=Zt3oI_CktMYC&pg=PA11529&lpg=PA11529&dq=a%20post%20office%20form%202162%20is%20not%20necessary%20for%20firearms&source=bl&ots=Eg9sWgJnR1&sig=ACfU3U3Og6eSBL1t7XFZ8e8F97RH1tlqug&hl=en&ppis=_e&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjp6f6PnsjlAhWWtZ4KHbkEB88Q6AEwA3oECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=a%20post%20office%20form%202162%20is%20not%20necessary%20for%20firearms&f=false
It says that concealable firearms may be mailed only to certain individuals such as military and law enforcement officers, who must file affidavits stating their qualifications. Firearms dealers and manufacturers were also allowed to mail handguns to one another, but instead of an affidavit they had to file Form 1508, “Statement by Shipper of Firearms.”
This same section on concealable firearms says, under "(d) Identification of addressee," the following:
The postmaster at the office of delivery shall require the addressee of any parcel covered by this section except a manufacturer of firearms or bona fide dealer therein, to call at the post office and establish his identity to the satisfaction of the postmaster. The parcel may then be delivered after the addressee signs a receipt which shall be filed by the postmaster for not less than 3 years. Receipts for delivery shall be taken on Form 2162, "Delivery Receipt, Firearms," on all mailings covered by this section. [Italics mine.]
This regulation stayed consistent with the revised edition of the code as of January 1, 1966, pp. 45–46., and 1970 (p. 51) https://books.google.com/books?id=dfc6AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA45&dq=%22form%202162%22%20%22form%201508%22&hl=en&ei=K7iOTdnPHoPqgQfEnLDmBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22form%202162%22%20%22form%201508%22&f=false
Because of these citations, I am inclined to say to those who maintain that those receipts were required for Oswald’s purchases, the burden of proof is on them. Some CTs read the 846.5a regulation to mean that all weapons sent through the mails required receipts. That's not what it says. It hasn’t been established that either of Oswald’s firearms should've had a P.O. receipt.
I also spoke to fellow researcher Jimmy Orr who was a retired USPS supervisor and he confirmed that a P.O. Form 2162 is not required for mail orders of rifles.
Vicente in the link also mentions the Yeargan affidavit. Yeargan was the sporting goods manager of the H.L. Green store on Main Street in Dallas. Oswald was very familiar with this store as he did his first "Hands off Cuba" street demonstration there as well as buying Marina an engraved bracelet. Yeargan states that H.L. Green did sell Italian 6.5 mm rifles similar to Oswald's. That is a fact, and perhaps Oswald did a little window shopping on those rifles there. However, why risk being noticed and recorded into a gun sale required by the retailer if you are planning a murder of General Walker?
Dallas Morning News, December 9, 1962
Conclusion
It was no big deal or mystery how Oswald purchased his weapons of murder. All that was required of him was to dummy up a fake ID with his alias to pick up the weapon which he did while working at Jaggers-Chiles-Stovall. He had all the necessary photo finish paper and cameras to do it.
Gary Turner got a better deal on his revolver. It seems Oswald didn't read too many Western magazines. There will be another pending article sometime in the near future in his interest in mail-order, going back to 1959.
I like to thank Vicente Velasco for his input on this article.
1 - Oswald's .38 Smith-Wesson revolver was purchased for $29.95, also with a $10 down payment and $19.95 C.O.D. through Seaport Traders in California. Seaport Traders also marketed the Smith-Wesson .38 Victory model under the name of "Commando". Oswald bought his revolver in a True Adventures magazine. https://jfkfiles.blogspot.com/2020/06/solving-mystery-of-oswalds-seaport.html
2 - El Paso Herald, March 12, 1963, Death by Mail! It's Easy for a Boy to Buy a Gun!, Virgina/Gary Turner.
3 - The Houston Post, August 18, 1957, All You Need To Buy A Pistol Is Money, John Davis
4 - Ibid
5 - El Paso Herald, May 1, 1963, Solons Probe Mail Order Sale of Guns