Sears Sold Mail-Order Machine Guns

During World War I in 1917, American department store Sears published a special mail-order catalog offering weapons, uniforms, and other military equipment. Its listings included an $865 Colt machine gun capable of firing more than 400 rounds per minute, plus three Colt handguns: a revolver, a .45-caliber automatic pistol, and a .32-caliber automatic pistol. Sears shipped purchases to soldiers across the United States and offered parcel-post delivery to American troops in Europe.

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