The Path of a Pistol

 For some odd historical reason....both the JFK and RFK shootings fascinate me.....from various angles. 

A couple of years ago, I sat and asked myself....from the Sirhan Sirhan shooting of RFK....where did the pistol in question come from?  

So there's at least a hundred varieties of the story over the Iver Johnson .22 caliber revolver.

For the record, Iver Johnson is known for making weapons, motorcycles, and bikes. Yes, a rather odd grouping.

Oddly enough, you can show that three Presidents or potential Presidents....shot by one of their pistols (RFK, FDR and McKinley). 

This pistol that Sirhan Sirhan had? 

The original sale occurred in 1965....brand new....it was bought by a guy with the last name Hertz.....who owned a business in the region of Pasadena.  History records that there were riots in 1965, and this guy got all fearful of trouble....so he bought the pistol.  This period of ownership was short because his wife 'found' the gun (in some file cabinet or drawer of the business).  

Now, I should state this fact about Hertz....he was a WW II vet, retired Lt Col from the US Army, and had some kind of heart attack around this point of the 1965 riots.  (He was born in 1897)

The wife apparently wanted the pistol 'gone'.   You can interpret this in various ways.  

The wife gives the gun to her daughter.  History doesn't really record why she trusts the daughter over the husband.....it just happens that way.  My impression is that the daughter is at least mid-to-late 40s.

For whatever reason....the daughter really doesn't hold the weapon long.  She ends up giving (not selling) the gun to the next door neighbor.  

The neighbor, apparently within a short period of time....sells the gun, to a Mr. Munir Bishara Sirhan, the actual brother of Sirhan Sirhan.

Why the sale?  Well....basically, the neighbor had some kind of car problem and needed quick cash to finance the repair.  No one ever says the amount of money involved (this was 1966).  

For whatever reason....the brother loans the cheaply made gun over to Sirhan.  There's never much of a reason given

Had Sirhan ever fired the gun?  You can't find any documented evidence of this happening.  You would think that he knew something about pistols but no witnesses were ever brought up to say that.  

One odd thing, when you bring up 'trusting' the Iver Johnson 22 pistol....most owners and people who have fired it....will say that it's cheaply made.....prone for breakage, and not a great dependable weapon.