Who Used This Camera-Equipped Colt 38?

Someone in the 1930′s had a serious taste for the macabre, and mounted a small camera on a Colt 38 revolver. Not much is known about this vintage firearm, leaving us wondering who made this gun… and why.

A picture of the unusual gun was posted on Fickr by the National Archives of the Netherlands. The caption along with the picture only says it was used in 1938 New York. The picture looks legitimate as the gun, and camera technology match the time period. The few pictures taken by the gun make us think it was actually used by somebody at least once in its lifetime.

Looking at the pictures taken by the gun, the camera was cleverly tied to the trigger mechanism, so you could shoot a picture of your target before you shot them with your gun. The firearm did originate during the heyday of the American gangster, so I guess anything goes. [Flickr via PetaPixel and Photojojo]