Two guns thought to have been seized from gangster duo Bonnie and Clyde have sold at auction for $US210,000 ($A201,178) in Kansas City.
The Joplin Globe reported that an unnamed online bidder from the East Coast bought the guns. According to legend, the weapons were seized from the outlaw couple's Joplin hide-out after a deadly Missouri shoot-out with police in 1933.
Two law enforcement officers died during the shoot-out, but Bonnie Parker, Clyde Barrow and all members of their gang escaped.
According to Reuters, the bidder paid $130,000 for a .45-calibre Thompson submachine gun, known as a 'Tommy gun' in gangster slang. The same bidder paid $80,000 for an 1897 12-gauge Winchester shotgun.
'We're happy,' Reuters quoted auctioneer Robert Mayo as saying after the auction, which was attended by more than 100 people. 'Nothing ever surprises me,' he added, commenting on the price.
The Kansas City Star quoted Michael Brown, who travelled to Kansas City from Las Vegas on Saturday to snag the Tommy gun for a new gangster museum, as saying he would bid only up to $115,000.
'Very few guns out there have such historical value, and that is one of them we were trying to acquire,' Brown reportedly said. 'We took a gamble. We set a price ceiling. You have to take the emotion out of it, so we had a price that we were willing to go.'
According to the Star, the Tommy gun was a Model 1921A, produced in the early 1920s and often used by law enforcement, military and criminals during the Great Depression. John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd and members of the Barrow Gang supposedly used it.
