City saves history by turning over rare StG 44 to Navy museum system (PHOTOS)

By Chris Eger

The vintage Schmeisser-designed Sturmgewehr was in police custody since 2009 and originally had been mailed by an American GI back home from Europe during WWII. (Photo: Stephen Katz/The Virginian-Pilot)
A police department in Virginia sat on a seized German military rifle for almost a decade before moving to turn it over to a military museum.
The Chesapeake Police Department seized a Sturmgewehr 44 in 2009 from a felon that could no longer possess the firearm. Seeing that it had historical significance — the StG 44 is considered by many to be the first true “assault rifle” due to its select-fire design and use of an intermediate cartridge — the agency rendered it inoperable and this week moved to have the City Council approve donating the piece to the U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. The resolution was approved 8-0 on Tuesday without discussion.
Contacted by The Virginian-Pilot, the former owner said it had belonged to his grandfather, a World War II veteran who mailed it home to Iowa from Europe and had sat in the attic for years before he inherited it.
While the agency typically destroys seized weapons that can’t be returned to their owners, the StG 44 was retained and officials approached

Source: Guns.com