The Gary Gilmore Gun Story

Twenty five years after the Gary Gilmore Murders I, Dennis R. Stilson had become a Federal Firearm dealer, bail bondsman, Bail enforcement agent/bounty hunter. Having known numerous people involved with Gary Gilmore case it was of great concern to me.

The murder weapon was returned from the court to the store owner Gilmore had burglarized -- a very rare event. I have known the store owner’s family since childhood. After selling firearms at gun shows for years he asked if I would sell the pistol for a percentage of the transaction.

The Gilmore Gun was first shown at a Las Vegas Gun show a January 2002. The article below was front page of the Las Vegas newspaper. I also did many other newspaper and television interviews.The response was huge.

Dealer hawking gun with a past

FBI report authenticates pistol as weapon used by Utah killer Gilmore in 1976 slayings.

By J.M. KALIL
REVIEW-JOURNAL
A dealer at this weekend's Las Vegas Gun Show is accepting offers on the murder weapon used by Utah killer Gary Gilmore, who was put to death 25 years ago this week in one of the most high-profile executions in the nation's history.

Dennis Stilson, a gun dealer, bail bondsman and custom golf club builder from Spanish Fork, Utah, has no set price for the .22-caliber Browning pistol, but said he turned down an offer of $500,000 during a July Internet auction.

The firearm was only shown a few times. About a year
later I decided to purchase the pistol. Being such a historical and political
case I thought perhaps I could use it to somehow make something good come
from the sale of the gun

I tried another idea to raise capital and hoped for a positive response but failed

Stilson said he was willing to give away the .22-caliber Browning long
pistol if he gets enough essay entries at $108 apiece. He said he plans to
use the money to open a youth center in Spanish Fork.Stilson would have to get thousands of entries to raise that kind of money, and he's making no guarantee he'd award the gun to anyone. And yet Stilson once said he turned down a $500,000 bid on the gun during an Internet auction in 2002

I discussed with some of the largest auction houses in the world.  Government confrontations along the way make some interesting stories. More auctions drew world wide media attention.

Gilmore's gun goes on sale for $1m

By David Usborne in New York       Saturday, 15 July 2006

Scholars and supporters of capital punishment in the United States are being given the chance to purchase at auction what may be the rarest of all death-penalty souvenirs - the handgun purportedly used by Gary Gilmore to murder a motel clerk in Utah almost 30 years ago.

The first man to be sentenced to death after the US Supreme Court reinstituted the death penalty in 1977, Gilmore was killed by firing squad. A morbid mythology has since clung to him, spurred partly by Norman Mailer's, The Executioner's Song, which became a film starring Tommy Lee Jones.

After Gilmore was dead, the police returned the pistol to the gun shop he stole it from in Spanish Fork, Utah . In 2002, it was bought by a local bail bondsman, Dennis Stilson.

Mr Stilson has now placed the gun for sale in an internet auction on the site www.murderaction.com, best known for featuring art work by prisoners on death row. Still attached to the gun is the original law enforcement evidence tag, Mr Stilson says. He also has the official FBI file on it.

By Debbie Hummel

ASSOCIATED PRESS

4:37 p.m. July 13, 2006

SALT LAKE CITY – The gun that executed killer Gary Gilmore purportedly used to commit his crimes is being offered for sale on a murder collectibles auction site for $1 million.

 Gun Purportedly Used by Gilmore Auctioned

Friday July 14, 2006 4:16 AM

By DEBBIE HUMMEL   Associated Press Writer

 

 FOXNEWS.COM HOME > NATIONAL Gun Purportedly Used by Gilmore Auctioned

Thursday, July 13, 2006

By DEBBIE HUMMEL, Associated Press Writer

SALT LAKE CITY  — The gun purportedly used by executed killer Gary Gilmore to commit his crimes is being offered for sale on a murder collectibles auction site for a minimum bid of $1 million.

Gilmore gun shows up on Web auction

By Ben Winslow
Deseret Morning News

Published: Thursday, July 13, 2006 9:23 a.m. MDT

The current owner of the Gilmore gun is Spanish Fork bail bondsman and bounty hunter Dennis Stilson, who has tried to sell it before. He confirmed to the Deseret Morning News he had placed the gun up for auction."My goal has always been the same — raising money to open a youth center for kids. Somewhere for kids to go other than hanging out on the streets," he said.

Gilmore gained notoriety for being the first man executed after the death penalty was reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976. He was convicted of shooting and killing an Orem gas station worker and a Provo motel manager in separate armed robberies. In 1977, Gilmore was executed by firing squad.

"Let's do it," he infamously uttered just before being executed.

 

TOP NEWS

Gary Gilmore's gun up for sale

My first book was titled “The Gilmore Gun and I.” Soon after it was released numerous people with more interesting and important information about the case began contacting me. I stopped printing the book and rewrote my new version “The Gilmore Gun –Echo of Murder.

Continuing research and other people’s encounters with Gilmore are now added to the new book.  “The Gilmore Gun – Echo of Murder.”

     The dream of making something good from this tragedy is beginning to transpire. The “Guns for Good” non profit organization has been established to help educate people about firearms. Along with the “Guns for Good Show” featuring experts and experiences to help educate.

     Our long term goal is to build a facility for education, fitness, and an amphitheater to host community events.

 

 Firearm education is the right choice. Firearm ownership is your choice.