Unlike Weasel at Ace Of Spades I have heard of the practice. My mother told me about her experience. She ran across a family portrait contained on the butt of a pistol carried by a Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Agent. This was just after WWII.

My grandparents made the road trip from Massachusetts to Florida every winter. The journey took from 3-5 days. My Mom and a classmate made the journey with them. Both had recently graduated from nursing school.

The journey ended at about five each day. They would find a motel and grandpa would break out the road bottle for cocktails. After riding with her parents for three days, mom and her friend decided to see if they couldn’t do better.

There was a roadhouse next to the motel so they walked over there. No luck. It seems there had been a recent killing there, the liquor license was suspended. They were inquiring as to alternatives when a gentleman stepped forward and offered his services. To reassure them he introduced himself as a GBI Agent.

He offered to take them to a joint where they could get a drink. They all piled into his car and off they went. It turns out that the next place didn’t have a liquor license. However, it did have a bootlegger nearby. The GBI agent made the waiter go get a bottle.

They found a table and settled in. As they sat down the GBI agent, nicknamed Buck, pulled out his pistol and set it on the table. It was then she noticed that a photo of his wife and two kids were incorporated into the grips. A short time later a second agent joined them. He turned out to be a FBI agent.

The night culminated with a trip to the courthouse office of the GBI agent. There they were given a photo tour of various fatal car accidents and murder scenes. A fun time was had by all.