Gary Gilmore was the infamous murderer who's execution in Utah by firing squad in 1977 brought back capital punishment in the U.S., while Dennis Stilson is an author, firearm expert, and bounty hunter who wrote "The Gilmore Gun & I" "The Gilmore Gun: Echo of Murder," & " Life after Execution - The Gilmore Gun" detailing the history and significance of the .22 pistol used in Gilmore's crimes, offering a unique perspective on that pivotal moment in American legal history.

Gary Gilmore, convicted in a double murder, is shot to death by a firing squad in Utah, becoming the first person to be executed in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that, in violation of the eighth Amendment to the Constitution, the death penalty qualified as “cruel and unusual punishment,” primarily because states used capital punishment in “arbitrary and capricious ways,” especially in regard to race. However, in 1976, with 66 percent of Americans supporting the death penalty, the court ended the constitutional ban on capital punishment, provided that states create specific guidelines for imposing death sentences.In 1977, Gilmore was the first person to be executed since the end of the ban. Defiantly facing a firing squad, Gilmore’s last words to his executioners before they shot him through the heart were “Let’s do it. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/january-17/the-execution-of-gary-gilmore

Gary Mark Gilmore's birth was registered under an alias, Faye Robert Coffman; His mother, Bessie, later renamed him Gary, after Gary Cooper, a name her husband always detested, as it reminded him of the man who had run off with one of his earlier wives.

Beginning over fifty years ago, Dennis R. Stilson's personal ties with one of America's key historical murder cases began. In The Gilmore Gun he gives a unique and qualified perspective of the epilogue of a murder weapon. As an experienced firearm dealer, bail bondsman, and bounty hunter his background adds to this rare view of the execution that brought back capital punishment to America and the events which surround one of America's rarest collectible firearms. Articles, documents, and court records all solidify the extraordinary tale of the Gary Gilmore murders and the Gilmore Gun.

David Usborne - Home/ World News

Fri 14 Jul 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 brought back the death penalty in 1977, Gilmore was killed by firing squad. A morbid mythology has since clung to him, spurred by 'The Executioner's Song', which later became a film starring Tommy Lee Jones. After Gilmore's execution, 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. It is Stilson who has now placed the gun for sale in an internet auction on the site best known for featuring art work by prisoners on death row. Still attached to the gun is the original law enforcement evidence tag, Stilson says. He also has the official FBI file on it. The starting bid on the gun last night was listed as $1m and the auction is set to close on Wednesday. Stilson has said that he hopes to use the proceeds from the gun's sale to build a youth centre.

Gary Gilmore (born December 4, 1940, McCamey, Texas, U.S.—died January 17, 1977, Draper, Utah) was an American murderer whose execution by the state of Utah in 1977 ended a de facto nationwide moritorium on capital punishment that had lasted nearly 10 years. His case also attracted widespread attention because Gilmore resisted efforts made on his behalf to commute the sentence. Gilmore was the second of four sons born to a petty criminal, Frank Gilmore, Sr., and his wife. His name was originally registered as Faye Robert Coffman, because the family was using Coffman as an alias at the time of his birth, but he always used Gary Gilmore. In his youth Gilmore was often beaten by his father. After years of traveling, the family settled in Portland, Oregon, in 1948. Gilmore had intelligence and artistic talent but turned to criminal behaviour at an early age. After stealing a car when he was 14, he was sent to MacLaren’s Reform School for Boys in Woodburn, Oregon. Released a year later, he resumed his criminal activities. Between 1960 and 1961 he was incarcerated at the Oregon State Correctional Institution on a larceny charge. In 1962 in Vancouver, Washington, he was arrested for driving with an open container of alcohol and without a license, and he was sentenced to serve a term at Rocky Butte Jail in Portland.

The Gilmore Gun – Browning Challenger Two.22 LR semi-automatic pistol. https://www.ammoland.com/2013/04/the-gilmore-gun-the-firearm-that-brought-back-the-death-penalty

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