automatic weapons were becoming more popular with gangsters in the united states. because of this, fbi director j. edgar hoover told the fbi to train agents with automatic weapons. examples were the thompson submachine gun and the bar. the fbi bought its bars from colt. colt sold 90 bars to the agency. some of the fbi's bars were sent to fbi offices. they were to be used as support weapons if they were needed. the rest were kept at the fbi academy in quantico, virginia. they were there for training. colt sold another 11 bars to the u.s. treasury department in 1934. 24 guns were sold to prisons, banks, security companies and police departments.