When closing gates, can you use items, ie tommygun, to add to your fight skill? Or is it just your base skill? Thanks in advance. Tim

From the Arkham Horror rules, page 17:

"If, during the Arkham Encounters Phase, an investigator is on a location that contains an open gate and that investigator has acquired the explored marker, he may now attempt to close the gate. To do so, the investigator must choose whether to make a Lore check or a Fight check, using the number printed on the gate marker as the modifier."

So in order to close a gate, you must succeed at either a Fight check or a Lore check. The Tommy Gun only increases your Combat check, not your Fight check, so you cannot use the Tommy Gun to close a gate. Modifications to your Fight or Lore checks still apply, though. So if you have the "Fight" skill, for instance, which gives you a +1 Fight , you get an extra die whenever you roll a Fight check (or Combat check, because a Combat check is a special type of Fight check).

Fantastic, that's the way I was leaning, thanks very much.