A few months ago the cashier in a bank, a valuable citizen, in a neighboring town, sat down at his desk in a despondent moment. He opened the drawer, saw the revolver lying there, and, overcome by an irresistible impulse, he placed the muzzle to his head, pulled the trigger and—he is a dead man! There is not one chance in a thousand that this man would either have taken poison, with its lingering agonies, cut his throat, hung himself or jumped off the bridge.
The other day, in the country near by, a man with his hands in his pockets stepped up to a wagon standing in front of his door and said to the driver: "You made an insulting remark about me to my wife a few weeks ago. Will you apologize?" The driver replied: "I do not know that I made such a remark." "Well," the man replied, "your time has come." He pulled out his pistol, which he had held concealed all the time in his hand, and fired the shot; the driver of the wagon fell over the dashboard—dead. Here, without warning, without the slightest ground to expect such an act, the man, who might, under any other circumstances, have had some possible chance for defense, was hurled into eternity, apparently, to gratify the mere desire to kill.
A few nights ago a lone robber boarded a railroad train and with a revolver compelled the conductor and porter to walk through the car in front of him and demanded of the passengers that they surrender their money and jewels—which the passengers promptly proceeded to do. The entire train was held up by a single pistol, a thing which would be absolutely impossible with any other weapon. A revolver enables the highwayman to use one of his hands free, which he could not if he had either a shotgun or a rifle.
And so it goes. Instance after instance is within the recollection of everyone where crime is made possible by the easy possession of this deadly weapon—the revolver. The point I wish to emphasize is, that there is no legitimate use for the revolver anywhere in the world; no reason for its existence; no legitimate use for the dirk knife or the brass knuckles.
All these things are manufactured and sold as instruments of crime. And, although their deadly use is familiar to everybody, yet we seem to take it for granted that the right to manufacture and sell them and the right to own them are rights which the law is bound to protect. We seek only to impose a restriction that is vain and ineffective.
Pistol carrying is an American habit; one which is comparatively infrequent abroad, and there is in Europe—particularly in England—compared with us, a proportionately small fraction of shooting affairs. Even policemen in London do not carry revolvers.
It is time for us to take this evil seriously in hand and effect a cure, which, to be effective, must be radical.
I favor a law restricting the display and sale of firearms. Carrying a loaded revolver concealed ought to be made a felony. For carrying a concealed weapon—firearm, dirk, brass knucks, razor, knife, etc.—the penalty cannot be too severe. I would cut out the fine and make the penalty for carrying a concealed weapon three to twelve months in the Workhouse and from two to five years in the penitentiary.
A severe penalty would help the police to break up this criminal habit. It would help to tame the ex-convict who returns to a life of crime. It would aid in overcoming the influence of the cheap novel among light-minded youth. Sale of weapons which can be concealed on the person ought to be restricted to officers of the law. If permits are issued at all, they ought to be given by a responsible officer of the law.
Concealed weapons are the cause of a large per cent of the crimes committed in which weapons are used. There were many arrests for carrying concealed weapons in the last official year. Thousands of people carry them. Every man with a concealed weapon, unless he has a right to carry it to serve the public peace, is a danger to the citizens of Chicago. Men who carry concealed weapons imagine they would protect themselves with them; often they would, but more often the weapons serve no good purpose. Make the law against promiscuous sale and carrying of concealed weapons so severe that it will be necessary for the officers of the law only to carry them.