Many a young gentleman calling himself a sportsman knows little of the capabilities of the weapon he wields, and cares less; his whole aim is to see how many head of game he can bag, and to blaze away is the order of the day, to the astonishment of poor Ponto, who, if he chance to run within range, sometimes gets a charge of shot in his tail.
In the Royal Navy the use and practice of the pistol, and latterly of the revolver, has always been kept up. Consequently the Jack Tar knows more about the pistol and the military revolver than most men give him credit for. In boarding vessels, for instance, the pistol was one of the arms used. The importance of the revolver movement as inaugurated by the National Rifle Association has resulted in the formation of a club called 'The Metropolitan Revolver Club.' This Club, which is in its infancy, has many obstacles to surmount, but it is to be hoped that the Provisional Committee will be able to carry out the object in view, which is, according to the programme, as follows:—
'That this Club be formed, having for its object the provision of facilities for acquiring a thorough knowledge of and proficiency in the use of the Military Revolver.'
Dudley Wilson, Esq., 2 Pall Mall, is the Honorary Secretary, and may success attend him.
To the inexperienced, the revolver is, perhaps, as deadly a weapon as can well be handled; and to no class is this fact so well known as to naval and military men. The many deplorable accidents resulting from the incautious handling of firearms is terrible to contemplate; and sportsmen and military men have frequently fallen victims to carelessness, to say nothing of novices. The unfortunate part is, that foolish and inexperienced people often inflict misery upon innocent persons; unintentionally, it is true: but they are none the less guilty. Firearms should be looked upon as a kind of machinery, which no one in his senses would attempt to handle unless he knew the use of them.
The abominable practice of those to whom firearms belong, or those in the charge or care thereof, of keeping or leaving such weapons loaded, so that they may at any moment fall into the hands of children, or perhaps, what is worse still, inexperienced adults, is most seriously to be condemned, and may be designated really as a criminal act, which ought to be summarily punished.
It is an act which has no real motive, no real bonâ fide object, and is lawless and idle in the extreme,—an act which has resulted in the death of its thousands, and the maiming of even more.
A weapon should never be brought within the portals of a man's house loaded; the breech-loading cartridge can be easily withdrawn. If the piece is a muzzle-loader it should be discharged after the day's sport is over; ammunition is really not so very costly as to require to be husbanded at the probable cost of a serious accident, or perhaps a fellow-creature's life. This rule cannot be too strictly adhered to. Some years ago it was my lot to be staying with a gentleman of eccentric habits, a man of violent temper, and when in one of these fits really not answerable for his actions. I was aware that he kept a full-sized revolver loaded with ball, and capped, in his dressing-room. I confess I was coward enough to let this matter trouble me. I felt I could stand up and face death with any one in the field, fighting in a good cause and armed as others; but to be taken advantage of at any moment, and perhaps shot down like a dog, was rather too much. I therefore resolved in my own mind, not only to disarm my friend but to render his weapon useless; but how to accomplish this was the question, as to raise any suspicion would perhaps bring down wrath upon my own head. I therefore resolved to leave everything precisely intact till an opportunity should present itself. The very next day the time arrived, and during this Grand Turk's absence I hastily removed the caps from off the nipples of the revolver, and having exploded them upon the nipples of his double-barrelled gun, I pinched them back into their original shape and replaced them on the revolver. I then put the box of caps into my pocket and felt perfectly secure, and could have sat and been fired at without the slightest fear. This gentleman shortly afterwards was seized with paralysis of the brain, and ended his days in a madhouse. No one, I believe, ever suffered any inconvenience from the revolver, and what became of it I know not.
If leaving weapons about is necessary (which I do not for a moment admit), then most assuredly they should be rendered harmless by being left unloaded, and thus the means of rendering them destructive would be kept out of the way of meddlers. All ammunition should, as a rule, be kept in some secret and safe place, and always under lock and key. Every man knows that edged tools are dangerous, consequently that the leaving loaded firearms within the reach of anybody who may chance to come across them is simply leaving means of destruction unprotected, and he should bear in mind that this mischief of his own neglect might accidentally at any moment be wielded against himself.
'How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds,
Makes deeds ill done.