The elaborate display of revolvers, dirks and brass knuckles in shop
windows creates a most unfavorable impression on visitors. Many
travelers like to walk to their hotels for the exercise after the long
journey from the east.
They get their first impression of Chicago from a walk up Clark or
State street.
On all sides they see revolvers, bludgeons, sandbags and slung-shots.
"Ah! This is the West at last," say many. "Now look out for Indians
and grizzy bears."
Upon Chicagoans who witness these exhibitions of criminal tools daily
the effect is most depressing. It makes them think that civilization
is still far off. In New York there is an ordinance forbidding
pawnshops to display such weapons in the window.
The accidental shootings, alone, caused by the careless handling of
pistols, would justify a law preventing their manufacture and sale.
What possible benefit can be suggested to offset the evils which we
have spoken of? Certainly the idea of individual liberty cannot be
carried to the extent of making it the duty of a State to afford a
man the facilities for the commission of crime. There is no right
involved in the matter which is worthy of respect. Let me give you a
few illustrations:
A negro carried his revolver with him to a ball. This was customary.
During a lull in the dance, while talking with his companions--men
and women--he pulls out this revolver and shows it around for the
admiration of his friends. He is under the impression that it is not
loaded. He places it playfully at the head of his sweetheart, pulls
the trigger, and she drops dead.
That chamber happened to be loaded. It was determined to be a case of
wanton carelessness on his part and he was sentenced to two years in
the penitentiary. Why should a man like that be allowed to carry a
pistol at all? Under what possible circumstances could he use it in
any legitimate way?
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.