The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1869-12-24
RIMTNAL CARELEssNEss IN HANDLING
FIREARMS.

The terrible tragedy at Newton lo"a'
which has been briefly chronicled IN THESE
columns. demands more than passing no
t;ce A young man named Case, IN gong
through the manual of arms, presented the
gun used for the purpose to child SIX years
of age, playfully remarhins, III you were
rebel, would shoot you at the same time
pulling the trigger Of the lock which was
already sprung. The gun, although he had
been assured by the owner that 1t was not
proved to be loaded, wss discharged and
sent its le.den messenger Of death crashing
through the head Of the child and into the
abdomen Of its brother about sixteen years
of age. The child, of course, expired at
once, and the young man died the next
morning
The sIarmingly frequent recurrence OF
death from such acts of criminal careless
ness, as in this case, deprived a wido" OF
her only sons, calls fora special statute pun
ishng them az crimes. 1t is not enoughfor
the guilty authors of such terrible tragedies
TO sigh theirAegrets or even weep tears OF
remorse over the terrible results Of their
folly. This does not repair broken homes
or restore to berehved families their loved
ones. Let those guilty of such cold.blooded
trust in the harmlessness Of deadly
weapons, be punished by fine and imprison'
ment, and the number will be greatly less
ened. Only few days ago We recorded the
similar death Of young woman IN Virginia
at the hands Of her brother.
If q railroad engineer, without proper pre-
caution or thought, runs his train into
another or over a precipice aud kills and
mains few passengers, the whole people
cry ont for his blood; yet in that case hlt
own life has not only been Imperfect =" o
greater degree thou mat OF the passengers
bnt the slaughter results merely from wan
ofthoueht and an entire absence Of sug
gestion of danger to anybody. There Is
no such pallation for such disasters as We
are considering; for there must be sugges
ton of danger to every one thus handing
guns. as they are only used aa instruments o
death, aud no one can point then ct ~'V'"'
creature without having in has mInd an I'M
preston of danger to the life OF such cfea
ture in case the weapon should be loaded
There is q positive indifference, in the Rctt'
the chances Of death to others. | he act j
totally wanting in that thoughtIessness O
want of careful consideration which lead
the roilrosd engineer to wreck his trail
and imperil the lives Of hundreds Of unsrs
pecting people. Here the chances OF deat
are considered and recklessly and runoua.
discounted against the person aimed At. i
this W. insist there 10 an element Of Grimm
aliiv. There is Of course no malice bu
there is such q shocking indifference to III
patent chances Of death as to call for pur
lshmeut.
At common law, nor under the statnt
law of very few, if Of any. Of the States, II
punishment can be inflicted upon pHrooH
who thus indiderentIy rnd accidental
cause the death of others, and for this req
son, and in order to deter people from tn
commission of such gross wrongs, q statut
should be enacted expressly for such case
Furnishing with sufficient severity all who
culpably negligent, careless or inditierer
manner cause death or injury TO the perso
Of others As the principal em Of all p
nal laws Is to prevent crime, and not slmp
10 punish offenders, here Is the same i
ducement 10 punishment as in cases Of mu
der, though of course the punishment shou
not be so severe, on account OF the absent
Of malice and wicked intent. The cons
qucnces, however, to tho hundreds who
lives are thus cast away, and to their fan
lies, are the same as if the mischief we
purposey and malicioasly done.