The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1873-01-24
Knives and Pistols

To say One-half of the murders, which
lately in such quick succession have
shocked the public mind, would never
have been committed but for the vile
practice of carrying concealed weapons,
is to state the case very moderately in
deed. 1t was the bowie knife ready to
the hand of Simmons that suggested
murder to his wild passions. 1t was
the familiar pistol in Sharkey's pocket
that whispered homicide to his drunken
frenzy. And so of dozen other cases
that will readily come to the readers
mind If law could be made-and
enforced-against the habitual carry
ing of any deadly weapon, the murder
calendar would speedily be lessened.
But it is to be feared that such law
could not be enforced, and would be
obeyed only by the orderly portion of
the community, whom it would leave
defenceless at the mercy of the lawless.
At least, such is the feeling entertain
ed by a majority of the public. In
passing sentence, the other day, on a
prisoner convicted of drawing a pistol
with deadly intent, the Recorder held
language strikingly indicative of the
general sense of insecurity resulting
from the virtual impunity so long
accorded to murder in the metropolis.
eff the Legislature" he is reported
to have said, "passed a law making it
| q misdemeanor to carry weapons, the
| result would be that twenty thousand
men in this city who lead criminal
life, would be emboldened to carry on
their depredations by the knowledge
| that good citizens were unarmed
| The Recorder adds that it was his
duty to show to all men in this COM
munity that weapons must not be used
except on extreme occasions" in i'm
minent peril of death, or great bodily
harm and that he "will visit with the
! severest penalty every man who uses a
knife or pistol recklessly." And he
proved his sincerity by sending the
prisoner mentioned to the State prison
for two years and six months.
There can be no doubt that this is
the expression of a very general public
sentiment. How long can we afford to
permit the lawlessness which renders it
justifable Already New York has be-
come famous for violence, vigilance
committees are talked of, and strangers
are beginning to think that homicide is
the favorite relaxation of many of our
citizens, and the business of many
scoundrels were not hanged at the right
time.
1t will hardly be disputed that the
universal practice of going armed in
civilized community endangers the pub
lie welfare, and lessons the respect for
law. Cause and effect react upon each
other with fatal effect. The weapon
which is assumed as defence against
the criminal classes serves to swell their
number. 1t is q constant incentive to
violence, a treacherous counsellor of
passion, a corrupting influence, steadily
weakening the reverence for order and
human life. In the case referred to,
the prisoner was an old man, he had
served in the army, and so far as APP
pears, he was not professional ruffian.
Yet his pistol very speedily brought
him to the grade of one. When vii
lains know that murder means hanging,
prompt and inevitable, they will cease
to murder, and with that the necessity
and the temptation to carry the defen-
sive weapons will also cease. Good
citizens will no longer go about with all
the appliances of amateur assassins, and
the metropolis of the country will be
rescued from condition of primitive
savagery.-N y Times.