The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-04-19
CARRYING CONCEALED WEAPONS.

had one good result at least In arousing q yer,
vigorous and determined public sentiment Ii
that State concerning the deadly and, I'M.
happily. TOO prevalent custom, throughout
all the Southern States, Of carrying concealed
weapons. The first grand jury that met at
Atlanta after that tragic affair COMMUNICATED
It's session by returning seventy-iive true
bills, among them two against women, for the
indulgence In this reprehensible habit. The
grand jury went further. and demanded Of
the General Assembly to pass law to pre-
vent, under heavy penalties, the buying,
selling, owning, possessing, loanlng, borrow
Ing, or bringing into the State any pistol or
pistols, or In buying or selling any pistol
cartridges.
| This ia, perhaps, too violent and extreme
proposition to be practical one, yet 1t may be
valuable as suggestion. It might be made
| to serve practical purpose In tho shape OF q
heavy tax on dealers In small arms, such as
may be easily concealed. and On cartridges
for them. The carrying Of concealed weapons
IL crime In Louisiana as 1t seems TO be lin
Georgia. Yet, as we all know. IL liz crime
that Is seldom punished ut oil, and never %
1t should be. Indeed, the execution of the law
is spasrnouic and emotional. and the yigor
that attends its enforcement depends Id the
main on tho particular mood In which the
judges and other officials of the criminal
courts may happen to be- In DIT the time the
offender is arraigned. II deadly encounter
has hut recently occurred on the streets. II
helpless child Ok woman has been shot down
On Canal street by the flying bullets
OF some rufiian, whose brutal In
stincts are displayed In his utter
indifference to the lives Of the unoffending
people about him. the courts, the polio. and
thepnblic are overtaken for season by sud
den and oven exaggerated sense Of the enor-
mils 81 the offending which primarily led to
the crime, and the next batch Of offenders are
liable to get q mild application Of the law.
I'm q short while this temporary rgor ID re-
Taxed. and gentlemen who may have been IN
luckily arrested ~ fdgrantc delielu come
gracefully to the bar, plead guilty and arc
turned loose with mild reprimand and
small fine. This goes on until another SUCH
affair ~ has too often dlsgraced our streets
occurs, TO be followed by another spasm Of
judicial indignation.
1t is not our purpose In these remarks TO
the other hand, we frankly concede that. gen
orally. the fault has not been with them. Judge
Whitaker especially deserves credit for the
declaration made by him some time since from
the bench. that he intended to enforce the law
Vigorously In all cases, and give offenders the
full extent of the penalty. The trouble ID not
with the courts, nor can they correct the evil
by enforcing the law, however vigorously,
without the backing Of determined and con
sistent public opinion. The root pf the evil |
lies in the conditions Of society. Correcting
these only can 1t be- attacked and eradlcatefl.
The wearing Of concealed weapons ID a habit. |
custom Of the people, and ~ no blood 81 |
the last century considered himself we'll
dressed without his short sword, 90 the youth |
Of the period regards himself fully equipped |
for the day only when he has fitted hia
Tranter comfortably In his hip pocket
True. II is crime, but 1t IL
one To which attaches, III the
public estimation, none Of the opprobrium
and dishonor that ID usually visited upon
crime. The large majority of the people do
not even condemn the habit, or, II they do, II
y merely for forms sake, while they them
selves are given to II. Az Macaulay said Ia
'xcusing the vices Of Nachiayeil on tho
yrOund that they did but slight violence to
he moral sense Of his age and people "a vice
by the general opinion ID merely a
ice. The evil terminates lii itself Ii ID
aerely . local malady." In illustration he
ays that q woman forfeits forever her social
oeition by what In man IL regard ed as q
1ere peccadillo.
The only way to put stop to this perni-
ious custom ~ to make 1t odious and enpen-
I've. But how Ii this 10 be done2 Certainly
OF BY the mere Legislative enactment Of
riminal statute, nor by the enforcement Of .
he penalty prescribed therein In answering /.
he question there are very many things that ,
,ust be taken under consideration. FIRST OF
II, ID must be conceded that custom 90 ,
eneral and 30 little rsprobated must have
nderlying causes Of the gravest character, :,
II OF which must be taken into account In
ny efforts that may be made to cure the .
vii itself Doubtless 1t is chiefly due .
} mere wantonness and bravado on
no part Of young men, and to !.
ne slight regard In which human life Is held :
y all The rigid enforcement Of the laws ID !,
Il cases Of breach Of the peace, from fisti- !,
lff to murder, would 70 very far to afford :
correction. In other words, the criminal J
aws should be stringently executed against :
Il classes. But this will not cure the evil :
Mess the laws are supplemented by strong
nd healthful public sentiment. There are
ome good and peaceable men who honestly !.
elieve themselves in constant danger OF
iolent assault, and under this silly appre- !.
enston carry arms all their lives without !.
yer having q quarrel. Then, again, there !,
re times when gentlemen are almost obliged !.
60 armed, by the unavoidable conditions !.
society in which they live These excep-I
onal cases will always exist, we suppose, yet =
9 believe that the habit can be broken up by !.
roper and unremitting appeals to pubic sen :
ment, and by wise legislation and the strin- :
of the penal laws In which 2
aprisonment should be the chief punishment !.
and awarded. The press can exert
conspicuous influence In the formation Of
lblie sentiment. vet 40 long as such o,,t