The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1884-01-23
THE GOVERNORS MESSAGE.
Pistols Let Them be Abolished.

EDITORS CLARION: [ was gratiiei I
learn from the recent able message 0
Governor Lowry, published in you
paper, that Mississippi is improving il
wealth, in educational facilities, and il
many other things which constitute tn
greatness and prosperity of State
Considering the many and great obsta
cles TO progress By which she is beset
she has certainly done wonderful,
well.
| l would especially and heartily en-
dorse the Governors decided recommen
dations concerning the adoption of som,
NE sure having for its object the SUP
preston of the prevalent crime of carry
| ing concealed weapons Last week tn
London police arrested a man nance
Wolf, for having dangerous expl0sievt
concealed on his premises" And why
should not the man who makes, SELL
owns, or carries a pistol be arrested
We have laws in most of the States pro
hibiting men from carrying concealed
weapons. Tut how is is to be known
that man has a concealed weapon
Were not pistols made to be concealed
Can they be conveniently or properly
carried in any other way than con.
cealed? If the spirit and intent of the
law be inquired into, it will be found
to bear rather against using weapon
that has been concealed, than against
carrying a weapon in concealment !
submit that the oa!y effectual way of
preventing the carrying of concealed
weapons is to prohibit the making, sell
ing or possessing Of any frearm that can
be concealed OH ones person.
Let the shortest gun be three feet long
and let any one having, selling or giving
away any shorter gun be fined heavily
or imprisoned, or both, at the discretion
of the urt. If pistols were abolished.
homicides would be dimin
ished by at least half their number.
Men kill each other because in the heat
of passion the pistol makes it so easy to
take the life Of IN adversary. Had there
been no such thing as a pistol President
Garfield and thousands of other worthy
citizens who have filled untimely graves.
would have lived to bless their genera
ton. Guiteau, sane or insane, would
not have walked the streets of Washing
ton City with shotgun to kill the
President. Pistols ought not to exist.
They need not exist. Men make them
and men buy and sell them. But all
Of this may be eliectually forbidden.
Pistols have scarcely plausible excuse
for their existence. As weapons of de-
Tense they are at once sham and a |
snare. Was one pistol ,ver known to
parry the ball of another? And has not |
1 pistol in one mans hand in thousands |
IF instances provoked or excused the |
fatal shot from the pistol in the hands |
If another? It can scarcely be doubted |
hat in most cases of death from pistol !
'hots, the real or supposed possession of |
| pistol by the person shot is the cause /
If his being killed. Few men will shoot
/ man known to be unarmed. When a /
nan dies by a pistol, his own pistoi
.auses his death in almost every case.
to pistols being a defense against
OTHERS, few ideas are more delasiye.
inee robber must in every instance
e supposed to have such advantage of
lis victim that his possession of a pistol
fould only furnish excuse for killing
efore robbing him,
The existence of pistols under our
resent laws is a great injustice to law
biding citizens; since the liberty and
fe of every man who obeys the law for
idding the carrying of concealed wea-
ons, are at the mercy of any who choose
) carry pistols in violation of law.
inder present laws this evil is inevita-
le Thus the law as it now is works
ljustiee to the best citizens IF man
beys the law he does it at the peril of
is life, since some men always carry
istols concealed For this purpose
ley were invented. They are bastard
! weapons, made for concealment and :
lurder. Yet nc man ought to be blamed |
,r having one so long as any other man I
lay have one. Let them be abolished. j
, that no man can have one. Let them ]
2 driven from the pales of civilization.
ennessee has abolished them; let Mia !
ssippi do likewise, and every other I
tate do the same, till no man in Amer {
a may justly suspect that the man he
eets carries an engine Of death con
'aled in his bosom.
w l. @. HUNSIcrT.
PORT Gibson, Miss.