The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-10-02
The Pistol Habit.
Mobile Register.

Mobile Register.
 There is another feature. of this case & slayer carried a pistol As matter ol fact everybody in this community Wnt
 wishes to do so, carries pistol. Ine enforcement of the law against pistol carrying in this county is such a farce that nobody hesitates to go armed, whc has a fancy for that sort of thing During the incumbency of Judge Hofri.
 gan and Greer, the carrying of concealed
 Every man who had a gun on his person felt uneasy. Yet today the condftion ol
 affairs is worse than it was twenty
 years ago. The city has tripled its pop.
 ulation almost in that time. and we ought to have grown much more civilized. But as a matter of fact, there never Was "a time, unless 1t was immediately after the
 war, when the carrying of arms was so
 Tt is worth while to ask. why Is this SO? Is 1t because no attempt is maoe 10
 prosecute the pistol carrier! is M pe,
 cause the man convicted of carrying deadly weapon is not punishedf UT IS IL because this offense is no longer regard
 ed as a crime? Something is wrong some. this community Is almost exhausted. They demand of the authorities rigid enforcement of the law. As long as capi- tai punishment is on the statute books, there ought to be an occasional hanging of a white murderer. The practice of carrying concealed weapons ought to be made odious: and every citizen or Mem phis ought to feel safe in going about his business without wearing pistol on his person."-Memphis Commercial-Ap- peal.
 The remedy for this general carrying of concealed weapons is with the people. If they really condemn the practice, the courts will afford the relief. The trouble in most communities Is that the carrying of a concealed weapon by negro or other person of no special standing IS t-lz 1r,tG tG1, a n. prisonment, while the carrying of con- ceaied weapon by gentleman, or man who passes for member or the gentle manly class, Is condoned-eitner there IS no prosecution or there is some way found of lifting the penalty. We have read of shooting affrays in many Of our Southern cities, the participants being men of good social standing and, gen gen the combat with weapons concealed. No matter what happened to be the issue of the meeting, these persons were indict- able under the law TOT carrying conceaiea anything being done to bring them to account
 The Commercial-Appeal says that, 'as a matter of fact, everybody in this tMim- carries a pistol" and the Memphis pa- per explains that 1t Is because the law Is not enforced. There does not appear to be any emphatic demand on the part of the public for it's enforcement. The wonder is that there are not more mur- ders, assassinations, street affrays and. such like.
 The Commercial-Appears explanation is the correct one. We can use our Mo- bile experience as prof of 1t. h Mobile the law Is enforced. It costs $250 to car ry a concealed weapon and be detected in the act: We do not pretend that. therefore, there are no weapons carried concealed; but weapon carrying Is rare; and as a rule, no person in good social standing will wear a pistol. Afrrays. of the style recently presented in Memphis; are rare also. Tn fact. we have not had one for years in which respectable peo- pie or so-called respectable people were engaged. Pistol-carrying, pistol shooting, etc. are left to the hoodlurns and the shiftless. trifing negroes. and the police are camping on their trail so closely that 1t is not to be regarded as in any way a safe performance. The point to be made is that public sentiment is in fa- vor of the enforcement of the law and the courts know that they have the mor- al support of the community in enforcing the law. Such is the situation here and such should become the situation else where and will become so if the news papers keep up unrelentingly the cam paign of education.