Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-01-11
THE TRADE IN PISTOLS.
1t is Large and Has Its Fluctuations
Like Others.

!
| Like Others.
| The trade in revolvers, rifles and shot
| guns has It's fluctuations like other branches
| Of business" said the manager Of the sport
| ing department Of one of Washington 8
| large department stores, land l don't know
| that recent notable shooting has had any
| material effect in increasing the sale of
| firearms; perhaps it would be accurate to
| say that l have noticed slight increase
for this time Of year, for, though revolvers
sell at all seasons, they sell better in the
summer, when the weather permits target
| and out-of-door shooting
1t Will surprise you when l say that our
! records show that last year we sold over
[ 1000 revolvers and rifles, the sale of both
of which firearms we are required by police
regulation to keep a record Of the name
and address of the purchaser. There are
several other places in the city where fire.
arms are sold. SO it would be impossible to
estimate accurately the total number sold
In Washington in a year, but it will not
amount to over double the figure l have
named.
Current events have an influence, For
instance, when the colored population were
making 1t lively for the Chinese laundry
men and storekeepers the trade took big
squirt, and we would sell twenty or thirty
a day for a time while the excitement was
acute. The Spanish war gave the revolver
trade a big boom, and in the two years
prior and succeeding it this house alone sold
over 5000 revolvers and rifles mainly the
former. We are not required to keep
record of the sale Of shotguns During the
Spanish war the squirt in Washington was
participated in all over the United States
especially in the east and along the eastern
seaboard. This l learned from drummers
and others in the trade. l assume that it
Was the instinct Of self-preservation which
prompted people to buy, for if any fighting
were to be done here 1t wouldn't have been
n he han 1S Of oil
zens, except in the instance Of mob violence
and the attack of squads of roughs upon
peaceful citizens, though the militia would
probably have looked after that element.
THE hammerleSs revolver sells the best,
as does the hammerless shotgun, and the
standard caliber of the former Is So This
is the regulation caliber for target shooting
also, and the distance Is usually thirty feet,
or, as the code duello required, ten PAGES.
At thirty PAGES l can understand how one
Of two belligerents. or both, might miss,
as duelists stand sideways. but at ten PAGES
both men ought to drop al a simultaneous
firing. The reason why more men are not
killed in the many discharges Of revolvers
in street affrays or arrests is because very,
very few men know how to shoot, as mat
ter Of fact though every man thinks he
does, and the shots go wild. The slightest
DETECTION at the point of aiming will send
the bullet several feet wide Of the mark.
Yes, sales are frequently made to ladies'
though if a woman wants a revolver for
band brother or some gentleman friend
makes the purchase for her and her name
Is not recorded We not permitted to
sell to minors or to persons whom we be-
lieve to be OF unsound mind. Ninety-nine
per cent Of the sales of revolvers is made
for the purpose of protection and not ag-
erosion. For instance: young man to
whom I sold revolver recently asked me
what chance I thought he'd stand on
country road or lonely street against a
burly footpad. I told him none. as he was
delicate, and a strong man could rob him
and break him in two afterward. Small or
delicate men whose business requires them
to be out late, travel or ride alone in the
country know that they stand no chance
for their valuables or their lives in the
presence Of a strong ruff1an and a large
contingent Of our customers constitute this
class. Many other men enjoy target shoot
ing, as it Is sport which keeps them out
in the open air with an occupied mind. In
fact cunning Is one Of the most healthful
of sports II you don't fill yourself or your
fellow-sportsman or the dog, with shot"