The true Democrat., 1901-03-30
Practical Legislation.

Practical Legislation
The legislature of Tennessee is now
engaged in wrestling with the "pstoi-
totng prohlcm, member having intro
duced q bill to license the carrying of
pistols. Although some of the features
of the bill are ubjcctionable--su for
instance, as requiring the carrier to wear
a button labelled, "pistol carrer'-yet
the principle of requiring license for
the pistol carrier is lie most sensible
and practicable manner of dealing with
this troublesome question. The difficul-
ty in enforcing laws aimed at pistol-car-
rying habits grows ont of the mistaken
principle npon which these laws are
based nor will there ever be any sue
cesSful suppression of the custom until
laws are adopted which deal with the
question in practical, commonsense
way.
The fundamental mistake is in sup
posing that it never becomes necessary
for a person to go armed to protect HIM
self against violent mem and criminals.
Such mistaken notion we might natur-
ally expect to be entertained By dream
crs in closet or cloistcr, but it does not
do credit to the intelligence of men of
active affairs. There arise occasions in
the history of the most peaceably dis
posed and in0ffenSyc men when it would
be almost suicidal for one to venture out
unprcprepared to defend himself, even-in
the best regulated communities. There
are other men whose business it is to
manage large bodies of labOrers whose
Guasi-criminal instincts can only lie kept
in check by force. These managers have,
at stated intervals, to carry large sums
of money back and forth between the
plantation, the factory, or the mill and
the local bank, and it is needless to say
that it would be madness to attempt this
unarmed in isolated communities. 1t
has been suggested that in such cases, as
well as in others where the individual
has reason to expect an attack to be
made upon hun, a shotgun would answer
the purpose of personal protection and
save the law from infractiOn.
II requires but % moments reflection
to detect the fallacy of this suggestion,
Suppose, for instance. A and b should
have q disagreement and bad blood
should be engen( cred between them.
Each, believing a persona attack from
the other possible, wonld leave home the
following morning with his shotgun, and
meeting upon the streets, the natural
conclusion of each would be that the
other was determined upon trouble. 1t
is not difficult to imagine what the re-
suit would be under such conditions. Let
us again suppose the manager of a facto-
tory or plantation carrying shotgun
when he made his visit to the bank for
the purpose of drawing money for his
weekly pay roll, Would not the very
fact that lie started ont with his shotgun
serve to advertise the purpose Of his mis-
sion, to increase his own danger and
make the work of the highwayma east
er and safer7
Existing laws upon the subject of car
rying weapons are, as shown by the
above illustration, based upon the falla-
cy that it is wrong to carry weapons. 1t
would be just as rational to conclude
that because Matt Quay bought seat in
the United States Senate with the sur
reptitious Use of money, or, because the
British bought Benedict Arnold with
money, therefore nobody should be per-
mitted to carry money concealed about
his person for fear that he might accom-
plish harm with it. The fault lies, as is
the case with so many other questions of
this nature, i'll the failure of those who
undertake to deal with these problems to
between the use of thing
and the abuse of it. As habit, pistol
carrying is dangerous and vicious and
should not be tolerated; but in certain
lines of business and under certain cir
cumstances, it is absolutely necessary,
and to prevent it under such conditions
is to iuIlict grievous wrong upon the
citizen and to place his life in Jeopardy.
That member of the Louisiana legisla-
tnre who will draw mp bill and push it
through providing for an annual license
of $25.00 for pistol-toting; for having
the lists of all those taking ont such IL
Censes printed in the parish paper o ice
every quarter; for fixing the punishment
for carrying pistols, without first having
obtaincda license, at 800 and three
months Imprisonment for the first Off"nse
aud double the penalty together with the
whipping-post or disfranchsement for
offenses, will do more to
break up hoodlumism and to suppress
crime than can he accomplished by a
thousand years of tinkering with laws
which look to the absolute prevention of
pistol-carrying. Such legislator giving
the Stnk suel, n law ,rn,Ill ho n hnnnfan