Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-02

VI imperatvely calls for remedial
legislation at the present time as
the widespread practice of carrying con-
cealed weapons. 1t is evil great and
is the of SO many crimes of violence
that all readers who not informed as ~
to the facts will be astonished at them. ~oc
Failing legislation on the subject,
a rigid and intelligent enforcement of the -
existing laws by all police judges will do
much toward diminishing the extent of
danger which or less affects every XN1
man, and child in the community, w
and is national stain upon Our fame a T
people.
have talked with many foreign officials
upon the subject, and they all regard as the
and only civilized country in which violence
exists unchecked That this is true from their
standpoint is clearly evident from the pertlsal
of our own daily papers as compared with theirs.
That it is not checked it might be is true, and
it is mystery to them how nation civilized in
other respects permit it. 1t is with the idea
of arousing healthy state of public opinion which
will lead to practical reform in all cities and states
that this article is written
At the time of the last snowfall some children
playing in front of East Side tenement.
One child crying into the house, telling its
mother that the other children had pushed its head
down into the snow The respective mothers and
fathers out and quarreled. shot fired;
one father dead; and the other fugitive
for life until caught and punished.
Here were two peaceful happy families plunged
into tragedy and made miserable for life here
happy women and children burdened with many years
of hardship, shame and woe because one man had
the habit, unnecessary that it seems idiotic of
carrying pistol. And not day. in fact not an
hour, passes in the United States that does not
develop equally unnecessary and equally har-
rowing tragedy from the cause
A smart Broadway restaurant is filled with hun
dreds of men and women at supper. All in
evening dress and the scene appears to be one in
which life at least is safe, and that respect for law
and order which is be looked for at least among
the better element of the community is surely to be
found. Suddenly shots ring out from table,
bullets fly in every direction and wild panic ensues
after which two in evening dress are found
wounded on the floor, one lightly and severely
and foreign journals caricature the pleasures of
taking supper on Broadway, New-York
If it was true only of Broadway it would not be
SO bad, but the thing may happen tonight in a
smart restaurant in any city of the country. No
wonder the foreigner says that every Americans
dresscoat has pistolpocketi The present state of
affairs is absurd that emphasis make it
So and unfortunately it is much worse than absurd
In 1893 there in the United States 1910
murders and homcides 1t is an established fact
that more than one-half of these murders were not
deliberate and had not been previously intended
but spontaneously from quarres. For every
one of these murders there at least crimes
of serious injury, the injured men recovering We
have thus about fifty thousand of death or
injury from concealed weapons in year which
could have been prevented had the laws against
carrying concealed weapons been properly drawn and
properly enforced The actual figures are much in
of fifty thousand There will be fifty thousand
more cases of the same kind in the year to come,
and this tremendous, incredible roll of wounded
civilized country will continue until the