The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-08
Legislature May Pass
 A Pistol L7Oting Larv
COMPULSORY EDUCATION.
BY c. M. STANLEY.

Montgomery, November 7.-(Special) There Is every indication that the legis- lature will take up the subject of pistol toting at the present session and that something will be done looking to the regulation of this growing evil in Ala bama. Indeed, two bills were introduced today in the senate, one by Senator Rey- holds of Bibb and the other by Senator Lusk of Marshall.
 Both seek the same end, although they differer widely in their provisions as to the best way to get at the subject For instance, the bill of Senator Reynolds reads as follows:
 Section 1. Be it enacted by the legis- lature of Alabama that on and after Jan uary 1, 1908, it shall be unlawful for any person to sell, give away or otherwise dis pose of a pistol, revolver, pistol car tridges, dirk or bowie knife.
 Sec 2. Any person violating the provi- sions of this act shall be guilty of misde- meanor and on conviction must be fined not less than s5 nor more than $lO0
 It is short but to the point. and Senator Reynolds claims 1t will solve the prob lem. T consider the prevention of the sale of cartridges the most important fea- ture of my bill,' said Senator Reynolds tonight. If a man has a pistol in his possession now and is unable to obtain cartridges for it in the state 1t will not take him long to get out of the habit of carrying the weapon. The prevention of the sale, giving away or otherwise dis posing of pistols will soon make them mighty scarce in Alabama. Tennessee has such law as this and I understand it has worked well and has been entirely satisfactory in every way
 But Senator Lusk's bill is the one that is drastic. It forbids any one from OWL ing or having in his possession or control either openly or concealed any gun, pis- tol or firearm of any character with barrel less than 24 inches long. The pen alty for violations is sentence of from one to ten years in the penitentiary. If passed 1t would go into effect 90 days after final adjournment of the present session.
 .The only way to put stop to this great evil" said MT. Lusk tonight, 'is to enact law that will mean something and then see that it is enforced. There is no use to temporize in such matter as this.
 'sYou will note that my bill makes no exception of officers of the law. What business has an officer carrying pistol when 1t Is against the laws now on the statute books of Alabama? They have no more right to carry concealed weapons than any other private citizen. If they want to use firearms let them carry gun over their shoulder where 1t is ready for use if necessary. I would1kxcept no one and if my bill becomes law it will speed fly stop this pistol evil.
 ''I had considered making my bill al- low the possession of weapons with bar rels IA inches long, as suggested by the Age-Herald, until a friend who is in- formed on such subjects told me that it was a simple matter to carry such weapon concealed. This friend told me of an acquaintance who worked in his shirt sleeves with light trousers on, and yet the man carried concealed about him two A Colts revolvers IA inches long at all times and no one would ever know he had the weapons on his person.
 How did he do 1t? He wore leather belt just under his trousers with a holster on each side extending down the leg and 1t was the simplest matter in the world for him to jerk out the two big pistols and get busy with them.
 After I heard that no more 1+inch