The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-11-23

maks tho isw maixsrs ioss fsftA h tho Captain Todd had nttsd . rins barrel ttwenty-four inches 1ong to regula. tion army pistol. to show just what compliance with the law would re-
 quire. This overgrown weapon was hrst exhibited in the hotel Hobbies and
 in the Senate yesterday Senator Ham- ner produced t as an argument asainst the bill.
 He declared that as long and ss r5- dicuIbus n that weapon was, 1t had been carried over the strests Of Mont gomery on the psrscr q the mshexs rying 1t. But the senate wanted the bill, and the Etowah Senator's argu- ment could not dissuade 1t from its purpose.
 A Meritsrisus Measure. Al soon as the bin came up ssnatsr
 Merritt took the floor In ito support 1t
 was in his opinion q msritortous meas
 ure. s- 6
 The people of Alabama. he said. were
 looking to the Legislature and praying for reiief from the pistol totsr. It was expected of the Legislature that 1t
 would provide some letislation on that great subject He believed firmly that the bill would prevent the carryine of concealed weapons, and if 1t did that the Senate of Alabama should certainly pass 1t.
 The pistol bill was not exactly what hA vented. but Senator Hinson said he would tale it as bsing the Best hs could get It would do at least one thing, prevent negroes from going about the country and Haunting dangerous piss tols without violating the law.
 The Black Belt. he said. was not sui ferinE 10 much from concealed pistols AA A kl- IL a-r- | concealed. The negro had learned that l he was violating the law if he con- cealed his pistol, so he was accustomed l to strap 1t on the outside and thus | armed so out and look for his enemy. |
 MT. Lusk pictured tho pistol toting | evil as one of the great evils of the day | in Alabama. He alluded to the entic- | ing display of guns ahd pistols made in the windows of the hardware dealers and gunsmiths In the city. There was | practically no restraint upon the sale | Of such weapons and they were offered | in the most tempting way.
 The way to remove the evil, he said, was to stop the sale of the weapons. I This is what the bill did. It not only made it unlawful to carry a weapon of that kind, but it made the sale of such weapon illegal.
 He took the manufactured pistol which Senator Hammer. was using as l exhibit A" and showing it., declared that no man could carry such . weapon The bin offered the best way of stopping pistol carrying in Ala- oarfa, for it made n uni1wful not only n to sell one, but to carry one as we'll. or unconcenled
 Pistols and Politics.
 Senator Hammer. rose to speak against the bill. He called for "exhibit 4" and Senator Merritt carried 1t Hing- 'rly across the Senate chamber to him.
 The pistol in its present shape Is lot all dangerous but am not sure of he bill" said Senator Hammer. s.The ,istol can do no harm as 1t is. but this III can easily destroy some bright and ,roniising political careers. n Senator Hammer denounced the bill as I me of the most drastic pieces of legis- aticn that had ever been presented to | I hs Legislature. He reminded his hear rs that the passage of the bill would lot stop homicides in Alabama To Illustrate, he recalled two recent : in his section of the State, n which no pistol was used and in [ Yhich the dead men might have saved heir lives if they had been armed. He a ited a number of instances in which | onest men had saved their lives ffom . riminals and without bloodshed by aving a pistol. The Senators should not forget the set that 1t was sometimes necessary ! of an honest, law abiding citizen to l 2 arry a pistol. But under the bill he c