New-York tribune., 1907-04-17
CONCEALED WEAPONS

The crusade begun against the carriers of
concealed weapons will have the support of
every right-minded New Yorker. The police
force has been stirred To unusual activity by
the tragedy of Sunday afternoon, IN which the
lives of two pauOlmen We're wantOnly sacri-
feed. They paid the penalty Of a mistaken
laxity in dealing with a practice which more
than anything else contributes to the encour-
agement of the crimes OF violence. Their
deaths and the wOundng Of a civilian were
due I'm no sense TO criminal aggressiveness.
Two Italians had had a scuf1e in a park and
one Of them In a fit of irritation drew a pistol
and shot the other. Pursued by the two Do
licemen and brought TO bay, the owner OF the
pistol fatally wounded his pursuers Without
the pistol the whole affair would have ter
minated in a trivial charge OF disOrderly con
duct
The murderer. it is said. understood no Eng
lish. He was probably a coward as well as
handicapped by ignorance for in general only
cowards arm themselves in a civilized and
densely populated community, and II Is this
combination OF cOwardice and ignorance which
produces 75 per cent OF the homicdes which
crowd our criminal court calendars The man
with the concealed weapon uses 1t because he
imagines that all other men are as fearful as
he is and as ready to shoot stab on the first
prOvOcatiOn or at the first sign OF danger
SUN AiNAANAN4o sign L4Ae4A oh4l uedlu warrants
when they first yield TO the impulse to carry
concealed arms. The man with a pistol in his
pocket draws II on some one daily In imagina-
ton, and sooner or later he draws Il IN reality
| 1t is only By neutralizing this fatal power OF
suggestion that the homcidal mania can be
checked, and it is only when a man puts aside
deadly weapons that he acquires real courage
and becomes really free and tranquil
We have a special difficulty To face in this
city because we have large population trained
| In old Ideas OF individual dlstrust and per
sonal vengeance. The Italians especially the
Southern Italians-live in an atmosphere OF
suspicion, unrest and violence. and they are
hardly to be persuaded that an alteration, or
even difference Of opinion hOtly expressed
should not lead 10 bood-letting. They turn
their weapons in most cases against one an
other. but they often pursue their peculiar theo
ries in dealings with the rest Of the community
Only a most rigid scrutiny can prevent them
from carrying knives and pistols But that
scrutiny would repay all the effort 1t might cost
by reducing the average of crimes OF violence
| in this city.
We are glad to that the courts are i'm
posing severer penalties on persons convicted
Of carrying concealed weapons A wears i'm
pTisonment is not too heavy n sentence for n
murderer caught in the process of making
lmprisonng few hundred or a few thousand
! of these inchOate criminals might dIscOura pe
the habit of conducting private war in the Ital-
ian and other foreign colonies. If a strict SUI
pervision of pawnshops and firearms stores were
enforced the police could probably shut OF
10 great extent the supply of weapons now
! going into the hands of men who carry them
| for 'selfdefence" and men who use them In
the practice Of crimes Ike burglary. Commits
siOner Bingham can do the community a val
| liable service In disarming as far as possible
these two obnoxious and dangerous classes.