Arizona republican., 1910-12-24
Current Comment
THE FOLLY OF THE GUN.

The man who was shot at in mis- take for a deer gave his would be slayer a sound trouncing. That was well. and it set an admirable pre- cedent ito encourage the others The trouble is, however. that com paratively few who are thus in- voluntarily made cervine targets sur .vive. The accuracy of aim of the blundering spOrtsmen" who mis- take men for stags is really marvel ous. and suggests that high military effectiveness might be attained ro. our army by enlisting all such men into a corps of sharpshooters. This one wretched yet lucky bungler, who shot sixteen times without hitting the supposed deer" was a veritable lusus naturae in the exhilirating sport of cervicide. and he amply de- served all the thrashing he got. from the targets point of view because he shot at a man instead of a deer. and from the shooters point of view because he was a bad marksman. But he probably reckons that it is better to be a bad shot and get trounced to boot than to be guilty iOf manslaughter.
 The incident seriously attracts at
 tention, however. to the really ap- palling number of fatalities of the season thus far in the hunting field. Any such mortality on the football field would rouse a frenzy of pro- test Yet we are not sure that this years record has been worse than the average. Every hunting season has a long death roll of those who are shot by mistake and of those yNhO are killed through careless han killing of their own or others guns. Tn the great majority of cases the carelessness or stupidity seems in excusable But the lesson of common sense and prudence is not learned The man who was killed in trying to shake down an apple with the butt of loaded gun probably left son who in time will essay some equally foolish performance. When one IS thus the victim of his own rashness there is nothing more to be done. But it is an open question whether there should not be more severity in dealing with those who accidental Iy kill their fellows in such fashion. Accident" is useful word. but it should not be stretched to cover every result of crass stupidity.
 The question may well be raised. too. whether it is not about time to reIegate hunting to the realm of the lost arts in .many parts of the coun- try. Tn sparsely settled tracts Of mountain and forest and along the shore the pursuit of game birds and animals is legitimate and not alto gether unprofitable. But in complete lv occupied agricultural regions and in densely populated suburbs the wan dering gunner and his bowling hounds are nuisances. The mischief Whlch they do as trespassers is great. Fences are broken down and woods and havstacks are set afire by burn ing gun wadding And. the net gain to the gunner himself is little or nothing. If he saved the cash he spends for ammunition and worked for ordinary workingman's wages in
 stead of tramping the fields he would have money enough to go into the market and buy more food than all that he gets through his gunning. At the present time gunners are as sumed to be privileged to hunt on all land from which they are not Specfl- caIIy excluded by posted notices. It might be will to try the plan which was recently proposed in New Jersey. of legally regarding them AS trespass- CTS on all lands on which they have not received specific permission to hunt.-New York Tribune.