The Sentinel=record., 1912-03-02
WOULD BE GREATLY mlNlMlzEp BY SUPPRESSION OF THE
 PISTOL "ToTER"
Local Reformers Would Accomplish More fl They Paid More Attention
 to the Greater Evils.
Editor sentinel-Record:

evils that atttct us and pay less at- tentien to those of minor importance, they would accomplish much more for the good of the community.
 There is a disposition amongst the so-caIled reformers to harp upon cer- tain evils greatly exaggeratlng their magnitude, without making any prog. ress toward their elimination or cor rection, while they absolutely ignore those which do us real damage and createl the impression abroad that Hot Springs is the hot bed of crime and lawlessness. Of the latter class of evils, I refer more particularly to tue practice of carrying concealed weapons The individual whe habit ually carries deadly weapon (nine times out of ten a coward) stands ever ready and upon the slightest provocation to take human life. This law breaker-this man, who when he leaves home in the morning, would no sooner forget to slip into his hip pocket his "forty-five" than he would to don his hat, is the individual who should engage the attention of the re- formers; he represents the class of law breakers which constitutes the real menace to this community; and 1t is he who has done more to dis credit Hot Springs in the public mind than all other violators of the law combined.
 And yet in the face of the many disgraceful and outrageous tragedies which have lately shocked this com munity and excited the Indignation of the law-abiding element almost to the point of intolerance, no steps have been, or are being taken to suppress the gun "toter," to whom nearly all of the trouble is directly traceable.
 The penalty for carrying concealed weapons is so light even when the maximum fine is imposed, that it ac- complishes nothing toward it's sup pression and men stalk around upon the streets of Hot Springs loaded down with artillery, ready to settle in deadly combat the most trivial dis pute that may arise.
 While these terrible tragedies are being enacted in our midst and the community is standing aghast at their frequency and atrocity, some of our most jealous advocates of law and order are sneaking around looking over transoms somewhere to locate sH odoT, nafftvd into their sensitive nostrils from a poker table.
 Desperate diseases usually require desperate remedies and the practice of carrying concealed weapons could be broken up, or very greatly m'ai- mixed in Arkansas, if it followed the example of the state of New York, whose legislature recently passed a law making it a felony Co carry con cealed weapons, punishable by pen itentiary sentence. There are several young men now serving five year sen. tances in Sing Sing prison as victims of the new law
 This severe expedient was the re- suit of frequent pistol fights, on the crowded thoroughfares of New York, in which innocent people were often shot down.
 The law abiding element of the city has determined to put an end to a situation which had earned for New York reputation for lawlessness, scarcely equaled by some of the wild and woolly west
 For the purpose of disarmlng those who carry concealed weapons and en- forcing the law against it. there has been organized in New York City what is known as the strong Arm Squad whose duty 1t is to visit at regular intervals the habitues ot tho tough clement and make ma.n to man search for pistols and other dead. ly weapons. Each visit to the coffee houses, saloons and dives frequent ed by that element subsequent to the passage of the law, resulted in finding fewer weapons, so that there had been marked dminution of crime in New York as the result Of the rigid enforcement Of the new law
 Something must be done in Arkan- sas to this end, and especially do we need in Hot Springs the enforcement of a law which will at least render less frequent such harroAing trage- dies as are constantly occufring here and. unfortunately, nearly livery year. when the city is full of }itors.
 F. W vhhiCHAN.