Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-11-30
ADVOCATES THE LAW
FOR SALE OF ARMS
Proposed Enactment Not in
Conflict With Constitution,
Mr.. Sinclair Says.
FOREsEEs GOOD RESULTS
AND NO RIGHTS IMPAIRED
Former Assistant Corporation Coun-
sci Regards Suggested Regulation
in District as Wise Precaution.

sci hcSdTuS 6uSSeStcu ACS uldt1ou
in District as Wise Precaution.
The provisions of the law proposed
for the District of Columbia by the
committee on law and legislation of
the Chamber of Commerce., requiring
permit to purchase deadly or dangerous
weapons, do not infringe upon the
right to keep and bear arms" guaran-
teed to the people by the second amend
ment to the Constitution, In the opin-
ion of A. Leftwich Sinclair, former as
sistant corporation counsel for the Dis
trict- Mr.. Sinclair is chairman of the
committee on law and legislation OF
the Chamber of Commerce.
THE right to keep and bear arms
like other rights of person and prop
erty," said Mr.. Sinclair today. must be
construed in connection with the police
power-tAe power whereby the health,
comfort, good order, peace, security,
safety and general welfare of the COM
munity are promoted. None of the
amendments to the Constitution inter-
feres with the police power of the
government.
I'm the language of the Supreme
Court of the United States, the police
power of a state extends to the pro-
lection of the lives, limbs; health, com
fort and quiet of all persons, and to
the protection of all property within
the state, and hence. to the making OF
all regulations promotive of domestic
order, morals, health and safety.
Proposed Law Precautionary.
This law is proposed as a measure
of precaution for the prevention OF
crime and calamities in the District. 1t
is not prohibitory in its provisions. 1t
is simply regulatory. 1t does not de-
prive the people of the District of the
right to keep and bear arms. The pro-
posed law simply provides that no per
son shall purchase or own deadly or
dangerous weapon without having ob-
tanned a permit from the major and SUI
perintendent of police, who is directed
to issue such permits without fee
therefor
The present law prohibits the car
rying of concealed weapons of this
character in the District. regulates
their sale and makes it a misdemeanor
to sell or give any deadly or dangerous
weapon to any minor under the age of
twenty-one years. Do these provisions
contravene the second amendment TO
the Constitution? Such provisions have
frequently been upheld by the courts
and there can be no doubt as to their
constitutionality.
In Alabama a provision in the state
constitution that every citizen has
right to bear arms in defense of him
self and the state has been held not
to be infringed by a statute providing
that it shall be unlawful for any per-
son to carry a pistol about his person
on premises not his own or under his
control
Florida Decision Cited.
In Florida a provision which pre-
serves to the people the right to bear
arms in defense of themselves and the
lawful authority of the state has been
held not to be infringed by a statute
prohibiting the carrying of concealed
weapons. In sustaining a conviction
under the Florida statute referred to
the Florida supreme court in a recent
case expressed itself thus:
This section was intended to give
the people the means of protecting
themselves against oppression and pub
lie outrage and was not designed as a
shield for the individual man, who is
prone to load his stomach with liquor
and his pockets with revolvers or dyna-
mite and make of himself a dangerous
nuisance to society.
"In Texas a provision of the bill of
rights to the effect that every citizen
shall have the right to keep and bear
arms in the lawful defense of himself
or the state. has been held not in
fringed by a statute imposing on deal
per cent of the gross receipts of all
sales. The Texas supreme court recently
said of this statute: The present act
does not infringe or attempt to In
fringe the right on the part of the citi-
zen to keep or bear arms: nor does it
prohibit dealer in this state from
selling them: and. even If it did. we
think the act in question would not
I1 toll 0f to Gil
Georgia Courts View.
I'm a recent case in Georgia the
supreme court of Georgia held that
statute prohibiting any person from
having. or carrying about his person
any pistol or revolver, without first
having obtained license to do SO.
was constitutional and valid. and In
answer to the argument that the
statute violated the constitutional right
of the people to keep and bear arms
the court used this language:
when the second amendment to the
Constitution of the United States was
adopted it declared "A well regulated
militia being necessary to the security
of free state, the right of the people
to keep and bear arms shall not be
infringed." The third amendment also
declared that: mo soldier shall. in
time of peace, be Quartered in any
house. without the consent of the own
err, nor in time of war. but in a man
ner to be prescribed by law" Some
similar provision has been incorporat-
ed in most of the state constitutions.
The language employed has not always
been uniform. In some cases the pre-
liminary reference to the Importance
of an efficient militia Is made. and in
some it Is omitted, and there are other
verbal differences. But the common
element is the assurance of the right
ito bear arms"
lone of the first questions which was
raised under the constitutional pro-
visions on this subject was whether
| they were violated by laws which pro-
| hibited the carrying of concealed
weapons In the case of Bliss vs.
Commonwealth, 2 Lift. (Ky) 80, de-
cided in 1922, the supreme court of
| Kentucky declared that an act to pre-
vent the carrying of concealed weapons
was unconstitutional and void as i'm
pairing the constitutional right to bear
arms This ruling has not been fol-
| lowed, but severely criticised. The
decisions are practically unanimous to
the contrary. . In several states
other statutes, regulatory in their ma
| ture, or prohibiting the carrying of
weapons under certain circumstances
and at certain places. have been up
held. -
General Lines of Reasoning.