Evening star., 1914-11-14
More Than One Hundred to Be
Observed by Pedestrians
< Within Short Walk. j..
DRASTIC LAW NEEDED To-
SAFEGUARD PURCHASES
Police Officials in Sympathy With a
New Regulation Along Lines
Z; Suggested in The Star.

One hundred and sixteen dedoiy
Weapons of the makes that are referred
toes revolvers or pistols. some new and
some secondhand, were displayed in
windows of eleven stores WITHIN ten
minutes walk of the office of The Star.
Pennsylvania avenue and 11th street.
this morning.
That means more than one thousand
bullets with one round of firing" re-
marked a member of the police force
who discussed the matter with Star
reporter, explaining that some Of the
magazine weapons carry many more
cartridges than the ordinary so-called
,sG7shooter.
l"And what an awful state of affairs
it is" the officer remarked. Display
ing firearms in public, i think, is about
as bad as furnishing dime novels to
youngsters"
AT one place of business twenty
weapons were on display, the largest
number at any one store, while at an
other store there was only one pistol
in the window. At several stores the
stock of firearms was confined to the
interior of the business place.
Posters to Help Along Sales.
Posters bearing pictures of weapons
and conveying the information that
double action revolvers could be had
for s2.25 were found suspended in
front of one place of business. Passers-
10y helped themselves to them.
Police officials at headquarters this
morning were unanimously of the opin-
ion that new law along the lines sug-
sested in The Star is badly needed.
They pointed to the proposed law that
was framed by Maj. Sylvester and
transmitted to the Commissioners as
being a decided the
law under which sales are now made.
a law that is no law at ALL eX-
pressed by George r. Linkins at the
meeting of Lincoln Park Citizens AS
ISOLATION Wednesday night.
And even with such law as We now
have, said police official to Star
reporter this morning, something has
BEEN accomplished and with an effect
i've law to safeguard sales of weapons
il is not hard to imagine what the de-
partment could accomplish in the way
OF crime prevention
Crime Traced by Pistol.
The official recalled the horrible mur-
der of little Elsie Kreg1o by Irving
Ford, colored, some years ago. In that
case-and il was one of very few cases
the police say, in which the purchaser
Of weapon gave his real name-the
crime was traced by the pistol left by
the murderer
And in that case, as in most in
stances" said the official the weapon
was not purchased with any thought
that it would be used TO commit mur-
der 1t was purchased several years
hefore the crime was committed. and
the purchasers name, Irving Ford, was
found on the record of sales"
The official pointed out that with the
proper law on the statute books, one
making identification necessary before
I sale is perfected, the murder mystery
ri Kate Jordan. colored. who was slain
her home in Hillsdale several years
cleared.
Solution Mystery Made Easy.
a dealer the official said, saw the
il,strument with which Kate Jordan
vas killed. He readily recalled having
sold such a weapon, but the name given
by the purchaser proved to be fictitious
and there the investigation was stop
ped.
Had there been a proper law in
force when the sale was made" added
the-official. land had there been po-
lice identification of the purchaser, a
solution of the mystery may have been
made easy.
Put so long as people are permitted
to enter store, give fictitious names
and addresses, put down the money
and walk out with pistols, what pro-
lection has the publicn'
Two suicides with weapons pur-
chased within the past two weeks were
mentioned by the police official in the
discussion of the question.
Delay Might Have Saved Man.
In one case. that of an inmate of the
Government Hospital for the Insane.
he said. there may have been some
doubt as to who really fired the shot.
The tragedy was not witnessed by an
attendant or other person and 1t was
not until some time after life was ex-
tinct that the body of the suicide was
discovered.
The first question to be determined
in that case" the official said, was
the ownership of the weapon. 1t
happened that that was one instance
i'll which the purchaser had given his
name correctly and it was easy
matter to determine that the weapon
belonged to him.
And in that particular case" he
added. "who knows but that delay in
making the purchase may have been
the means of preventing the taking of
life?
And" he concluded had there been
proper law in force at that time
the man with disordered brain would
have been told that his application for
permit TO purchase a weapon would
need investigating before he could get
accommodated.
raDr mann nr, nm Ann ryruy