Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-09-22
EVERYBODY GET A GUN.

where it will be necessary tor the private citizen to
arm himself, If he is not already armed, in order to
those dependent upon him. 1t had been hoped that
a stage Of civilization had been reached where all
these matters Of defense Of the Individual from the
7ioent invasion of his rights might safely be entfust-
ed to the public authorities. We seemed to be max
ing quite satisfactory progress in that direction. But
OF late there has been a decided reversion to the hab-
its Of the savage when it was necessary for the indi-
vidual to depend for the protection Of his rights upon
the strength of his own right arm. Crimes OF vio-
ience have been decidedly on the increase during the
past few years. What the reason is is = large ques-
ton. OF the fact, there can be no doubt. In the
large cities, robbery with violence has become a
common occurrence. Where murder is necessary to
accomplish the object of the robbers, murder is COM
mitted without hesitation The wave Of crime has
spread to the smaller cities and into the rural dis
tricts; and there is literally no place where q man
may consider himself or his property secure. Grand
Forks has just had a diabolical murder committed
in the heart of a thickly ettled district of the city.
There have been thefts without number. Automo-
biles are taken from their owners premises. some
times recovered, and sometimes not. Within two
rights three garages, within two blocks Of each 9TH
er, have been entered and attempts have been made
to remove cars from two of them. Circumstances
beyond the control Of the criminals rendered these
efforts futile, but the intent was there and the evil
dence was found next morning. In one case :. gar
age which had not contained a car for months but
which had been kept locked, was forcibly opened.
Apparently we have reached a stage where the au-
tomobile thief does not think it necessary to lay his
plans in advance, to spot his car, and watch the
premises so as to be secure in his operations. He
merely roams around and enters likely looking build
ings on general principles, expecting to remove a
car if he finds one there.
Quite obviously the police cannot mount guard
over every automobile, and a car may be stolen with
in a very few minutes. There must be something
more, therefore, than police patrol to prevent such
depredaticns. One thing which would be whole
some would be the imposition Of sentences when the
offenders, are caught whichwould shock otherFwould
be criminals intogTa sense. of the risk they were run
ming in attempting crimes of this character. Too
often thieves are allowed to go with a reprinand OF
on suspended sentences. Occasionally they are re-
CURED to move out of town on pain Of having the
sentence of Imprisonment executed if they reappear.
This is simply sending a criminal from one town to
pursue his vocation in another, and communities do
not benefit by an exchange of criminals.
Another remedy and one which is quite serious
y to be considered is for every man to get a gun and
to see that It is kept in proper working order. Per
haps after all this is the solution Of the whole prob
lem. One Of these fine nights somebody is going to
get hurt while attempting to enter a residence or
steal an automobile. Some man who has a little time
to spare will be cranky enough to sit up ali night,
waiting for what may happen, with a gun within
easy reach, and when he sees persons moving about
in a suspicious manner quite near his premises he is
going to take a pot shot on general principles and
make his investigation later. He may hit some per-
fectly innocent person, which will be unfortunate.
In view OF the risk it may be we'll enough for limo
cent persons to avoid placing themselves where this
thing may happen to them but there can be no
question that the administration Of a load of Dusk
shot under circumstances of that kind would have
q wholesome effect on the entire criminal community
which is entirely too large. If the result of the
cranky individuals adventure should happen to be
fatal, there will be one criminal less, which ought to
cause no serious regret.