Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-05-09
Disarming A Nation
BY Frederic j. HasIsin

n revolver or pistol without breaking
the law is now proposed by Senator
Shields Of Tennessee as a remedy for
the crime wave.
II is agreed by all that something
must be done. The country is overrun
by armed thugs who shoot down n few
hundred citizens every day. take their
| cash and jewelry. and escape I'm four
thousand-dollar cars which they have
stolen from other citizens without much
trouble.
Senator Shields believes that the way
to remedy this situation is to make il
as difficult as possible for any ono to
obtain a revolver. pistol or other firearm
small enough To be concealed about the
person, and he has introduced a bill
which is to accomplish this by barring
such arms from Interstate commerce.
The stated purpose of the bin Is to sup
press the sale of pistols. revolvers" ct
cetera-that is. to make II as difficult MS
possible Tor any one, criminal or other
wise--to obtain such an arm.
This bill has provoked sharp dis
cussion. Many Legislators favor t. On
the other hand. students OF the crime
problem say that il viii he wholly in
effective. Some critics of the measure
say that II is typical of n whole school
of legislation I'm this country, designed
to suppress vice and crime. and which
has the opposite effect.
Senator Shields says that his measure
Is modelled after the Prohibition law.
Prohibition. he says. was ineffective as
a State or local measure as long as
liquor could he manufactured i'm
neighboring States and shipped into
dry territory. In like manner, he says.
the efforts Of police to control the sale
of firearms in a given city are futile as
long as any criminal can send away and
get a revolver by mail or express.
His opponents say that his whole
theory is unsound. They agree with
him that his law is of exactly the same
type as the Prohibition law, and they
assert that, while prohibition has re-
duced the consumption of alcohol. which
may be a good thing. IL has not pre-
vented any man who really wants al
cohoi from getting IL. lie can get IL
from bootleggers. Furthermore, here
in Washington. one OF the most orderly
of cities. he can buy a slightly Incdicat-
ed port wine containing Is per cent
of alcohol at many small stores, and he
can buy all the materials for making
home brew at several places, together
effect of this law. they contend, has
been to restrict the consumption by
making it inconvenient to obtain al
Coholic beverages, but It has not smade
it impossible for the man with an alb
normal alcoholic thirst to satisfy it.
win Not Affect Criminals.
In like manner. they say. the gun
prohibition law will greatly reduce the
number OF persons owning weapons by
making il difficult TO obtain them. but
it will never prevent the man who really
needs one from getting it. There viii
inevitably be bootlegging in guns. just
there is now bootlogging I'm whisky
A whole new class of criminals who en-
gage in this traffic will be created, lust
as liquor prohibition has created class
of criminals. And the tax payer will be
saddled with another burden of expense
in the effort to enforce this law. 1t will
disarm the peaceable citizen, but 1t will
never prevent the criminal. who needs
the gun in his business. from getting
one He is used TO getting things Ivy
thert and craft. lie IS well acquainted
in the underworld. lie will get a gun
under gun prohibition just as easily as
he gets liquor under liquor prohibition.
The law-abiding citizen viii be disarm-
ed by such legislation, but not the pro-
fessional gunman.
Take, for example. they say. a group
OF 100 citizens. Perhaps 80 or more OF
these never thought OF owning a gun.
Perhaps about so Of them have pur-
chased guns which they keep in bureau
drawers for personal protection. Many
a burglar and highwayInan has been
Of arms III the house for self f-protec-
tion is a recognized and valuable aid
in the suppression of crime IL there
were a loaded revolver IN every bed
room in the country. with a person whs
had been properly trained in the use of
il. burglary would be greatly discourag-
cd.
In this 100 men there are perhaps 10
who own revolvers as means Of recrea-
tion. They are members Of target shoot
ing clubs which encourage civilian
practice with small arms. or they are
men who make camping trips in wild
country and carry side arms with them
How IL Would Work.
Not more than three, probably, of
this 100 men are criminals Now the
effect of a law like the Shields bill. gay
its opponents, is % disarm this entire
100 men in the hope of disarming the
three criminal members. The 30 who
would otherwise buy revolvers for self
defense will be discouraged from doing
so by the expense and risk OF prosecu-
tion. Then men who use their weapons
as means OF recreation, and who are
valuable for their skill in case of war
will be more reluctant to give up, but
they, too, are laW-abiding men and do
not like TO follow a hobby which in
wolves contempt OF law.
The only men of the hundred who viii
and gladly disregard the law
are the three criminals They habitual-
ly disregard law anyway. They are ex-
perts in breaking it. Their lives de-
pend upon the ownership of guns 1t
is almost certain that they will succeed
in obtaining them. And they will be
Of knowing that their intended victims
haye been disarmed.
These men argue that the way to pre-
vent the abuse OF any privilege or right
S not TO take it away from anybody, but
to take it away from the man who
abuses it--not to deprive the 81 law
abiding citizens Of their rights, but to
make it hot for the three crooks.
This is not being done, they say.
Our police systems have come in for
50 much criticism lately that il is hard
ly necessary TO repeat any of it, Tn
solved murder and theft mysteries are
the order Of the day. Our criminal law
is 4 notorious farce. The statement is
rna do NV high uthotifias fbat a man 4,