| Show I y r 1 v vL I If L t 0 C n Ca t y C t S t. t rr n. n A f v. v N Afe try nV- nV I ie y The e Terrible Toll 1 r fn r I of the o e Revolver r x r. r ry ti I f N CHICAGO within tY N A AJ two n J t. t o us gunmen makin g eleven policemen killed b Y murder 1 t shot Americas z d. d r 1 t annual ow then toll murder now exceeds a year Americas r J lYtia lr 1 double that of 1900 says Frederick L. L T Hoffman e homicide rate for 1924 was of the S consulting large statistician of American insurance one A t 3 patrons that the homicide fi r ate had reached r not climax realized tt in 1923 were ta der n ever Anal sis s is worse pared with first six month g s es indicates for the the la teen X months of f- f fF F t t t r f r v r f q fY y k C fr greater fie distinctly r J tows d 3 A One of J p police an d crime the tS reasons a experts pits ns wh is Y the mur ease der is now s Y this country sa Y t i firearms rearms ca n be procured Y Y person w adult or death dealing sa r t 3 t- t ms x 11 WJ ort iMal Mat or IE ai Z v lot n C Na h ato ry S 'S r d u S j t v 1 i r J i Jr i 7 2 t a S v v Yh suit rr yh Sd ab a f tJ 3 v. v lt s r S r 1 S 'S rr b S' S x r I H HS S N 1 Fa Fat 1 t r jJ 1 With re revolvers and pistols pistols' easily obtainable obtainable obtain obtain- v Y c able by the amateur x gunman police police sw I officials hold him to be the most dangerous y of all for he e sho shoots with a hysterical sudI sud sud- I denness which the se seasoned lawbreaker ker avoids and sneaks a I s r Y sinister I f lurker u r k e r in in shadows and an ever ever- v ve r- r present menace manse in U every large ci city ty city 1 1 V. A I b a d 1 r S. S r Jl a t r S 'S 0 41 i fl V 1555 A 4 t 1 J t. t f i I c. c r By Isabel Stephen t R EVOL VERS nar narcotics and bandit j 1 c cars rs are the greatest contributors to crime says William McAdoo chief city magistrate of New New- York The pistol is the most pernicious of the I i f three and the curse of the American Nation There are more people carrying pistols in the United States than in all allf a f Europe Asia and Africa The liThe time will soon come comet he continued continued continued con con- when the bride stepping to the altar will have the family revolver strapped to her side Pistols are becoming beL be- be St St. L coming as common in this country as lead pencils y Magistrate McAdoo is sponsoring a abill abill aJ J bill which when placed on the statute books would impose a tax of on each one sold and a tax of 1 on each r cartridge sold The bill pending in Congress was dr drawn wn by Prof Chamberlain of Columbia Columbia Columbia Colum Colum- bia University and myself Mr McAdoo explained and has been very carefully considered from the legal point of view It is still pending in the committee comI com com- corn I of the Senate but Mr Ogden Mills tells us he will introduce it in the next Session of the House But do you believe that a tax of on each pistol will put them beyond beyond the reach of gunmen we asked Gunmen seem to have plenty of money back of them This is evidenced at police headquarters in the files cover covering ing histories of cases There is nothing in the argument that the gunman will gladly pay or for a pistol If the tax is imp imposed imposed im im- im- im p posed sed the large pistol factories in America cannot keep open to supply oi only only the gunmen Mr McAdoo cAdoo exclaimed exclaimed ex- ex claimed impatiently That hat is too ridiculous The profits gain gained d from importation will be great and we cannot prevent smuggling but bu with vigilance vigilance- e it can be bee t k kept e pt t down to within reasonable bounds and moreover the fact that there is the above inhibition will curtail the business efforts of the manufacturers in making for America against the s small tariff which is now imposed The main idea back of all the tho I r One Chicago bank prepares s its to fight fire with fire and they are given lessons in how to handle a revolver and how to shoot straight A dummy is used in the target practice At the right i is shown a miscellaneous collection of firearms picked up by the police up round t 1 tion which I have set forth repeatedly repeatedly repeatedly re re- re- re on various occasions is that we will vill get nowhere until we convince the tiie law-abiding law and decent citizens of ot the United States that in having pistols on the person or in the house or store is of no value 1 but tut ut a serious handicap and of infinite danger to any person or family that keeps them Look at the headlines in the papers today Picking up a conservative NewYork NeWYork New NewYork York newspaper the magistrate pointed IIA A to the startling announcement woman on trial downtown former lover was was' killed says she was trying to get rid of a household pistol People right now arc are shooting one another fathers and mothers shoot each other The pistol is of as much use in the home as a rattlesnake But when the law-abiding law citizen cannot procure a pistol and the criminal can isn't the former at the mercy of I the tho latter it was was was' argued The criminal the Criminal the up hold-up man takes man takes advantage advantage ad ad- advantage vantage of the unarmed victim J J No that is all nonsense he re re- re When we get people with or without law to realize that the pistol is IS a danger to the possessor and of no use against the invader burglar or or outlaw outlaw out out- law because of the element of surprise we shall have fewer shooting casualties What good were the guns they carried carried carried car car- ried to the two bank messengers who were killed by the Diamond brothers These m men n were armed to the teeth teeth teeth- they were on the lookout for up hold-up men men but but that didn't help them any The only persons who ought to carry pistols are the army navy and police officers There is no reason for any anyone one else to have a pistol As I said before no burglar has been shot or hold holdup up prevented by the owner having a pistol and there are thousands and thousands of law-abiding law people who have pistols that they ought to throw throwaway away Pistols are as common in this country as lead pencils and the amount of oj shooting that goes on exceeds all the rest of the world besides J 1 t i tL i i F i tr 5 Hyl Hylan ln and an Chief f r- r f t i Mag Magistrate istrate McAdoo McA oo I A 1 a j I vT r f i t j. j ll d J tl 1 f t T 1 17 l. l T T i i r 1 o OJ of o New ew York Ci C City Urge urge f L. L g L i f. f l i 1 i t Legislation tion J for 4 or the Restriction 0 of J the e Saie Sale and Possession s i n o of f Pistols ls So 56 Recklessly Employed loyed 0 i by Killers an and nd Thugs Thugs' o of the e Criminal World f i f It w will l be see seen fr from m the foregoing that Magistrate McAdoo is is' aiming mostly at keeping ordinarily law abiding persons from shooting each other Men of the gU gun l squad at New York police headquarters dont don't believe that placing a tax of on each pistol will do much good What they recommend is is ismore ismore more severe severe in the courts This particular squad was organized last November when hen ups hold-ups in the metropolis were becoming more and more amore more frequent I iONE NE detective who has as been bee stationed at headquarters for many years gave some interesting sidelights on the situation situa situa- situation tio tion he spoke poke from practical experience C I Before the advent of the automobile hold ups hold ups were scarce because the thugs had no noo means for a quick get New York New York w was s pretty well prot protected bec because be- be c cause s it ft lias' lias s few v. fe alleys and nd the fleeing hold lip men remained in plain sight Chic Chicago go and a d. d Philadelphia weren't so fortun fortunate they fortunate they e-they they have all sorts of twisting twisting twisting twist twist- ing and turning avenues of f escape Now however the gunman has an m automobile or ta taxicab waiting at the curb ready to whiz him out of sight before an officer arrives on the scene scene During last fast winters winter's seve severe e snowstorm snow snowstorm st storm rm th there re wasn't a single hold Why Why- Simply because the gunmen knew that they could not escape through the congested snow-piled snow streets The IThe Sullivan law which prohibits the carrying of a concealed weapon without a permit is very useful but put the gunmen gunmen gunmen gun gun- gun gun- men simply take very good care cate n not t to carry guns unless they are on a job Since last November the gun squad has been making nightly rounds of places where crooks hang out and have brought in an av average rage of twenty pistols a day These gunmen are very wary they live by bi their wits an ar af i r are o of cou course tG q r. r 1 constantly on the alert lert If they are caught carrying a pistol without a permit permit permit per per- mit they are charged with a dis- dis is- is demeanor but if they have been convicted convicted convicted con con- before the carrying of a conc concealed concealed con con- c aled weapon weapon becomes becomes- a felony and brings a severe sentence ONE NE NE gunman was arrested in March by three of the gun squad q lie He prot protested sted against his arrest but didn't say very much Three days later his his' priced high-priced counsel counsel produced a permit permit per mit which according to the date on it had been issued by a Supreme Court Judge in Albany County one day before the arrest If you had this p permit why didn't you mention it before l' l he was asked He could couldn't t give any satisfactory answer to the the question question but he asked another How long dd you intend to keep me here Ive I've been here only three days and it has cost me already v Who pays the gunman so lavishly that he can afford these large sums sum's sums 1 we we asked this detective Ie All sorts of pe people he replied This man I am speaking of acted as asa asa asa a bodyguard to a race track race track man man and and nd was paid 40 a night I dont don't say that all gunmen are paid as highly as this but many of them certainly are There Ther are are all sorts of persons persons outside of the pale of the law themselves that engage bodyguards ds to protect them from other crooks For instance we suggested Well keepers of wh what t we Ve call fake cabarets those cabarets those div dives which are s are run by y convicts ex-convicts usually convicts usually have gunmen gunmen gunmen gun gun- gun gun- men on their payroll places where big crap games are run bootleggers strikebreakers strike strike- breakers Many of the permits which arc are iss Issued ed to men who turn out out outto to be I criminals are given iven- iven in perfect g good od though faith faith though beyond question some are engineered through some soine some friendly judge judg In th the case of the Albany County Judge I mentioned that handed Jimmy his permit we have not yet obtained obtained ob ob- t ined a satisfactory answer as to why he issued it without proper investigation tion A very respectable-looking respectable g gentleman gentle gentle- man applied here for a permit and gave his occupation as a banker Hiss His references references references refer refer- were absolutely unexceptional He gave as his his reason his reason for applying f for fora r a permit to carry a pistol the the- large sums of money he he frequently carried The addresses of his town and country residences were in splendid neighborhoods neighbor neighbor- hoods Certainly everything ev appeared on the level Several months later he was arrested arrested ar ar- rested rested- rested for fo o bootlegging He explained that as as a a you young g man he had worked in ina in a bank and h had d simply borrowed a name name of a well-known well banker and naturally the requested ested references were immediately forthcoming when written for v This member of the police headquarters gun squad whom we were inter inter- interviewing interviewing viewing was asked if out of his practical experience experienc he could suggest any rem ream remedy dy for the toting gun-toting curse IeS Sure re he replied I think the courts could do a lot Those thugs t g off far too lightly Where There should be some som sort sort of specific You know know- it is rather maddening to go into a aW adiv W dive div and arrest a gunman at the risk 5 of of your life life deliver deliver him at lice station with the goods goods' on him him him- and then a couple of hours later see him grinning at you from the next corner corner How come we asked for an an ex- ex Well those thos gu guys s dont don't have any trouble in getting bail There Ther are always always al- al ways whys bonding companies ready to put put up the money for them when they have havethe ave the right backing If the bail is only and they are doing a good line line t they eY are apt to skip The IThe other day a gunman with se sere i convictions ns was arrested out or 1000 bail Hail while in another part of the city a Negro with two previous c con can n- n was was- held on ball bail The mentioned first-mentioned man man has disappeared disappeared geared the second has already been sentenced H Heavy ry a-ry- bail and long sentences sentence seen seem to b be the obvious cure for gun MAY TX R R HYLAN RYLAN of New York City recently sent a communication to Magistrate McAdoo McAdo citing the case case of Jot Thomas Thomas- L. L Leeming Brooklyn millionaire millionaire million million- aire sire who wire was slain during the early part of June and urging long prison terms for persons person's unlawfully possessing or or selling firearms Emp Emphasizing the importance of oi restriction in the sale and greater possession possession possession pos pos- session of firearms he wrote v M S 1 1 i The sl slaying ing of a distinguished citizen citi citi- dUJ J zen of Bro Brooklyn klyn by a self-confessed self blackm blackmailer iler armed with a pistol brings again to the front the necessity for the restriction of the sale and possession of firearms It was brought out in the recent r police conference that l local cal magistrates in the rural sections of New York State Stale issue pistol permits and that a gun toler will travel miles to get such a permit I II therefore am appointing a committee com corn mi tee to investigate and suggest to the Municipal Assembly that the penalty of 01 unlawful possession or sale of firearms be a long prison term or any other method the committee believes ca cap can be ba effectively employed McAdoo ac accepted the Mayors Mayor's offer to become chairman of a committee of which the District Attorney of each county in the State will vill be a member to investigate the frequent deaths resulting resulting resulting result result- ing from the use of firearms WE E ASKED the gun squad detective mentioned earlier in this story which nationality was was best best represented among among mong the gun None in particular he replied They dont don't come from any certain locality in iI the city either In IQ the old days clays they all flocked ed together today the men who are arrested for having guns in their their- possession n give as their addresses quite frequently some of the tile finest residential sections toting Gun is the curse of America remember he continued not of NewYork New NewYork York City alone As a matter of fact New York has fewer murders in c comparison comparison com com- m- m parison to the size of its population than any of the other large largo cities The tax would prevent ordinarily ordinarily law-abiding law people from killing each other it is true but bat none of these thugs and there are far more than 2 2000 00 4 in America would be sidetracked from fruin their murder business because of Do you think that that blackmailer who shot Leeming would miss when he was accustomed to bringing down at one time No iNo taxes wont won't prove any obstacle e. e to them But if a real |
