Show 1 V 6 it I 4 The Salt lAltn Tribune Sunday 121! Novenniker a 1 3 Gun What Is Thy Magic'i a 4 s c - America hangs its guns oler the in antlepiece and holds ihent doer The alp r' xi al sa 4 - ' " -' -- ' i '- ! - - - "- "- ‘- - feet of " t ' - " -- 1 — - v 1 4 tr 0-- long-barrele- '' J Take up a gun Turn It In your hand Test Its weight Inspect its plum blue metal wood touch its What is It child of America that so bewitches you? What is it about a gun that compels 50 million of you one out of four to own enough guns to arm every other American citizen? Why is a gun in more than half the homes in your land? The answers would go far to explain why proposals for stiflaws — which fer have rarely been more insistent than in the four years since the assassination with a — gun of John F Kennedy ever fall to generate such a visceral response from so gun-contr- tnany people Deeper Attachment But the' answer is elusive "Sales of guns and ammunition been higher: never have Shout 400 million dollars a the pan and the dud Amer! cans stand ramrod straight keep their powder dry fire blanks broadbides draw shoot their wads rake their eights shoot the breeze has the mystique of the gun as it seems to have captured the American imagination lock stock and barrel? Why? For good or M" says Harold Peterson who has devoted much of his life to pondering "man has althe question over his wanted control ways environment and over other men A gun gives it to him" Peterson N head curator of the National Park Service Museum in Washington DZ He also is one of the nation's 700000 gun collectors a leading authority and writer on arms a hater of hunting a lover of guns His interest In history led him he says inevitably to his interest in guns explains Its mysdque Why for instance the elaborate five-yea- Escapes Even Owner across amples - the land are tine exof the Kentucky Rifle vintage about 1815 the first truly American gun Few specimens of expertly crafted or jewelry could furniture rival the carving inlaying ehgraving done on their locks and atocks — and they were hardly the most ornate guns available then or now They were work guns not orna- t 'netts Obviously a gun 'would per- form as well without decoration So would the knight's N'word have cut as cleanly 'without Its gilded hilt and so would the brave's bow have ent its arrow as true without I ts beads and spangles But down through the ages man for some arcane reason has regarded his personal weapon as vastly more than a mere tool And never has this been truer than in the degree "Arms have had a greater influence on history than have attribute Policemen year men" says Peterson "Espe part of the upsurge to urban since the advent of fire violence and some gun ads daily arms the man with the best a fear as use undisguised weapon has directed history's pitch important turn" The American's inordinate every the requirements of Clearly howev to the gun attachment wars have caused history's er seems to reach far deeper of nobility he has accorded Spurts in weaponry's steady Into his soul than any passing advance from the crossbow to the latest of his personal social unrest can explain or the Polaris missile But a weapons the gun tar that mattert any passion closvr look at history shows Firing Squad Plea for hunting or mil for collectthat the reverse is equally These manifestations Consider John Andre John only ing undeniable and far more omi ' Andre was the British spy beg the quation nous in its implications: who plotted with Benedict' What is it about a gun for Civilizations have come and Arnold and who on a it has that golden given example' flow October morn in 1780 atop a such a conspicuous place in gone governments have Would ered and died but man's 'nen hill in Tappan NY was American heritage orable pursuit of a more powas be Father hanged tIle Pilgrim achis erful more efficient more without Before his execution Andre tecognizable has curate proceeded weapon with Gen Washington arquebus? The Minuteman pleaded The down the centuries without allow him to die his musket? without to heroically without and Frontiersman without his long Interruption before a firing squad rather defense to his need for regard rifle powder horn and bullet than ignominiously on a galor his thirst for conquest or lows pouch? Why one route to the his hunger for food but purely should be regarded hereafter Builder of Legends as its own reward honorable and another odious a Historian Peterson adds What is it about a gun that a mystery we note only footnote which is Just as tnspires such idolatrous attentto this day the hairy- -' that Im is that every ion in the form of exquisite haunting It chested way to take one's carvings and engravings? portant development in guns leave is by the gun been In 150 the has years past Why does a gun get chrisConsider Doubt dueling the work of an American gun tened with a name: Brown to whether the as 0ccurs maker — Bess Long Torn Old Betsy custom of premedtong-helas though it were a person Europe Too Crowded itated at 10 paces murder — a god? or: Nike Zeus Are Americans then past would have gained such fasWhat is it about a gun that and present more attracted hion among the fashionable creates legends out of those to guns than their European had it not been for the gun who use it with skill — Buffa- cousins? Damned Dueling lo Bill Annie Oakley Wyatt It appears so But perhaps York? Are Plainly it was gentler on the Earp Sergeant not so much in attitude as in to rip an oppsensibilities America's poets so adored? Gun dealers who numbers onent's viscera from a distance What at length is it about sell internationally note that a gun that causes it to haunt Americans with their relative with a pistol ball and proAmerican speech? Would it be affluence and vast open hunt- found courtesies than to do it close with a blade going off half cocked to ing lands have more opportu- up Thomas Paine damned duesuggest Just as a shot in the nity to own and shoot guns In dark that nothing comparable crowded ling as "Gothic and absurd" Europe hunting on arid all 13 colonies outlawed has penetrated the idiom as tended preserves carefully it- - Still It remained a flourdeeply as the gun? has since the 17th Century The idea couldn't be too been restricted mainly to the ishing American folly until well into the 19th Century wide of the mark 'Me gun gentry As aficionados howAlexander Hamilton fell behas given to the American ever Europeans seem to the Aaron Burr on a Weefore shot the the dealers as eager ' to spend tongue big straight shooter the flash in $5000 on a custom shotgun as hawken NJ field of honor in 1904 a year when any proper any American gun lover g e ntlem a n's accoutrement in Questioned informally Included case of a velvet-linegun shops around the country rraatched pistols barrels deepmost gun owners were content blued to defeat the glare of to cite the influence of Amer' lysun triggers set to morning can history as the main if not at the only reason for American fire the least touch And if not to own his happened he Idolatry of guns own dueling pistols there svere BARTOW FLA (AP) — A Custom Dies Slowly shops handy which rented mistrial was declared Satura then Surely part of history trial plays the in murder day The lan4 was tamed more John J Sweet a former FoxIf codified mayhem was the boro Mass real estate salesrecently than other lands pleasure of the wellborn a are alive today means of satisfying honor and man accused of procuring two Americans men to kill Sebring Citrusman whose fathers lived in lawless passion available to any comCharles Von Maxey places shot their supper con- moner was the less elegant quered Indians drove away gunfight Circuit Judge William K Love took the action after the wolves 100 Shoot-OuCustom dies slowly and the jury foreman reported the Andrew Jackson variously panel was hope- days when owning a gun !member of both high and a seemed more than reasonable lesly deadlocked after four The not owning one were not terri- low classes hours of deliberation engaged in on both levels — foreman Robert Wilson of bly long ago The farther shoot-outLakeland said most of the toward the Rockies one goes about 100 of them in fact and deliberation had been spent to ask the question: "Why do left at least one opponent you own a gun?" the more dead At one time in America trying to iron out differences among the jurors frequent are replies such as men toted pocket pistols as Love said that on the "We always had guns in our casually as they wore watch motion of the prosecution the home" To many that is rea- fobs And not Just In western real sling camps and saloons but case would be tried again but son enough But neither the gun's func- In eastern drawing rooms and would not be scheduled for tion as a weapon of defense legislative halls as well some time "until the publicity has subsided" nor as a tool of the hunt nor Henry Deringer Jr the Love continued Sweet's as an item of sports equip- Philadelphia gunmaker died $25000 bond pending the new ment nor its ineradicable In 1868 a wealthy man and friaL place In history adequately mcwst honored During one I is O chesttr rld more than ever year members year became more by with 12000 the Jaycees gun for kids end as they Golf do to play golf also line their bookThey shelves vzith more than 400 current titles on guns and subto a dozen national scribe magazines devoted exclusively to shooting That's just target shooting Shooting animals the leisure activity in which along with catching fish more Americans participate than any other is in a category of its own 17 million Americans About hunt pleasure That's better than one out of every 10 citizens old enough to lift and shoot available ut drama a fact scarcely overlooked by passing generations of novelists film makers and television who producers know human nature as well as anyone and hardly need to be nation's the boxoffice hunters spend TV Plays a Role Now it appears television's reflection of the gun's magnetism has gone full circle and is casting reflections of Its own A spokesman for Winchester Company credits TV Westerns with influencing a new demand for the firm's n rifles the ones that "won the West" Win shrugs "I r74 bet typewriter( beet typeeriterl — -- I — -- -- - — - - — 2 )3 it 44 L 1 - :: ' r' ::' 4 ' 2 ' -' - ' Vortical torroctino pec her loll 0 ''''''" 1 '1 oiam esoo o oft '''‘v A1? L- Mistrial Gives Reprieve to Li d II cl) Slay Suspect fl II I t! Irl rf I s üilQ9 d r e3 1(11 t7tvL7 0"&:11-24- cl- rt---- II 7 r I : 1 I f! k ' i414 t!) ll: - r 11)-0't 1 7 ) ctt)!- - :: 41 A -7' )) ! ) 1 4 3 070 1 IttaAnzitonat and many pimento! type stylaa riot? 1 (7 4 11 11 L J 767i (1q 17 rv I I 17-(-- ft ltlf II 'LI ii flu CI)JEC't 0 0 0 1 - It !::! 1 aternat iona - 0 0 n t rl1 rl rt 4 Int ernational 1"'S uttomatit tabulation verente keys spacing - ole lifetime super speed 11 International i' 4 1 r 1 113R II 7 i t'cl 11i' ieltinle -- Intrigues you the weapons pi violence seem to snare you The question recurs: Why? You potnt to your young and turbulent past still fresh itx memory your wild and op& lands still seductive la adventurous feet Do these aspects of your: culture unique to you answer the or merely question explain the answer? Are you child of America by more ancient legacy also a child of Cain? fleeing cbo it (171EigifIG 1!11112 g FT consequences" The gun child of America bewitches the hunt you HAYWARD CALIF (UPI) —Gilberto Zama 20 was cut down by four bullets when he lunged at officers after holding a knife to a girl's throat in a rape attempt "You'll have to kill me because I'm going to kill you" police quoted Garza as saying Friday as he rushed three patrolmen with knife In hand Detectives said a few minutes before Garza was killed he held Dolores Silva 22 captive in a phone booth in an unsuccessful rape attempt He encountered the police after when the girl Screamed like to eat wild meat I've never thought about it beyond that" Says Wendell G Swank and plane tickets Last year for example hunters from 4 states journeyed to Nebraska evolutionary Policemen Slay Rape Suspect I like to hunt 0 r muzzle-loadin- and philosophy education and psychiatry" writes Ardrey "must alike grapple with the speculative ically named "Australopithecus Africanus" lacked fang or claw and as a basic element of survival took up a weapon For millions of years r Why "Politics origins A fundamental discovery is that the primate which directly preceded man in the hominid line a creature scientif- it" FV LI about man's guns like the ones Kit Carson used Why? "To put some of the fun of But why hunting back into does he hunt at all? Austin black-powde- Outraged Group The amount includes every expense such as gas and oil lever-actio- triumph" with authentic wives listening with a synthesis of what he and others including some of the world's foremost scientists claim to have discovered Is Austin a writer and part-tim- e game warden hunts only either $1400000000 or $390000000 a year depending on whether you read the survey of them taken in the field or the one taken at home Why Why "African Genesis" best-sellin- g Some hunters like Gery Austin of Santa Fe NM further indulge their primeval Urge by using primeval techniques Just Likes Hunt a shotgun pursuit of their pastime In h sti-C- out: "Man is a predator whose natural instinct is to kill with a weapon" No Fang Claw Ardrey is an anthropologist and author His playwright ping for aim with peaks" 'This only sldrts the fringes Robert Ardrey draws a deep breath and says it straight KM Secondary Triumph of course means a kill though many hunters assert that that is secondary But certainly the kill must have some importance Most shooters insist that the bullet produce a more dramatic result than a mere hole in a target as any shooting gallery operator would testify When the metal was removed from behind the bullseye in the National Rifle Matches the shooters objected bitterly No Americans In fact spend than twice as much to of icult Theodore Roosevelt the patron saint of the nation's conservation program "can understand the keen delight of hunting in lonely lands For him is the joy of the horse well ridden and the rifle well held for him the long days of toil and hardship resolutely endured and crowned at the BlIguns °Outranks Gen George Patton in two world wars And it is still without basic change "It looked like a gun and felt like a gun" says historian Peterson "Just to hold it Imparted a sense of power — a factor that has touch to do with its popularity today" What the traditional American shoot-olacked in manners it made up in high r about of Articulate hunters from Jack London to Ernest Hemingway have devoted volumes to explaining their passion but most others usually just sigh "No one but he who has thereof" wrote partaken who i before man emerged be went about armed His weapon was virtually a part of hint Thus in the view of thls school of anthropology man's devotion to the gun is innate It Is not something acquired ew by special conditions upbringing but a facet of his very nature As It may be and repressed controlled directed as any other inner drive But as a genetic inheritance of his animal past an instinct it is no more likely to vanish from his nature than his instinct to replenish his species director of Arizona's Came and fish department: "I believe hunting runs even deeper In the human emotion than that search for adventure and the desire to overcome which stimulates obstacles people to climb the most diff- afield compete in 7500 tournaments — which do not Include' the uncounted ' thousands of turkey shoots still held an fall Sundays in the country or such tournaments as the 5600 promoted each clubs for more responsible romanticized killings than any gun in history It was the storied The Equalizer the sidearm of Billy the Kid and Jesse James With ivory handles it trademark for the pheasant season Hunters are by far the largest and most outraged to group oppose gun laws which they feel might threaten their trips guns last in its history Shoating contests of the more conventional sort have lacked never for followers and sharpshooters from 'William 'Tell to Alvin York have been acclaimed as national heroes America's first shooting match (America 934 Ireland 031) on Long Island in 1874 drew 100000 spectators Today target shooting is an Olympic sport an intercollegiate sport and a pastime for lit- was 061 Wu' - l - Associated Presit Writer handsome convinced of the appeal of the gun :: ::: I Other manufacturers gave their pistols names: My Friend Bull Dog Tramp's Terror Red Jacket In 1873 the colt Company brought out a pistol and gave it a trade name too The Peacemaker Peacemaker? It probably the ' a Jules Loh Bv Storied ) ''" ) ‘ tle pistols and so many imitations were on the market at the same time in other cities lits name misspelled soon became a common noun The gun John Wilkes Booth killed Abraham Lincoln with was an authentic Deringer capital D single r On display in guanted museum cases and locked away in coveted private collections ' - period he sold 8000 r ': ” 9 since of his wickedly ornamentation T Know Few Rivals NN ' '' ' - America was old enough to squeeze a trigger What is the mysterious lure of the (run? ' 7 V '''''' f:: q d telescopic sight - - the idolatry may a snqb:ngsed revolver or a rifle but it's been lore at first 1411 )N But the Real 'Why' ‘ pJ: :c be - e-- history Plays Vital Role 1 Th r L:1LII c! t''f!f L'i1 ' 's ' -- 41 74) ' 1 (--- 4) ! --- 1 A 4 i)-- 0f A IlL4-44ti'g- A i - it 3440 -- 4148410:4 1 4-- -- sstIN4:muot441Ssols -- 1 - ° - A i ticatitlall s P kLiu r) 171 r L1 dole SPA $10950 t: 41 C------' - :l r C LA ti A'' A6:: - r- - ply - 1 t4b? - ''''::::' 1 office slectrit $22500 0 : ' '"'1!1 efficomachinil $12950 P' k " 1 - - -------- ' -- ' stonean perish Nish! SPA 6 --e-- Sig 'I 4 - lightweight portable model SF $6930 fr— : - 1141141 ts -- - -- - -- - 444241 ''''" Étf1 i:--- $35000 !IF 7! 177 SCHREYERS " Downtown and Cottonwood Moll At little SCHREYER'S you can buy an Olympia as $4" per month or use your as little as slOw more than an ordinary BankAmericard —"1 EL-1"1- SCHREYER'S TYPE RIGHT STORES: for - I or LJ typewriterpay - t as: Walker Ilianka' rd s'!' 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