OCR Text |
Show POTENTIAL MURDERERS? It is a common argument of crime-reformers crime-reformers that the sole purpose of the pistol is to kill, and that the possessor pos-sessor . of such a gun is a potential murderer. It has been estimated that some ten or fifteen million Americans possess pistols, and a good share of these undoubtedly un-doubtedly use them frequently for game or target shooting. To say that all these people are potential murderers murder-ers is equivalent to saying that murder mur-der is a universal urge. The point that reformers miss is that the will to murder is not a matter of physical equipment, but a mental condition. The person who wants to kill may do so with a pistol and he may likewise like-wise do so with poison, an axe, a knife, a rope, or some similar agency. As a means of killing, a sawed-off shotgun is far more dangerous; than a pistol and requires less skill on the part of the user. Almost anyone of a mechanical turn of mind could manufacture a gun good enough to kill at short-range. Anti-pistol legislation legis-lation is not only unjustified, but is entirely futile as a means of preventing prevent-ing crimes of violence. |