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Show FACTS NOT THEORIES. t Advocates of anti-pistol laws, in their zeal to suppress crime, commonly common-ly fail to look facts in the face. There is no good reason for believing believ-ing that a criminal class which lives by breaking laws would suddenly see the light and obey a law against possession pos-session of one of the tools of its trade. There is good reason for believing, believ-ing, however, that the result would be that the criminals would go on as before, completely armed, and that law-abiding citizens only would be disarmed. This has been the result in certain communities notably New York, with its famous Sullivan Laws. Crimes of violence have not decreased in that city on the contrary, they have increased. in-creased. The criminal class has paid no more attention to the anti-gun law than on any other statute on the books. Thus, the Sullivan Laws have not only failed to protect the public, but they have actually endangered it. It has been suggesetd that federal laws should be passed against the shipment and also the manufacture of guns. To this it may be answered answer-ed that. any reasonably skilled mechanic, me-chanic, using materials readily attainable, at-tainable, could make a gun in a few hours and this gun would kill just as decisively as the finest product of the gunsmith's craft. Furthermore, one smuggled shipment of foreign-made foreign-made guns would last the underworld for years. Efforts to disarm the criminal and penalize heavily his use of weapons, should be encouraged. But in trying to subdue crime, we should not make the mistake of depriving the honest citizen of protection. |