Springfield Weekly Republican

To Restrict Possession of Pistols

The bill prepared by the national crime commission's special committee on firearms regulation, and submitted by the commission to the governors and Legislatures for adoption, is a comprehensive measure bearing evidence on its face of expert knowledge and understanding of the problems involved. Its general adoption would unquestionably go far toward elimination of the peril of the possession of deadly weapons, capable of concealment, by the criminal element. Careful provision is made for protection of the legitimate use of such weapons and it is difficult to see how any law-abiding person who needs one can take reasonable exception to the conditions under which he is permitted to obtain it.

The bill prohibits the use of machine guns, silencers and noxious gases by all except the military and police authorities, the advertising of small arms, their purchase or possession by persons other than those presenting satisfactory evidence of their good character and of legitimate reason for possession. All manufacturers and jobbers must be registered and retail dealers licensed. Complete records must be kept of every sale, with description of weapon and data for identification of the buyer, who must have a permit for purchase and possession. A license to carry a pistol is to be issued for only one year and the license must bear the finger print of the applicant. Such a license must be obtained before it is lawful to convey a pistol in any vehicle and the presence of a pistol in a vehicle is to be taken as prima facie evidence of its possession by any person in the vehicle.

Additional penalties for committing or attempting to commit crime when armed are fixed at from three to five years for a first offense, from five to 10 years for a second offense, from 10 to 15 years for a third offense and from 20 years to life for a fourth offense. The proposed penalty for a fourth offense is a modification of the New York Baumes law, which fixes the penalty at life imprisonment for all such convictions.

The committee that has prepared this bill is exceptionally well qualified for its service and its members were carefully selected to give comprehensive representation. Former Atty-Gen J. Weston Allen of Massachusetts has been its acting chairman. Atty-Gen Benton is also a member. The police are represented by Chief Vollmer of Berkeley, Cal., a recognized national authority on police problems. Other members represent the United States attorneys-general, the United States army, the bankers, the marksmen and the manufacturers of small arms. President Stone of Colt's Patent Fire Arms company represents the last named group, which includes Smith & Wesson.

The committee, it is announced, agreed on all of the points of the bill it has submitted, except that a minority, representing the small arms manufacturers and rifle and revolver associations, were opposed to the requirement that a permit must be obtained to buy a pistol as well as a license to carry one. The reasons for the objection are not set forth by the committee or the commission, but on its face the bill's stipulation would seem to be a necessary safeguard against evasion of the law's essential prohibitions.

The proposed law could not of course prevent the "bootlegging" of weapons, but the weapons so obtained would be largely those acquired at second hand from persons who had been able to conform to the law's requirements and had proved then or afterward to have acted in bad faith. The limitation upon the manufacture of small arms which would necessarily follow from a strict enforcement of the law would be offset in large measure by the passage of a law by Congress, as the crime commission proposes, prohibiting the importation of such weapons. Here again "bootlegging" would be bound to exist, but there would be little clandestine manufacture. The making of firearms happily is a more difficult matter than the making of "booze."