The Deadly Cost of the 'Gun Habit'
A local editor reflects on the tragic death of Philip Dawe and argues that easy access to concealed weapons is fueling a wave of unnecessary homicides in America.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Whether James Murphy, who shot his old-time friend, Philip Dawe, to death last Thursday, murdered him with malice in his heart, or in a fit of homicidal passion consequent upon deep drinking, will be judicially determined in due time. There is one inquiry that this sort of murder always suggests: Why are so many men allowed, without a legal permit, to habitually carry concealed weapons? This suffering every man, high and low, sober or crazy with drink, to go armed to the teeth, is contrary to law and public policy. In England, you are not allowed to carry arms without a permit, and if you do carry arms and recklessly use them, you are sure to be hung. The result is that drunken men don't commit murder in England half as often as they do in America. The 'gun' habit cost Dawe his life. A man crazed with liquor, if he habitually carries a 'gun,' is almost sure to use it.
“If men are unarmed and quarrel in their cups, a bout with their fists and a broken head is about all that ensues, but if the angry man has a 'gun' in his pocket he is likely to use it.”
Written in 1892, this editorial captures the early American discourse on the intersection of alcohol, firearm availability, and public safety. The author's observation that the 'gun habit' turns drunken quarrels into fatal incidents remains a central, unresolved argument in modern debates over firearm regulation.
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