Page 176 - Our Vanishing Wild Life

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OUR VANISHING WILD LIFE
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Sundays. They conceal them under their coats, on Sunday mornings, go out into the country, and spend the day in shooting small birds and mammals. The dead birds are concealed in various pockets, the Sunday gun goes under the coat, and at nightfall the guerrilla rides back to the city with an innocent smile on his face, as if he had spent a day in harm- less enjoyment of the beauties of nature.
The "Sunday gun" is on sale everywhere, and it is said to be in use bothbyAmericanandItaliankillersofsong-birds. Itweighsonlytwo pounds, eight ounces, and its cost is so trifling that any guerrilla who wishesonecaneasilyfindthemoneyforitspurchase. Thereareinthe United States at least a million men and boys quite mean enough to use this weapon on song-birds, swallows, woodpeckers, nuthatches, rabbits and squirrels, and like other criminals, hide both weapon and loot in theirclothing. Solongasthisgunisincirculation,nosmallbirdissafe,, at any season, near any city or town.
Now, what are the People going to do about it ?
My recommendation is that each state enact a law in the following terms
Be it enacted, etc.—That from and after the passage of this act it shall be unlawful for any person to use in hunting, or to carry concealed on the person, any shotgun, or rifle, or combination of shotgun and rifle, with a barrel or barrels less than twenty-eight inches in length, or with a skeleton stock fixed on a hinge.
The carrying of any rifle or shotgun concealed on the person shall constitute a felony.
The penalties for hunting with any gun specially adapted to con- cealment should be not less than $50 fine or two months imprisonment at hard labor, and the carrying of such weapons concealed should be $100 or four months at hard labor.
Incidentally, we wonder what will be the next devilish device for the destruction of wild life that American in\'entive genius will produce.
THE "SUNDAY GUN !"
A Deadly Combination of Concealable Rifle-and-Shot-Gun.