8

No.7. As between lead bullets and those partly or entirely metal - cased, the figure: are as follows;

Full-metal·cased or metal·pointed

26

Soft·point or partly-metal-cased

  1

Plain lead

40

 Total 67

Once again the more effective type of bullet preponderates, for the jacket on a metal patched bullet tends to keep the

projectile intact and to reduce its tendency to mush room on impact against resistant tissues The plain lead bullet,

however, lacking confining jacket, is free to mushroom to any shape imaginable, thus producing a more dangerous type of

wound.

No.8. As between revolvers and automatic pistols, the former appear to be in much the greater favor among Chicago

gunmen, automatics being used in but 4 killings an revolvers in 63. These figures are somewhat at variance, however,

with those developed from a study of captured arms, when 9 out of 44 (21 per cent) were of the automatic type.

Of the three shotguns considered, the one in 20-gauge was of the "auto. and burglar" type, with which sportsmen are

familiar. It is made in pistol form and marketed by an old and reputable concern. The two in 12-gauge had both been

modified, the better to adapt them for homicidal purposes. One had the barrels cut off an inch t or two ahead of the fore end

and the stock sawn off just behind the pistol grip. This made a murderous and easily concealed weapon. The other had the

barrels shortened by several inches, but the stock had not been mutilated. All of these arms were of the double-barrel

hammerless type.

Although these were the only captured shotguns which I examined carefully, I casually studied several repeating shotguns

taken from owners of questionable character. In each case but one the barrel had been cut off just ahead of the magazine,

indicating at once the use for which these arms were intended.

No.9. Machine-gun murders numbered 8 among 74 (11 per cent), while machine guns captured constituted 5 of 43 arms, or

11 per cent also.

As we survey these figures one can not but give credit to the modern gangster for his practical knowledge of the tools of his

trade and the efficient manner in which he employs them. The submachine gun, a weapon of the highest value for certain

police uses, has apparently been unnecessarily neglected by law-enforcement agencies, but not by the hoodlum, who has

most successfully demonstrated its possibilities. The' large percentage of shotgun shootings, too, illustrates the potenti-

alities of this arm for homicidal purposes, and at the same time the futility of attempts to curb crime by legislating the

smaller arms out of existence. Since almost anyone will concede the impossibility of doing away with hunting weapons, and

since the effectiveness of such weapons for criminal uses is being daily demonstrated, let us hope that those who are now

agitating for further restriction on the sale of small arms will realize the impossibility of obtaining the desired end by the

course they are now pursuing and may be moved to direct their energies, not toward wholesale restriction, but toward

encouraging the employment of arms by reputable citizens and discouraging their employment by the hoodlum, through the

medium of mandatory additional punishment for any individual with a criminal record convicted of committing a crime

while with firearms in his possession.