"but few people care to take part in prosecutions of this kind"

Change Pistol Law.

[Columbia Record.]

   Representative A. D. McFaddin, of this county, will at the next session of the Legislature call for the consideration of an important amendment to the pistol law of this State. The amendment was introduced by its title last year, but on account of the fact that it was near the end of the session was continued.

   The bill makes it necessary for every dealer in firearms to keep a record of the pistols sold. The dealer must also make a record of the purchaser of the weapon with a description of him or her as the case may be, and the purchaser must not transfer the weapon to some one else without notifying the dealer from whom the purchase was made.

   Mr. McFadden says that while the amendment would do away with the Cooper law, which requires a pistol to be at least twenty inches in length, he believes it would put a stop to many dealers selling pistols of illegal length. The dealer would be required to take out a regular license and be under a heavy bond for the performance of the feature of the law.

   Mr. McFaddin says that he has it from good authority that there were a number of parties in the city selling pistols not up to the length and that one man had told him that he had done nothing but sell pistols for the past two weeks. Of course this can be stopped, but few people care to take part in prosecutions of this kind, and as a result the business goes right on.

[Keowee Courier, Walhalla, South Carolina, November 8, 1905. New Series, No. 894.--Volume LV.--No. 45. Pg. 2]