Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

 Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow § 173.: Carrying of concealed weapons prohibited.— - A Treatise on State and Federal Control of Persons and Property in the United States considered from both a Civil and Criminal Standpoint, vol. 2

Return to Title Page for A Treatise on State and Federal Control of Persons and Property in the United States considered from both a Civil and Criminal Standpoint, vol. 2

Search this Title:

Also in the Library:

Subject Area: Law
Topic: The American Revolution and Constitution

§ 173.: Carrying of concealed weapons prohibited.— - Christopher G. Tiedeman, A Treatise on State and Federal Control of Persons and Property in the United States considered from both a Civil and Criminal Standpoint, vol. 2 [1900]

Edition used:

A Treatise on State and Federal Control of Persons and Property in the United States considered from both a Civil and Criminal Standpoint (St. Louis: The F.H. Thomas Law Book Co., 1900). Vol. 2.

Part of: A Treatise on State and Federal Control of Persons and Property in the United States considered from both a Civil and Criminal Standpoint, 2 vols.

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


§ 173.

Carrying of concealed weapons prohibited.—

For the purpose of preventing or reducing the number of street affrays, which, it is claimed, the habit of carrying concealed weapons increases to a most alarming frequency, in most of the States there are now statutes in force, prohibiting the carrying of concealed weapons. Apart from a provision of the constitutions of the United States, and of the several States, which guarantees to every citizen the right to bear arms, there cannot be any serious constitutional objection raised to this regulation. It cannot be questioned that the habit of carrying concealed weapons tends to endanger strife, for the very act indicates the expectation of a possible use for the weapons. The prohibition of carrying concealed weapons is, therefore, an appropriate remedy for the suppression of street affrays. The American constitutions guarantee to every citizen the right to possess and bear arms, in time of peace as well as in war; and no binding law can be passed by Congress or by a State legislature, prohibiting altogether the carrying of weapons of warfare. But the law against the carrying of concealed weapons is not a total prohibition. It is only a reasonable regulation, established to prevent a serious injury to the public in the enjoyment of this constitutional right. It only prohibits the carrying of concealed weapons, and does not interfere with any other mode of carrying them. It is the concealment which is calculated to produce harm to the public. Any one, carrying a weapon for a laudable purpose, will not desire to conceal it. The law against the carrying of concealed weapons has in many cases been declared to be constitutional.1

It has been held within the police power of the government of the State of Massachusetts to forbid the parade of unauthorized bodies of armed men, if exceptions are made in favor of the military forces of the State and of the United States.2

[1]Miller v. State, 153 U. S. 535; Munn v. State, 1 Ga. 243; Aymette v. State, 2 Humph. 154; State v. Buzzard, 4 Ark. 18; State v. Reid, 1 Ala. 612; State v. Mitchell, 3 Blackf. 229; State v. Jumel, 13 La. Ann. 399; State v. Smith, 11 La. Ann. 633; English v. State, 35 Tex. 472 (14 Am. Rep. 374); State v. Wilforth, 74 Mo. 528 (41 Am. Rep. 330); State v. Shelby 90 Mo. 302; North v. People, 139 Ill. 81. In Haile v. State, 38 Ark. 564 (42 Am. Rep. 3), a statute was held to be constitutional which prohibited the carrying of army pistols, unless uncovered and in the hand.

[2]Commonwealth v. Murphy, 166 Mass. 171.