The abominable practice of those to whom firearms belong, or those in the charge or care thereof, of keeping or leaving such weapons loaded, so that they may at any moment fall into the hands of children, or perhaps, what is worse still, inexperienced adults, is most seriously to be condemned, and may be designated really as a criminal act, which ought to be summarily punished.
It is an act which has no real motive, no real _bonâ fide_ object, and is lawless and idle in the extreme,--an act which has resulted in the death of its thousands, and the maiming of even more.
A weapon should never be brought within the portals of a man's house loaded; the breech-loading cartridge can be easily withdrawn. If the piece is a muzzle-loader it should be discharged after the day's sport is over; ammunition is really not so very costly as to require to be husbanded at the probable cost of a serious accident, or perhaps a fellow-creature's life. This rule cannot be too strictly adhered to. Some years ago it was my lot to be staying with a gentleman of eccentric habits, a man of violent temper, and when in one of these fits really not answerable for his actions. I was aware that he kept a full-sized revolver loaded with ball, and capped, in his dressing-room. I confess I was coward enough to let this matter trouble me. I felt I could stand up and face death with any one in the field, fighting in a good cause and armed as others; but to be taken advantage of at any moment, and perhaps shot down like a dog, was rather too much. I therefore resolved in my own mind, not only to disarm my friend but to render his weapon useless; but how to accomplish this was the question, as to raise any suspicion would perhaps bring down wrath upon my own head. I therefore resolved to leave everything precisely intact till an opportunity should present itself. The very next day the time arrived, and during this Grand Turk's absence I hastily removed the caps from off the nipples of the revolver, and having exploded them upon the nipples of his double-barrelled gun, I pinched them back into their original shape and replaced them on the revolver. I then put the box of caps into my pocket and felt perfectly secure, and could have sat and been fired at without the slightest fear. This gentleman shortly afterwards was seized with paralysis of the brain, and ended his days in a madhouse. No one, I believe, ever suffered any inconvenience from the revolver, and what became of it I know not.