GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 57 
readers convince them that such a gun 
should not be made and sold. Mr. Bennett 
has seen fit to force a fight on me; but what- 
ever I may do or say in this matter, here- 
after, will be entirely fair and unprejudiced. 
Inasmuch as the Winchester Company 
seems determined to go ahead and put out 
this automatic gun, and inasmuch as Brown- 
ing- Brothers have already put one out, I, 
in common with many other sportsmen, 
realize that the time has come to prevent 
by law the sale and use of all repeating 
shot guns. Hence I have drafted a bill to 
prevent the use of these weapons and have 
sent copies of it to all the Chief Wardens 
of the League, and to many other promi- 
nent sportsmen, with a recommendation 
that it be introduced in their respective 
legislatures at the earliest possible date and 
a for passage. Here is a copy of the 
bill: 
AN ACT TO PROHIBIT THE USE OF 
REPEATING SHOT GUNS IN 
HUNTING BIRDS. 
The people of the State of rep- 
resented in Senate and Assembly, do en- 
act as follows 
Section 1. It shall be unlawful to use, 
in hunting birds or animals of any kind, 
any shot gun holding more than 2 cart- 
ridges at one time, or that may be fired 
more than twice without reloading. 
Section 2. The intent and meaning of 
this bili is to prohibit the use of. any so- 
called repeating shot gun or pump gun. 
_ Section 3. Any person found guilty of a 
violation of this statute shall be fined not 
more than $50 nor less than $25 for each 
offense; and the carrying of any such gun 
in the woods or in the fields or on any of 
the waters of this State shall be considered 
prima facie evidence of an attempt to vio- 
late Section 1 of this statute, and shall be 
punished as provided in this section. 
Will Mr. Bennett please point out to me 
any instance in which I have shown parti- 
ak to Browning Brothers in framing this 
ill: 
MORE PROTESTS AGAINST THE AUTO- 
MATIC GUN. 
Forsyth, Ga. 
Winchester Repeating Arms Co., 
New, Haven, Conn. 
Dear Sirs: 
I have read in November REcREATION a 
protest against a wrong which you are 
about to commit against the game of this 
country, by manufacturing an automatic 
shot gun. This is a matter which has con- 
cerned me for some time past. My atten- 
tion was first called to it by a friend in 
Macon Georgia, who is a dealer in sporting 
goods, We were discussing the advent of 

the 20 guage double as a genteel, sports- 
manlike weapon which would cultivate a 
sportsmanlike spirit in any man who would 
use one. He remarked that there would 
soon be placed on the market an automatic 
gun, and that it would have to be manu- 
factured in either Belgium or Germany, as 
the Winchester people had refused to make 
it, on account of the general disapproval 
of such weapons, and the fact that its 
advent would result in the repeating guns 
being outlawed. He said he was opposed 
to selling an automatic gun, as he be- 
lieves in a man’s being a clean _ sports- 
man, and not a game butcher. I was glad 
to hear that no American concern would 
agree to make such an engine of destruc- 
tion, for the introduction of such a gun 
would mean the extermination of our 
game birds. 
I use a double gun, and so does my 
hunting companion. We have shot 7 
years over the same ground, and to-day 
have as many birds as ever, because we are 
careful to leave a sufficient number out of 
each covey to provide breeders the fol- 
lowing season. If this automatic gun is 
made and placed in the hands of a game 
hogs, who will be the only ones to use it, 
the provident care of game by the sports- 
men will not amount to much. 
I notice that one automatic gun is now 
on the market and is doubtless being sold 
to men who are not satisfied with decent 
bags. This we can not prevent at once, but 
we can and do protest against another man- 
ufacturer’s taking up such a weapon. 
Let the protest of the men who want to 
hunt the game and yet keep it, be heard 
and heeded. Your repeater should satisfy 
you. The coming of the automatic will 
ultimately mean the outlawing of the pump 
gun, as well as the automatic, and I shall 
try to have a bill passed at the coming ses- 
sion of the Georgia Legislature, to prevent 
the use of the automatic shot gun in this 
State. 
Respectfully yours, G. O. Persons. 
Baltimore, Md. 
Mr. G. O. Shields, 
New York. 
Dear Sir: 
I heartily commend your editorial in 
November RECREATION on atitomatic guns. 
You will notice by the papers | sent you 
a day or 2 ago, containing a report of the 
annual meeting of our association, that I 
recommended the passage of such a law 
by the coming Legislature of Maryland, as 
will make unlawful the use of pump, or 
magazine guns. I expect to prepare such 
a bill to be presented to our Legislature, 
which will convene in January next. 
I shall be glad to unite with you in such 
manner as you may indicate to prevent the 
