Of Rifles and Carbines

PROHIBITION

Of Rifles and Carbines

Seeking Answers

By Stephen L. Wilmeth

            Did Prohibition make his drinking problem worse or was it the actual problem?

            The guarded exchanges have been cursory, but the subject is one that has never been broached. It remains so private that the names or even suggestions of who or what or where are going to remain silent. The details, though, have become more interesting due to these current social upheavals. Guns and the blame for their inappropriate use is rampant.

            Of Rifles and Carbines

            I have a new copy of Frank Dobie’s biography of Ben Lilly. It has great interest to me.

The presence of Mr. Lilly, the carnivore hunter extraordinaire, was part of our family lore for as long as I can remember. My maternal grandfather told me about the time he witnessed him at Spar Canyon. He heard him coming before he saw him. His progress brought him into view, and, as long as he could hear him, he carried on a conversation with himself. Lilly failed to acknowledge his observer’s presence.

            Terrell insists a commissary was maintained at the 916 headquarters for Lilly. He would come by, take what he needed, and leave a record of his use to be “settled up” at a future date. From what I can imagine, his supply list was short. He could pretty much get by on corn meal and .30-30 cartridges. The rest he could harvest in his marathon circles or acquire on an as needed basis.

            Now, I am assuming it was a .30-30 he used in New Mexico because there is a drawing that includes a Winchester Model 94 in rifle version (along with several knives of which he made). That would match the anecdotal references to the rifle he was seen carrying. It was the weapon and the cartridge of greatest availability at the time regardless of where he hunted.

            My interest in it is the fact I have one just like it. It belonged to a contemporary of Mr. Lilly in the person of my maternal great grandfather, Lee Rice. They had to know each other on the basis of country hunted by Mr. Lilly and the life long campaign Grandpa Rice waged on active predators in building his ranch. When his rifle was handed to me in that tight circle recently, the remark was made that the serial number indicates it was manufactured in 1902. We have every reason to believe it was purchased new and was never held by anybody else until Lee Rice’s death.

            It is a study of time and use. It is now without rust and the stock is oiled, but it also exists without the removal of a single blemish produced in its journey with Lee. I want those marks to remain. When I run my hands over them I can envision what might have created them. Together the marks represent a respected piece of history, a history that accomplished many good things.

            Just like Mr. Lilly, Mr. Rice never intended it to be used haphazardly or with malice. It was a tool and a very important and respected tool intended for a narrow and specific purpose.

            That is the same culmination of history that is represented in a carbine version of another Winchester Model 94, .30-30 that I own. That heirloom came from Lee’s third son and my grandfather, Carl Rice. It is the weapon he laid across my lap when I was no more that four or five. It was my first lesson. I have written that I can remember distinctly the coldness and its weight. He scolded me when I touched the steel with my hands suggesting that is what the wooden stock was for. He told me a hunting story about it, too, before it went back into the cabinet where he kept it along with the other firearms.

My life was probably forever changed, and, I can say, the uses and experiences surrounding the intended use of my firearms has been one of true joy.

PROHIBITION

The ills of alcohol were so effectively scored by the prohibitionists that a constitutional amendment was adopted outlawing it in its entirety. The mobs that preached the need to outlaw it were ecstatic, or, at least, that’s what their angry faces seemed to reflect.

Their accomplishment, though, was a historical failure on all levels. The promises of their actions failed miserably.

One huge example was the lives of the folks who got caught in the trap of illegality and their dependence on the stuff. The beginning reference was probably one such victim. That person could not seek remedy because the consumption of the sea of alcohol produced illicitly during that time was veiled in darkness. The problem, of course, was never the hooch, but certain consumers who couldn’t deal with its affects.

The anti-gun mobs are out to accomplish the same feat of prohibition. The attempt to formulate a firearm prohibition has arrived and it is gaining mob support. There is no constitutional amendment contemplated because that effort would require the repeal of the Second Amendment and there is still too great a swath of unruly “Deplorables” out in the hinterland that have demonstrated they can actually drink alcohol and handle weapons without any Prohibition for their self-policing and protection.

Seeking Answers

I prefer the company of individuals who are not consumed by the darkness of either issue. Within that closed circle, it has truly become a debate of good and evil. The rhetoric is respectful, and normally finite in its penetration. Decisions are left to the members unless they seek advice. Spiritual reliance has grown linearly with time and most answers come not collectively, but from within. It is a welcome place to be.

Occasionally, though, I will also find a quiet place and … feel the stocks of those old Winchesters.

Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New Mexico. “I don’t have his ranch, but I have pieces that built it.”