Basic HTML Version
February 1971
lion dollars per year from selling
handguns.
Two companies which produce inex–
peasive semi-automatic 25 caliber pis–
tols, are gearing up to produce 200,000
PER YEAR!
A salesman for a small arms company
in Texas said: "Demand for handguns
has skyrocketed since import restrictions
[were made]." His company is now
working day and night to manufacture
22-caliber derringers.
The vice-president of a handgun pro–
ducing company in New York says his
company is increasing its production of
handguns from 45,000 to 200,000 per
year because of the heavy demand from
prívate citizens.
The reports are staggering, but true!
The reason for this gun craze is easy
to comprehend. People are afraid,
apprehensive. Who hasn't heard of
racial troubles, sensational murders,
police killings, militant groups
sorne–
times more hear•il)' tll'tned than po/ice?
"Over all,
1
have a feeling of waiting
for that second shoe to drop," says Abe
J.
Greene, a newspaper editor in Patee–
son, New Jersey. "l'm talking about the
uncertainties of life - the economic
and social upheavals, the bombings, the
sudden threats to kili policemen and
other authorities. No more is there an
orderly recourse to the facts of a set
situation."
In Chicago, whcrc increasing instances
of theft, robbery and assault disrupt
daily life, sorne peoplc are demanding
formation of vigi !ante groups.
Business Also "Running Scared"
Business and industry have installed
elaborate electronic devices (alarms,
sensors, cameras) in attempts to protect
themselves. You pay for it in higher
prices on the items you buy.
Downtown restaurants and drive-ins
in sorne areas close early for lack of
patronage. Sorne gas stations operate on
a strict
no cash
basis after 10 p.m.
Whole downtown arcas are empty after
dark except for police patrols. Certain
high-rise apartments are ringed by
moal.r
and prívate armed guards.
The United States is rapidly becom-
The
PLAIN TRUTH
21
Wirle
Worlrl
BANKING BY TELEVISION
-
Models demonstrote the outomoted bonking
system which one bank adopted in downtown Los Angeles. There are no
tellers in main lobby. Customer and teller communicate by phone and closed–
circuit television. Money exchanges trove) back and forth by pneumatic tube.
ing a nation under guard. The reports
bear this out!
Research and development in the
field of security equipment is a fast
growing and sophisticated manufac–
turing industry. The fear of theft and
burglary to business and industry
accounts for most of the rise of the new
industry. But now major companies are
moving to tap the
household
fear
market.
"A man's home may still be his
castle. But that castle is no longcr
secure, and millions who inhabit them
do so in almost constant fear," said
William S. Perkins, general manager of
the Westinghouse Specialty Electronics
division.
Capitalizing on this fear, various
companies are developing and offering
"total home security" systems. Other
manufacturers are finding that their
homc-seCLtrity devices - which wouldn't
have sold a few years ago - are now in
demand!
The variety in cost and complexity of
thcse devices will fit aay household
budget. A simple alarm for a door oc
window may cost only a few dollars.
Those sceking total protection incur a
major
expense. In Baltimore one com–
pany wired a downtown apart:nent com–
plex almost as impenetrably as Fort
Knox! Closed-circuit TV cameras moni–
tor evcry entrance. A guard stationed at
the main door questions visitors, and
can even stop the elevators in midfiight
and bring them clown to the lobby if
necessary.
In one major city, a man has turned
an entire home into a security fortress.
The moment you walk into the yard-