File:Open view of the spring-type zip gun used by El Paso juvenile.jpg

English: The "Zip Gun".

In the meantime, the activities of the gangs continued. Most of the members armed themselves with knives, blackjacks, brass knuckles, and a weapon known as the “zip gun.” The “zip gun” usually is made out of wood with a barrel made of a piece of radio aerial tubing of a size to accommodate a .22 caliber cartridge. The firing pin is made with a nail or similar device, with a spring or rubber band, which is drawn back and released, allowing the cartridge to fire.

The use of these weapons increased, resulting in numerous serious injuries. On August 10, 1950, five youths in a car drove by a drug store in the 900 Block of Missouri Street, El Paso, Tex., and in gangland style released a fusillade of shots, killing a 19-year-old youth who was scheduled to report the following day for service in the United States Navy.

Chief of Police W. Woolverton, who has seen 35 years of service with the El Paso Police Department, in conjunction with L. L. Mobley, El Paso Probation Officer, was successful, through cooperation of local newspapers, in bringing this situation squarely in front of the public.