To obtain a printer in which carrier stall occurred during print operation can be detected instantaneously regardless of the position of a carriage.

The printer comprises a magnet 8 fixed to the driving shaft 18a of a stepping motor 18 for reciprocating a carrier 2 mounting a print head, a coil 9 disposed oppositely to the magnet 8 around the driving shaft 18a, a section 16 for detecting an AC output from the coil 9 induced through rotation of the magnet 8 caused by rotation of the driving shaft 18a, and means for deciding whether the stepping motor 18 is rotating or not based on the detection results from the AC output detecting section 16 wherein a drive control means of the stepping motor 18 interrupts print operation at a moment of time when a decision is made that rotation of the stepping motor 18 has stopped.