Back in 1982, the City Council in Kennesaw Georgia didn’t like the news from up north. Up in the Land of Lincoln, the Morton Grove Illinois City Council passed an ordinance outlawing firearms within city limits. (Since struck down by the Supreme Court’s McDonald decision). In response, Kennesaw famously passed a city ordinance mandating gun ownership for its residents, exempting anyone who couldn’t or wouldn’t comply. At the time the ordinance was considered political thee-ater. Over time, the academics looked closer . . .
Despite dire warnings that the ordinance would result in blood running in the streets, Kennesaw’s crime rate decreased by more than 50 percent between 1982 and 2005. It now has one of the lowest crime rates in the Atlanta metropolitan area. In 2007, Family Circle magazine selected Kennsaw as one of the nation’s “10 best towns for families.”
wsbtv.com reports that Nelson, Georgia is similarly P.O.ed at the current push for civilian disarmament. Some 31 years later, Nelson wants to get some of that pro-gun sugar.
Council members in Nelson, a city of about 1,300 residents that’s located 50 miles north of Atlanta, voted unanimously to approve the Family Protection Ordinance. The measure requires every head of household to own a gun and ammunition to “provide for the emergency management of the city” and to “provide for and protect the safety, security and general welfare of the city and its inhabitants.” . . .
Councilman Duane Cronic, who sponsored the measure, said he knows the ordinance won’t be enforced but he still believes it will make the town safer.
“I likened it to a security sign that people put up in their front yards. Some people have security systems, some people don’t, but they put those signs up,” he said. “I really felt like this ordinance was a security sign for our city. Basically it was a deterrent ordinance to tell potential criminals they might want to go on down the road a little bit.”
I’m sure the residents of Dawsonville, Jasper, Canton and Holly Springs like the sound of that. Or not. Anyway, just how much crime could there be in this town of 1,300 nestled in the foothills of the Appalachians?
Not much, admits Police Chief Heath Mitchell, the town’s only full-time police officer. It’s been five years since they had a homicide and there may be a minor break-in every few months. But backers wanted to make a statement about gun rights and basically fart in the gun grabbers’ collective faces. Mission accomplished.