When this hit the news in 1982!!!
Ina,Kennesaw, Georgia it’s against the law not to own a gun.
The city law, dating back to the 1980s, makes it a requirement for residents to own guns and ammo.
Kennesaw’s gun law states: “In order to provide for and protect the safety, security and general welfare of the city and its inhabitants, every head of household residing in city limits is required to maintain a firearm, together with ammunition.” The law excludes residents with mental or physical disabilities, felony convictions or conflicting religious beliefs.
Full article, HERE from Fox News.
If I remember correctly, Kennesaw was getting a run of criminals from the Atlanta area and people had had enough. When the law was promulgated, the left and a lot of media went nuts. Georgia was the first state to pass a ‘modern’ concealed carry law in 1976, which also caused a media frenzy.
With the Dennesaw law, the usual headlines were ‘Blood will flow in the Streets’ and the usual protestations that ‘nobody will be safe’. Media from literally all over the world came to town to film, interview locals, etc., etc…
Of course the only real thing that happened was that crime declined precipitously, if I remember correctly!
And none of THAT made the media headlines…
Funny that it’s coming up again, all these years later, I wonder what caused the Brits to be interested? Maybe what is going on with the flap against the government over the girls being raped and they’re looking for ‘something’ else to draw the attention???
Here is the actual City Ordinance:
https://library.municode.com/ga/kennesaw/codes/code_of_ordinances
On the left, expand “Chapter 34 – CIVIL EMERGENCIES”, then under that “ARTICLE II. – FIREARMS” and then click on “Sec. 34-21. – Heads of households to maintain firearms.”
Fun fact, back in the late 90’s I actually called the Kennesaw Chief of Police on the telephone (It was Dwaine Wilson back then) and asked him if this law was a real thing. I had to re-assure him I wasn’t a reporter a couple of times, but just someone in the tech industry who’d read about this and wanted to verify this was a real thing and not someone pulling my leg. (Apparently they get a LOT of calls about this, but I’m one of the few who found the police chief’s direct number to his desk and used it.)
We had a really nice discussion. They’re quite proud of this ordinance, and I learned from Chief Wilson that crimes against persons (assault, robbery, etc…) went way down almost immediately. Crimes against property went up for a short time (criminals gonna commit crime after all) but then those also went down when the perps figured out that they could get shot for messing with people’s property too and that this law was giving the would-be-victims some pretty strong legal cover (see Sec. 34-22. – Use of firearms).
We also talked about the exclusions allowable in this ordinance, and he confirmed that it basically means that if you really don’t want to own and maintain a firearm, you don’t have to. It’s not enforced, but it has helped encourage a lot of the city’s residents to be armed and be willing to use their firearm to defend themselves or what they own.
I lived in Cobb County next to Kennesaw. A Cobb Deputy recommended to an audience that every home have at least one shotgun. The area still gets commuter crime up from Atlanta, although most is confined to along the highways and the malls. Cleanup on aisle 2.
Ag- Thanks for the update/comment!
Xoph- Yeah, friend of mine lived in Alpharetta at that time, and he had both shotguns and pistols at home for his wife, in addition to his carry piece.
The last few times I was in Kennesaw the town was transforming. The college was rapidly expanding and Atlanta residents were moving in more and more. Much of the crime is commuter crime from Atlanta but not all. I’m worried the local attitude that gave birth to that ordnance is slipping away.
JB- That is sad…
Felt safe enough stoppingbin Kennesaw for the night than Marietta, at least.
I was trying to say it felt a lot safer staying at a hotel in Kennesaw than one in Marietta. We passed through on the wat north after visiting family in Florida over Christmas.
TOS- You and a lot of other folks!
History of British gun-grabbing is a long string of measures designed to distract the populace from Government failures or unpopular measures.
One of the major restrictions was brought in after a Policeman was murdered. It was shortly after the death-penalty had been banned, and there was a strong push to bring it back for crimes of this nature….. so the Government brought in a series of gun-control measures that had nothing to do with the weapon used in the murder or the person who committed it. Nothing at all, but it allowed the Government to claim that it was “doing something”.
Same here is Australia in 1996, following the Port Arthur murders. The murderer was known to Police as dangerous, had obtained his firearm illegally and owned it illegally (as well as all the laws against murder and carriage of firearms in that locality)…. Yet there was never an inquiry into the failure to enforce existing laws, only the hasty enactment of laws designed to make the Government look “strong” by attacking the people who weren’t the problm.