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Mandated Gun Ownership: A Tale of Two Cities

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Over the past week, I have written several articles on gun control. This all stems from the tide that rises after events such as those that took place in Aurora, Colorado this past weekend. However, there needs to be real comparisons made for the claims I’ve made and so I am offering a real life comparison of the liberal approach to gun control and the conservative approach to the Second Amendment.

Let’s take a city all the way across the country from Aurora, Colorado: Kennesaw, Georgia. Instead of having gun control laws, the city has actually mandated gun ownership. What a revolutionary idea (pun intended)!

In 1982 the city of Kennesaw passed an ordinance [Sec 34-21] that read:

(a) In order to provide for the emergency management of the city, and further 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 the city limits is required to maintain a firearm, together with ammunition therefore.

(b)Exempt from the effect of this section are those heads of households who suffer a physical or mental disability which would prohibit them from using such a firearm. Further exempt from the effect of this section are those heads of households who are paupers or who conscientiously oppose maintaining firearms as a result of beliefs or religious doctrine, or persons convicted of a felony.

This was in response to the town of Morton Grove, IL, which is located near Chicago, another city that wants to keep guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens, which sought a handgun ban. Notice the ordinance does provide exemptions of certain people, but overall they make sure that each homeowner has the ability to protect themselves.

David Kopel, a gun rights activist, claims that the law reduced the rate of burglaries in the first year. The number of burglaries prior to the ordinance were 65. The following years, 1983-84, showed dramatic drops in burglaries down to 26 and then 11. Newsmax also confirms the drop that Kopel claims.

The city now proclaims on its website,

Kennesaw once again was in the news on May 1, 1982, when the city unanimously passed a law requiring “every head of household to maintain a firearm together with ammunition.” After passage of the law, the burglary rate in Kennesaw declined and even today, the City has the lowest crime rate in Cobb County.

Gary DeMar, who lives near Kennesaw, writes about the virtually non-existent murder rate,

In fact, from 1982 through 2009, Kennesaw had been nearly murder free with one murder occurring in 2007.

There were three murders in 2010 committed by the same man in what is described as a “school safety zone,” an area extending 1,000 feet from any school, including adult colleges and technical schools. This means that even though Kennesaw has the most liberal gun laws in the United States, employees at the facility where the murders were committed could not have a gun on the premises.

All of this and Kennesaw, Georgia is nothing like the stories of the Wild West, which truthfully really weren’t that wild.

Now compare a city like Kennesaw to New York City, a place where the mayor says that police should “go on strike” until people demand more gun control laws from their legislatures. In 2010 alone, New York City saw 515 murders! As of May 18, 2012, there were already 136 murders in the city, and if we go back to 1990 there were 2,245 murders. Compare that to DeMar’s numbers cited for Kennesaw where over the course of nearly two decades they had only one murder and then they saw three in a “gun free zone.”

Not only is the murder rate an issue in New York City a problem, but their ridiculous gun laws turn law-abiding citizens into criminals.

For instance, remember Mark Meckler, the Tea Party leader who was arrested back in December for having his weapons declared and in a locked box with ammunition as he traveled from New York to California? Meckler faced up to fifteen years, but instead plead guilty and was fined $250 and given a one-year conditional discharge.

Take former Marine Ryan Jerome, who traveled to New York City with his .45 Ruger for protection as he was handling $15,000 worth of gold. When he attempted to do the right thing and check his weapon at the Empire State Building he was also arrested. This was a misdemeanor charge. In his case, he plead guilty and was fined $1,200 and required to perform 10 hours of community service. It’s ironic that one entrusted with weapons for the defense of the nation is not looked at the same way when he is out of uniform.

Ironically in Jerome’s case, another young lady from Tennessee also had a misdemeanor charge but walked out with no community service and only a $200 fine. What do you think the state of New York City is really trying to teach in this situation?

I confirmed with Kennesaw Police Department that they employ 63 officers, while New York City has a small army with 35,000 uniformed officers in its counterterrorism unit alone.

So let’s see here, would you rather live in a place that employees a small army and is practically a police state that can’t protect you, infringes upon your Second Amendment rights and has hundreds of murders annually or would you prefer one of Family Circle’s “10 best towns for families” where the rights of individuals protecting themselves with a firearm are encouraged and even mandated and in the past 25 years there have been less murders than you can count on one hand? Does it appear that more gun laws are the answer or simply more people with guns?

New York City promotes gun control. Kennesaw promotes the Second Amendment. Any questions?

 

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