In This Georgia Town, Gun Ownership Is Required. You Won’t Believe Their Crime Statistics

By
Lawrence Richard
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Amid the gun debate happening across the country, a unique gun mandate in a Georgia city has contributed to a remarkably low crime rating. In Kennesaw, Georgia, property owners are technically required to own a gun.

As CNN reports, the local law which says “every head of household residing in the city limits is required to maintain a firearm” has helped the city score just one murder in the last six years.

Kennesaw Mayor Derek Easterling said there are some exceptions to the rule for felonies or conscientious objector. He also said the law is not strictly enforced, but many of the residents comply with the gun ownership law.

Per CNN:

“If you’re going to commit a crime in Kennesaw and you’re the criminal — are you going to take a chance that that homeowner is a law-abiding citizen?” asked Kennesaw Mayor Derek Easterling.

Wayne Arnold is one of those citizens. Among the weapons he keeps at home are an AR-15-style .223 caliber rifle, a variety of handguns and more.

“It gives me the ability to protect myself as opposed to being somewhere where you weren’t allowed to have a firearm or it was frowned upon,” said Arnold.

As reported on “Fox & Friends,” the law originated around the town’s founding as a deterrant to criminals and also as a political statement. Shortly before Kennesaw enacted the law, a town in Illinois pushed a law prohibiting firearms.

“It was meant to be kind of a crime deterrent,” said Lt. Craig Graydon, who’s been with the Kennesaw Police Department for over 30 years, CNN reports. “It was also more or less a political statement because the city of Morton Grove, Illinois, passed a city ordinance banning handguns from their city limits.”

Kennesaw, currently a town of about 33,000 people, has only one recorded murder over the last six years and a violent crime rate of below 2%.

Check it out:

Here’s more from CNN:

As communities across the country re-examine their own relationship with guns in the wake of recent mass shootings, officials say they have been getting calls from all over the country — and even as far away as Norway — inquiring about the town’s gun law.

“We get a lot of calls, conversation, and it seems to keep crime control, gun safety, things like that on the minds of many of the residents, because people are constantly talking about the gun law,” said Lt. Graydon. “So that’s been somewhat of a benefit to us.”

“The first thing that most people say when they meet us, you know as a community is ‘oh, it’s not what I expected,'” said Mayor Easterling. “I don’t know what they expect of people who arm themselves with guns at home, or what they’re looking for, but really we’re not that.”

“People kind of get the image that it’s the Wild West, where everybody walks around with a firearm strapped to their side, and it’s not like that,” Arnold said. “It’s strictly a home defense system type of deal. There’s no shootouts down the street.”

Here’s what some people are saying over social media about the town:

Note: The author of this article has included commentary that expresses an opinion and analysis of the facts.

DISCLAIMER: Views expressed in articles do not necessarily reflect the views held by Sarah Palin.

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