Gun Ownership Mandatory In Kennesaw, GA…Crime Rate Plummets

http://www.sightings.com/politics4/gunlaw.htm

Why Doesn’t The Media Visit Kennesaw?
By Chuck Baldwin

http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/

11-6-99
The New American magazine reminds us that March 25th marked
the 16th anniversary of Kennesaw, Georgia’s ordinance requiring
heads of households (with certain exceptions) to keep at least one
firearm in their homes.

The city’s population grew from around 5,000 in 1980 to 13,000 by
1996 (latest available estimate). Yet there have been only three
murders: two with knives (1984 and 1987) and one with a firearm
(1997).

“After the law went into effect in 1982, crime against persons
plummeted 74 percent compared to 1981, and fell another 45
percent in 1983 compared to 1982. And it has stayed impressively
low. In addition to nearly non-existent homicide (murders have
averaged a mere 0.19 per year), the annual number of armed
robberies, residential burglaries, commercial burglaries, and rapes
have averaged, respectively, 1.69, 31.63, 19.75, and 2.00 through
1998.”

With all the attention that has been heaped upon the lawful
possession of firearms lately, you would think that a city that
requires gun ownership would be the center of a media feeding
frenzy. It isn’t. The fact is I can’t remember a major media outlet
even mentioning Kennesaw. Can you? The reason is obvious.
Kennesaw proves that the presence of firearms actually improves
safety and security. This is not the message that the media want us
to hear. They want us to believe that guns are evil and are the cause
of violence. The facts tell a different story.

What is even more interesting about Kennesaw is that the city’s
crime rate decreased with the simple knowledge that the entire
community was armed.

The bad guys didn’t force the residents to prove it. Just knowing that
residents were armed prompted them to move on to easier targets.
Most criminals don’t have a death wish. There have been two
occasions in my own family when the presence of a handgun
averted potential disaster. In both instances the gun was never aimed
at a person and no shot was fired. Yet, in both cases the thugs bent
on criminal mischief decided to take their ambitions elsewhere and
my family remained safe. Only God knows what would have
happened if a firearm had not been handy.

Yes, there are times when gun accidents occur. There are many
more accidents involving automobiles, airplanes, bathroom shower
stalls and backyard swimming pools, however. And let’s not forget
that freedom is risky business. Freedom allows people to make
mistakes recognizing that the alternative is worse.

A local newspaper columnist recently said that other nations are free
without possessing firearms. He fails to see the obvious fact that
people who are not free to own firearms are not free. Many people
live their entire lives and never know a day of real freedom. And,
while I’m sure that there are those who would choose to live without
freedom, there are some of us who would rather die free than live
enslaved.