Gun Town Sees Less Crime —
But More Accidents
Monday, March 19, 2001
By Malinda Adams
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Dent Myers walks the streets of Kennesaw, Ga., with two .45 automatic pistols strapped to his hips.
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But police aren't rushing in to arrest Myers.
"It's the law in Kennesaw," Myers said.
Since 1982, Kennesaw — a town of 20,000 located 26 miles north of Atlanta — has required all heads of households to own a firearm and ammunition.
"I'm in support of it. I think it's a good law," said Kennesaw's mayor, Leonard Church.
The law makes exceptions for conscientious objectors who personally oppose guns and for physically or mentally handicapped heads of households. Convicted felons are not allowed to own guns, and the law says shooting a firearm in the city limits is illegal "except in the defense of person or property."
"It's been very effective for the city," Church said.
Since the law was passed, Kennesaw's crime rate has dropped dramatically.
"The crime rate dropped 29 percent overall, and 30 percent in burglaries, and has stayed at a relatively low rate since then," said Corporal Craig Graydon of the Kennesaw police department.
A check with the FBI backs up those crime figures.
Despite the drop in the crime rate here, critics of the law point to several accidental shootings. Two months ago, some teenagers entered their father's gun cabinet and were playing with a small-caliber pistol. The gun went off and injured a child.
"The question is whether or not private citizens carrying guns make a safer society, and the evidence is very clear it does not," said Michael Beard, president of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. "More people carrying guns leads to more guns getting into the hands of children."
But Kennesaw authorities stand by their gun law and say they think it sends a strong message.
"I think it really does discourage some people from potentially coming to Kennesaw to commit crime," Graydon said.
Kennesaw isn't the only town with such a law. Virgin, Utah, passed a similar ordinance in June.