Kennesaw Ga. crime index...

[ZO6Vettever]

I don't get the anti gun people when the stats show crime increases when restrictions are put on law abiding citizens. The criminals will have guns anyway. For example, Kennesaw Georgia that requires by law every home have a gun.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n15_v46/ai_15729634/

Interesting HUH? The current population is about 33,000. We have a crime rating for all cities and Kennesaw is 121.6. The national average is 320.9. Atlanta is 20 miles away and has a rating of 862.6. An armed society is a polite society!

 

[gyvel]

Anti-gunners aren't interested in statistics. These people either have an unreasonable fear of guns or there is a greater agenda that we are unaware of.

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

An armed society is a polite society when law abiding citizens are allowed to keep and bear arms.
Mandatory possession of a gun makes the criminal think twice. A criminal who wants valuables by force or your life by force will not choose you as a target.
Way to go Kennesaw!!!

 

[JellyJar]

Gyvel....Anti-gunners are interested in any statistic if it some how supports their view. However, very few statistics that support gun control are valid, some are even deliberately falsified.

 

[jamestlester]

I live in N. GA and we have a VERY low crime rate. Our county hasn't had a murder in 5 or 6 years, and compared to adjacent counties, that's outstanding.

Kennesaw GA is one of the safest places in the state, bar none.

 

[9MMare]

That article is from 1994. Is there more recent data?

I think it's a fine idea, except that I see it as an infringement on people's rights to demand that they own firearms, just as I believe the opposite.

The article states that people are exempt if they are mentally disabled, convicted felons, or have religious objections.

What if people just dont want a gun in the house? It's a big responsibility, esp with kids. And most people would agree that part of the responsibility is training and mental preparedness.

Just food for thought.

I am all for data that proves that an armed society is indeed safer.

 

[Officers'Wife]

Call me hard to please but a law requiring the keeping of firearms and a law denying the keeping of firearms is just two sides of the same fence. In a country founded on the idea that people could live as they please such blanket requirements pretty well make fools out of the Founders.

 

[Dulvarian]

I don't see it as that much different than making people have a government issued ID card to do anything. Hell, you are required to show a SS card just about anywhere now, and that was never the intent.

I still like the idea. I don't advertise on my house or car that I own guns, but I do all over the internetz.

 

[zxcvbob]

Call me hard to please but a law requiring the keeping of firearms and a law denying the keeping of firearms is just two sides of the same fence. In a country founded on the idea that people could live as they please such blanket requirements pretty well make fools out of the Founders.

Dear HardToPlease,
I'm pretty sure there is no penalty for disobeying that law. So anyone can claim conscientious objection at no risk and the authorities are fine with it. So how is it an infringement? OTOH, it sends a signal to criminals (and to Washington and Atlanta, but maybe I repeat myself) that most of the houses are armed, and at least the criminals seems to be getting the message.

 

[Chindo18Z]

Kennesaw, GA passed its law back in the '80s as a direct political counterpoint to a silly and draconian law passed in Morton Grove, IL which forbade ALL firearms in that town.

Morton Grove's stance made national headlines and the good citizens of Kennesaw decided to make a point and ridicule a stupid law. It was (primarily) political posturing by pro-gun vs. gun control camps in both small cities. Over the next few years, journalists occasionally revisted the two locations to "followup" on the outcomes of the two opposing ordinances. Crime dropped significantly in Kennesaw and climbed a good bit higher in Morton Grove.

As I recall, the Morton Grove law was successfully challenged in state court and (if not tossed out) was at least superceded by state law. I don't think anyone was ever successfully prosecuted under the Morton Grove statute.

Kennesaw's law was written such that (paraphrasing) : "EVERY RESIDENT of KENNESAW MUST OWN A FIREARM...unless they don't want to".

You can't actually get in trouble for living in Kennesaw and choosing not to have a firearm. The law was intended to be a poke in the eye at gun-control freaks.

 

[Madcap_Magician]

While I am fully supportive of the general point, I do want to emphasize that statistical crime differences between cities that have restrictive gun control laws versus those with permissive laws are largely anecdotal at best. Comparing Kennesaw, a very small town, to Atlanta, a major city, doesn't really yield a valid comparison.

 

[THE DARK KNIGHT]

Comparing Kennesaw, a very small town, to Atlanta, a major city, doesn't really yield a valid comparison.

Bingo. There are many things that contribute to low crime rates. Small towns, friendly people, higher average income, low spread of different income levels, racial homogeny, etc. People owning guns certainly helps, but a gun is not a magical crime warding totem.

 

[Lightsped]

<------- proud resident of Kennesaw, Georgia!

 

[sfc_mark]

Comparing Kennesaw, a very small town, to Atlanta, a major city, doesn't really yield a valid comparison.

Kennesaw is not really a small town any more, even with an estimated population of 33k. It is part of the Atlanta metro area - you could likely walk from CNN center to Kennesaw without ever being out of sight of several buildings.

True enough, a direct comparison to Atlanta isn't particularly valid, but I can assure you Kennesaw compares favorably with other, similarly sized, suburbs of Atlanta (or substitute suburbs of other major cities).

OTOH, the first Wal-Mart I ever saw with no guns or ammo in the sporting goods department was in Kennesaw. Seemed a shame given Kennesaw's hallowed spot in RKBA history.

 

[JWF III]

What if people just dont want a gun in the house? It's a big responsibility, esp with kids. And most people would agree that part of the responsibility is training and mental preparedness.

Concious (sp?) objectors do not have to own a firearm. There have probably been many people move to Kennesaw just with that law in mind. Quite a few probably don't own guns.

But how many of them do you think make a living through crime? Very few.

Wyman

ETA- Heck if they'd right anti gun laws like this law, I'd have no objection to it. "Guns are illegal to own, unless you want to own a gun." I got no objections to that.

 

[TEDDY]

guns

as I remember morton grove had their law up to the time heller was desided.it dropped it then.in 2008.the aclu brought suit against kennesaw and lost. on the grounds the law was moot.because you did not have to own a gun.

 

[ServiceSoon]

What were the rates before the mandate?

 

[sfc_mark]

What were the rates before the mandate?

Followed the issue pretty closely at the time. As I recall, Kennesaw was already a pretty safe town, but their property crime - particularly home burglary - dropped to near zero in the year after the new law came into effect.

In Morton Grove, OTOH, there was quite a spike right after they instituted their ban, including their first-ever bank robbery.

Neither town really had high enough crime to begin with for their changes to be statistically significant.

 

[Lone_Gunman]

Kennesaw GA is one of the safest places in the state, bar none.

Yes it is, but the gun law does not have much to do with that. I seriously doubt gun ownership rates in Kennesaw are any different than they are in similarly sized towns across the south east.

Why is Kennesaw a safer town? The correct answer is not politically correct. Most of the answer boils down to race and socioeconomic class.