Town With Mandatory Gun Law Sees Very Little Crime

James Newcomb
JBS

Anyone who thinks that tighter gun control laws are the solution to the incident at Virginia Tech last week needs to visit Kennesaw, Georgia. The town passed its mandatory firearms law in 1982 in response to a law passed by Morton Grove, Illinois which banned guns as a way to reduce crime.

After the law was passed, the town witnessed a dramatic decrease in crime and has stayed low ever since. The law has also survived an increase in population from 5,000 in 1982 to over 30,000 today.

Robert Jones, president of the Kennesaw Historical Society, gives a unique and refreshing perspective for advocates of the Second Amendment. "People in Europe feel they need to be protected by the government. People in the U.S. feel they need to be protected from the government." Sounds radical in today's world where too many people only want government to protect them, doesn't it? Jones also adds that it is a great tourist attraction. "We're the town with the gun law," he said.

George Washington once said, "Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples' liberty's teeth." The right to own a firearm has been a staple of the American way of life ever since beginning of our country. President Washington said those words when the American people, by and large, were willing to accept the personal responsibilities necessary for liberty to prevail.

A return to a worldview based on the fear of God is what is necessary to prevent what happened at Virginia Tech, not restrictive gun control laws.