![]() ![]() He also pointed out that Kennesaw did not have a big problem with crime before. In response, the city added a clause adding conscientious objectors to the list of those exempt.Īlthough the law is now being credited with a drop in crime, Jones said that was not the law’s original purpose. Jones said the ACLU challenged the law in a federal court just after it was passed. “Obviously, it was constitutional, because the American Civil Liberties Union challenged it in court and we won.” “I didn’t think it could be written in a constitutional fashion,” he said. ![]() “It may not be totally responsible for the decrease, it is a part.”Īlthough he is pleased with the outcome, Bentley said he was originally opposed to drafting the law. “I am definitely in favor of what we did,” he said. The author of the ordinance, local attorney Fred Bentley Sr., attributes at least some of the decrease in crime to the bill. “You can’t argue with the fact that Kennesaw has the lowest crime rate of any city our size in the country,” said Church, who owns a denture-making company in Kennesaw. Mayor Leonard Church was not in office when the law was passed, but he said he is a staunch supporter of it. “After it initially dropped, it has stayed at the same low level for the past 16 years.” ![]() “It did drop after it was passed,” he said. Kennesaw Historical Society president Robert Jones said following the law’s passage, the crime rate dropped 89 percent in the city, compared to the modest 10 percent drop statewide. In fact, according to Stephenson, it caused the crime rate in the city to plunge. “People all over the country said there would be shootings in the street and violence in homes,” he said. Stephenson said after the ordinance was passed, everyone “went crazy.” The ordinance states the gun law is needed to “protect the safety, security and general welfare of the city and its inhabitants.” In 1982, the Kennesaw City Council unanimously passed a law requiring heads of households to own at least one firearm with ammunition. KENNESAW, Ga – Several Kennesaw officials attribute a drop in crime in the city over the past two decades to a law that requires residents to have a gun in the house. By Jonathan Hamilton and David Burch, Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writers ![]()
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