In March 1982, 25 years ago, the small town of Kennesaw – responding to a handgun ban in Morton Grove, Ill. – unanimously passed an ordinance requiring each head of household to own and maintain a gun. Since then, despite dire predictions of "Wild West" showdowns and increased violence and accidents, not a single resident has been involved in a fatal shooting – as a victim, attacker or defender.

The crime rate initially plummeted for several years after the passage of the ordinance, with the 2005 per capita crime rate actually significantly lower than it was in 1981, the year before passage of the law.

Prior to enactment of the law, Kennesaw had a population of just 5,242 but a crime rate significantly higher (4,332 per 100,000) than the national average (3,899 per 100,000). The latest statistics available – for the year 2005 – show the rate at 2,027 per 100,000. Meanwhile, the population has skyrocketed to 28,189.

By comparison, the population of Morton Grove, the first city in Illinois to adopt a gun ban for anyone other than police officers, has actually dropped slightly and stands at 22,202, according to 2005 statistics. More significantly, perhaps, the city's crime rate increased by 15.7 percent immediately after the gun ban, even though the overall crime rate in Cook County rose only 3 percent. Today, by comparison, the township's crime rate stands at 2,268 per 100,000.

This was not what some predicted.

Some have suggested Kennesaw would soon become a place where routine disagreements between neighbors would be settled in shootouts. The Washington Post mocked Kennesaw as "the brave little city … soon to be pistol-packing capital of the world."

The Reuters story went on to report: "Since the Virginia Tech shootings, some conservative U.S. talk show hosts have rejected attempts to link the massacre to the availability of guns, arguing that had students been allowed to carry weapons on campus someone might have been able to shoot the killer."


Anyone is up on crime statistic in Washington. D.C. ?

Anti gunners suck in my opinion. Guess they think the police can protect them from car jackings and home invasions and such. We all have the right to protect ourselves and our loved ones. Cops only respond after a crime is committed. The anti gunners just can't wrap their little minds around the fact that it only hurts law abiding citizens, a criminal is still going to have a gun, they don't give a chit about the law.

want my guns, come and get 'em

hmmmm

Guns don't kill.......................people do. ALL THE TIME...
Such as is the case of my friend Mary. Her son would not have killed his best friend if there had been no gun in the house. 13 years old...both of them. Teach kids about guns?? Did anyone watch that special on tv the other night? It showed parents responding to their kids ignorance of guns even after being taught. Teenagers wre as bad.

Another friend of mine..Ricky...his son was killed by the very gun he had brought in the house not weeks before. Another kid killed by a kid. Accidentally of course. One child killed by a gun is too many.

Yes...criminals have guns...but guns also make criminals out of ordinary citizens.

I am not a true anti gun person. I used to own them. They scare me now. I have seen too many deaths by guns.

Kat

Don't own a gun myself but I'm certainly opposed to any kind of gun ban. The gun ordinance requiring everyone to own one has some appeal to it though I'm not sure it's a good idea in some of the larger cities... not sure it isn't either. But why it had the effect it did seems obvious, who's going to break out their gun when they KNOW the other guy has one as well. Normal people don't want to die.

blaming guns for killing people is like blaming spoons for making people fat....

The government required them to own guns?!

<--- first gun, 10 years old, second and third by 11, 12 gauge double barrel, Marlin 30-30 and .22 semi auto,

where I grew up, people were taught gun safety, if you ever messed up, you would get your arse whipped and the gun would be gone, till you were out on your own. No excuses for bad gun safety. Someone who does not know about guns should not have one without some kind of instruction. But your first line of defense in most crimes that require self defense,, is yourself, would rather have the gun than a baseball bat or golf club myself

When a life or death crime goes down, the cops are not going to be there to stop it in most cases, they will show up after, take a report and bag the victim.

Those damned spoons, we should ban them,

cops can't predict crimes though and not enough of them to go around all the time

happiness is a warm gun be seeing you

That's exactly right.

I realize this is a sensitive subject especially if children have gained access to a gun and killed themselves or other's with them.

However I will never agree to a gun ban for responsible citizens to protect themselves and their families. The cops rarely arrive when needed and I don't want to be with out that protection, period. Don't know how there could be a compromise.

sad huh....my son is getting his degree next year to be a cop

Some People Are Incapable of Understanding that Some People Like the Ability to Protect themselves and not Lay Down to Be Victimized. I'm a Brown Belt in Aikido and I Still Carry a .45.

cool, good for him and best wishes in his career

That's my personal favorite, Springfield 1911 .45, best handgun ever made

I only have 11 mags and 1000 rounds of ammo though, need to stock up

sad if they try to do away with guns or tax them so high that people can't afford ammo when the cops are stretched too far and the bad guys can get them off the streets

there's Also a Rule of 9's! 99.99% of the Time the Police Show up after Your Mugged, Raped, Stabbed, Carjacked, Your House has been Broken into or Shot.