Georgia town makes gun ownership mandatory
On April 1, council members in the town of Nelson, Georgia, passed a stunning new rule making gun and ammunition ownership mandatory for residents.
The Family Protection Ordinance, which comes into effect next week, requires "Heads of households to maintain firearms."
The resolution, which was passed 5-0 by town council, says mandatory gun ownership is necessary, "In order to provide for the emergency management of the city, and further in order to provide for and protect the safety, security and general welfare of the city and its inhabitants."
The sponsor of the measure, councilman Duane Cronic, told AP that he thinks the ordinance will make the town safer, even though there are no plans to actually enforce the new rule.
"I likened it to a security sign that people put up in their front yards," Cronic said. "Some people have security systems, some people don't, but they put those signs up.…I really felt like this ordinance was a security sign for our city. Basically it was a deterrent ordinance to tell potential criminals they might want to go on down the road a little bit."
Nelson, a town with 1,300 residents, has only one police officer.
Persons with physical or mental disabilities, felons, and conscientious gun objectors are exempted from the toothless declaration, and will not be penalized for not possessing a deadly weapon.
Comments
3 Comments
Nothing New
Apr 2, 2013 at 2:29pm
This is actually nothing new. In England every man had to be trained in the use of a longbow so as to provide defense for the country in a time of war. What this resulted in was greater freedoms for the English Yeoman (read "lower middle") class, whom the nobles would fear from pushing them too far with unfair taxes, thus weapon ownership empowered the people.
Also, today in Lichtenstein and Switzerland, every military age man by law is required to keep a rifle at home with them, so as to provide defense in the event of war. Sure, it is unlikely, but it is tradition, and would undoubtedly prevent the government from consolidating too much power.
Miranda Nelson
Apr 2, 2013 at 2:46pm
The idea of arming a populous is definitely not new, but there's a marked difference between a country that systematically and adequately trains people to responsibly use and own weapons and a tiny town mandating its citizens arm themselves without providing gun education.
Also to note: while Nelson only has the one police officer, it also has very little crime and the town hasn't had a murder in over five years.
So in essence the town is scaring its citizens with the spectre of crime to justify then shoving guns into the hands of people who don't need them.
DavidH
Apr 2, 2013 at 3:18pm
In a follow-up news release, Nelson officials pointed out that a same-sex couple doesn't really have a "head of household (man)" so gay people are prohibited from owning firearms. Because they won't have guns, they will also be prohibited from living within town limits.
Black people are also prohibited because, well, they're black people and that's who commits all the crime in Georgia. No black people currently live in Nelson, but many work there in menial jobs.
White, non-gay liberal Democrats may possess guns, but must wear large target symbols on their chests and backs, just in case they need to be shot.
And in other news, President Obama has designated Nelson, Georgia as a U.S. Army firing range. When the artillery shelling begins, residents are welcome to shoot back - giving soldiers a valuable "live fire" experience with little chance of injury.