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Some US communities seek to require gun ownership

By ASSOCIATED PRESS   Friday, March 8, 2013 - 8:22 p.m.
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AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A town of 140 people in western Maine is considering an ordinance making gun ownership mandatory, the latest of a handful of communities nationwide to pass or consider such a rule even though the measures are widely considered unenforceable.

All three members of the Board of Selectmen in Byron favor it, and Head Selectman Anne Simmons-Edmunds said she expects residents to approve it at Monday’s town meeting, a New England institution where townspeople vote up or down on municipal proposals.

“We’re hoping that the town will get on board with us but will accept whatever the town wants,” Simmons-Edmunds said Friday.

Communities from Idaho to Georgia have been inspired to “require” or recommend their residents arm themselves ever since a gunman killed 26 youngsters and educators Dec. 14 in a school in Newtown, Conn., and raised fears among gun owners about an impending restriction on Second Amendment rights.

The article up for a vote in Maine asks, “Shall the town of Byron vote to require all households to have firearms and ammunition to protect the citizens?”

Backed by gun rights supporters, the ordinance is intended to pre-emptively block gun-control laws, Maine Attorney General Janet Mills said, adding that it will be “null and void” even if it passes. It is pre-empted by a 2011 state law that bars municipalities from adopting firearm regulations.

“I think the town is going to have to shoot it down,” Mills said Friday.

That’s what happened this week in Sabattus, in southwestern Maine, where the selectmen took the police chief’s advice and voted not to send a similar proposal to voters. David Marsters, a retiree in Sabbatus, had proposed the ordinance, saying it would act as a hedge against crime.

The idea has also caught on in Nelson, a city of just over 1,300 about 50 miles north of downtown Atlanta, where supporters of the gun-ownership proposal say light police patrols leave city residents virtually unprotected for most of the day.

The proposal contains several exemptions for people who object to owning firearms because of personal beliefs, religious reasons or mental disability. In a statement, Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan Bishop said convicted felons would also be exempted.

“I am in no way attempting to face off with the federal government, only doing what an elected official is supposed to do,” Councilman Duane Cronic, who proposed the ordinance, said in an email Friday.

The rule passed unanimously on its first reading and awaits a final vote April 1.

In Kennesaw, Ga., city officials worried at the time of its law’s passage in 1982 that population growth in nearby Atlanta might bring crime to the community, which now has about 30,000 people.

“They wanted to send an anti-crime message, also,” Kennesaw police Lt. Craig Graydon said.
And it has worked, he argued, with crime staying low.

Graydon acknowledged Kennesaw’s ordinance is “unenforceable” and said no attempt has ever been made to do so.

Some communities don’t go so far as to call for required gun ownership.

Spring City, Utah, moved forward with an ordinance this year “recommending” the idea of keeping firearms. Other ordinances have been passed in Virgin, Utah, and Cherry Tree, Pa., largely as symbolic gestures.

A southwestern Idaho town of 900 people, Greenleaf, adopted an ordinance in 2006 that encourages residents who don’t object on religious or other reasons to keep a gun in the house and to seek training on using firearms. City officials said they don’t know how many residents own guns.

In Maine, Byron’s Simmons-Edmunds said that probably 90 percent of the households in town already have a gun and that passage would not mean the town would enforce it by checking every household.

“We not going to invade anybody’s privacy,” Byron’s Simmons-Edmunds said. “We just want to send a statement that we’re not going to give up our guns.”




reader COMMENTS
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(43)
jv93
Mar 10, 2013 at 1:23 p.m.
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You can parrot your talking points all you want woody but in the end your point is false. Even your liberal media has stopped trying to make the same dead end point you are trying to make here.

MBHammer
Mar 10, 2013 at 11:56 a.m.
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Stats, more people are crazy who don't own guns. What's this wing stuff? I just know right from wrong.

woody
Mar 10, 2013 at 11:22 a.m.
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I did look it up...it's the anti government gun nut right wing wacko that ends up shooting people in mass quanities. You look it up!

wislady
Mar 10, 2013 at 10:43 a.m.
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WiGrf

Posting a NO GUNS sign, makes it a safe zone.

jv93
Mar 9, 2013 at 6:04 p.m.
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I guess Janesvillean would be correct and is certainly a genius because in order to use a gun one must first have one.

jv93
Mar 9, 2013 at 6:02 p.m.
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Actually Woody most of the "wacko" gunmen recently are left wingers. Don't think so? Look it up.

WiGrf
Mar 9, 2013 at 4:57 p.m.
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Why is that, Wislady?

wislady
Mar 9, 2013 at 4:29 p.m.
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PLEASE, those of you who do not have guns in your house, post a sign in your front window.

janesvillean
Mar 9, 2013 at 3:06 p.m.
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Funny how people who love to have guns are the ones who end up using guns, isn't it, woody? Who would ever have guessed.

woody
Mar 9, 2013 at 2:37 p.m.
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Why is it many of the people tied to the shootings are wacko right wingers????

hdonlybob
Mar 9, 2013 at 2:32 p.m.
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Not a bad idea....

wislady
Mar 9, 2013 at 2:15 p.m.
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carlitosway

Do you really think felons care if they are breaking the law when they illegally carry handguns?

concernedwi
Mar 9, 2013 at 1:44 p.m.
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I find it funny that the same party that is for smaller government and less governemnt control is also supporting this type of craziness. We shouldn't have a law that requrires anyone to own a gun if they don't want to. Some people don't like them and that's their choice, they have the concequences of it. What happens in a community where a law like this is past and someone dies from an accidental shooting? I could see a lawsuit from the family saying that the oridinance is responsible since it required them to have a gun.

hint
Mar 9, 2013 at 1:05 p.m.
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Again I am not an advocate for gun control, and own guns myself, but imagine being a cop knowing that a fair number of people are now legally packing pistols. I know most are responsible but everyone snaps once in a while. I do see both sides of the coin. Yeah it may detour some people from committing crimes if they have no clue if the guy buying twinkies as they hold up the store has a gun. But the other side is there are people who will think they are Johnny Law now who may find themselves in a situation where they feel it is ok to pull there gun and judge if it is ok for them to shoot. Then they find out the gun the guy is holding is fake. You can guarantee the outcome of this case won't be the same as if an officer shot this guy.

carlitosway
Mar 9, 2013 at 12:06 p.m.
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Righties and their ignorance ate the ones that would stand with this. What about felons will they be pardoned so they can follow this law? Force people to do something they may not want to do, so GOP.

coyote
Mar 9, 2013 at 11:57 a.m.
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This is a great idea; it will help to clear up all the misconceptions of gun ownership and remove alot of the ignorance held by the lefty loonies.

raystone
Mar 9, 2013 at 11:56 a.m.
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You gun control extremists are really going to freak out when you hear South Dakota just passed a law allowing teachers to carry firearms in the classroom ! Now, before you go on your usual tirades of how we'll now have shootings in the classrooms with teachers' guns, you should know Utah has allowed teachers to wear concealed weapons for the last 12 years.

dodgeco
Mar 9, 2013 at 11 a.m.
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I cant believe the NRA would support this. It IS a gun control measure. On principle, supporters would also have to support a town that bans all firearms.

freedomfighter608
Mar 9, 2013 at 10:45 a.m.
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Not having firearms in a city works just as good, just look at Chicago and New York, etc. Maybe NVgrf and all the rest of the anti self protection, and police will protect me people can live there.

vnvet7071
Mar 9, 2013 at 10:15 a.m.
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I think they're just shooting their mouths off !

hint
Mar 9, 2013 at 9:26 a.m.
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“I think the town is going to have to shoot it down,” Was this meant to be a pun.

woody
Mar 9, 2013 at 9:22 a.m.
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"Maybe they will show them the clip from the movie where Ralphie shoots all the robbers in his back yard as an informational video."
.
good one....LOL!

hint
Mar 9, 2013 at 9:02 a.m.
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vnvet7071 speaking of "you'll shoot your eye out". Maybe they will show them the clip from the movie where Ralphie shoots all the robbers in his back yard as an informational video. Lol.

AllSeeingEye
Mar 9, 2013 at 8:56 a.m.
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Wasn't the NRA just crying about the 20,000 gun laws already on the books and how we don't need more? I bet they are supporting adding these silly ones to the list.

vnvet7071
Mar 9, 2013 at 8:43 a.m.
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Hint...lmao at your BB gun comment, too funny ! " You'll shoot your eye out ! " hahahaha

tpaine09
Mar 9, 2013 at 8:43 a.m.
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my dad who is 81 and lives out in the country alone just bought the first handgun he ever owned...he hunted all his life and never owned a pistol.he is spooked from all the breakins. i said just keep your 10 gauge out of the attic and shells close.the 10 gauge WILL deter any potential bad guys,that's all u need.anyway if u try to break in now, you'll be lookin down the barrel of a shiny new 357.and he is a good shot...

hint
Mar 9, 2013 at 8:24 a.m.
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Good one fordfan. I was just thinking the same thing. Instead of board meetings they will have monthly target practice. I am an owner of several guns and don't want to lose them but I think forcing people to have guns is as extreme as saying you want to take them all away. I mean forcing people to arm themselves is going to cause more shootings. With all the paranoid people out there you will have many wrongful shootings. Like the old couple who gets stranded at night and doesn't have a cellphone so they go up and knock on a door for help. Meanwhile Clint Eastwood hangs his .357 out the window and fires cause he thinks he is about to be robbed.

hint
Mar 9, 2013 at 8:13 a.m.
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They are arming themselves for the revolution.

fordfan
Mar 9, 2013 at 7:57 a.m.
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Will they also require shooting at an image of a person on a regular basis?

hint
Mar 9, 2013 at 7:54 a.m.
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I wonder if bb guns count?

AllSeeingEye
Mar 9, 2013 at 7:35 a.m.
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Complete jackassery that has made national news. I grew up in a similar sized little town of 140. There was no formal government. Our "mayor"(wink wink) was elected and given the honorary mayor title down at the local watering hole. We even had a self elected Barnie Fife type constable who enjoyed calling back up(county cops) when ever he saw a stray dog, heard a fire cracker, or heard neighbors gossiping to loudly. Many a fine piece of legislation was drafted during happy hour and later unanimously passed well before last call was sounded. I suspect a similar thing is happening in Byron Maine as well. They are probably circulating the succession petition as well.

Jvldude30
Mar 9, 2013 at 7:02 a.m.
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Only a republican would be dumb enough to think this is a good idea. They should put a sign on the border of the town saying all houses contain guns so wait till we go to work then steal them and sell them on the streets

johnnyreb6977
Mar 9, 2013 at 6:50 a.m.
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nvgrf. Our nation is on a decline because of the far lefties and their soft stance on crime and feeling like they have to control every aspect of a law abiding citizen and then tax the hell out of them!

oldvet
Mar 9, 2013 at 6:32 a.m.
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Good idea. Only the left wing nuts will find it a bad idea. I think most smart people are already "equipped" to defend their homes and their families.

Badgerlvr
Mar 9, 2013 at 6:04 a.m.
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The NRA couldn't be more pleased.

donnaw
Mar 9, 2013 at 5:48 a.m.
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I think it's stupid but I defend their right to do it.

Uncle_Jesse
Mar 9, 2013 at 1:41 a.m.
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I used to tell a friend of mine , I think you should be arrested if you dont carry a weapon . I never thought i would see it in the news lmao just too funny .

RetiredAirForce
Mar 8, 2013 at 10:31 p.m.
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This is just as stupid as those wanting to keep guns away from others.

woody
Mar 8, 2013 at 9:28 p.m.
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wacko's world

analertcitizen
Mar 8, 2013 at 9:04 p.m.
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I think they need basic cable (that new fangled thing) into their community so that they know at least something about the world.

NVgrf
Mar 8, 2013 at 8:42 p.m.
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Nut jobs abound. If there was ever a nation in decline, it is ours.

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