Belleview FL resolution urges firearm for every home

[ericire12]

http://www.ocala.com/article/20090817/ARTICLES/908171005/1001/NEWS01?Title=Plan-urges-firearms-in-every-Belleview-home

Plan urges firearms in every Belleview home

By Bill Thompson
Staff writer

Published: Monday, August 17, 2009 at 6:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, August 16, 2009 at 11:02 p.m.

A proposed resolution set to go before the Belleview City Commission urges the head of every household in the city to have a gun in order to protect their families and to keep the peace in an emergency.

On Tuesday, the board will consider the plan, which has been introduced by Belleview resident Donny Barber, to encourage "all law abiding citizens to own a handgun, rifle or shotgun and receive adequate training to become proficient in the use of and safe handling of the weapon so they are prepared to protect themselves and their families."

The resolution also calls on homeowners to "maintain a firearm, together with ammunition" in order "to provide for the emergency management" of the city, as well as "to provide for and protect the safety, security and general welfare" of Belleview and its residents.

Tuesday's action would be the first of two steps to enact the resolution.

Commissioners would have to vote to direct staff to draft the document in the city's official format.

If they agree to that, the resolution would come back a second time in September for final adoption.

Barber is the executive director of the Sovereignty Action Committee, an Ocala-based group that wants the state to assert its rights against federal encroachment, as outlined in the Constitution's 10th Amendment.

His resolution offers 14 reasons why Belleview residents should arm themselves.

He cites the Second Amendment, as well as the District of Columbia vs. Heller case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution grants private citizens the right to own firearms.

Barber also notes other court rulings that have held "citizens are ultimately responsible for their own defense.

Furthermore, he mentions that criminals commit 10 million violent crimes a year, but several studies indicate that gun ownership helps deter crime.

"The right of a person to possess a weapon to protect himself and his family should be an undeniable right of all Americans," one clause of the resolution says. "Guns in the hands of law abiding citizens make all people safer including those who do not own guns."

One commissioner reached for comment on Friday labeled the proposal "redundant" in light of the Second Amendment, and expressed doubt that the board would advance it.

"They've got a long way to go to convince me" that the resolution is needed, Commissioner Ken Nadeau said.

The proposal does contain great latitude.

Exempt from the suggestion to own and keep a gun would be residents with a mental or physical disability that prohibits them from owning firearms, convicted felons, "paupers" and those who "conscientiously oppose maintaining firearms as a result of beliefs or religious doctrine."

[Kid Shelleen]

Great job Donny Barber.

It will be interesting to see what thew Belleview City Commission does with this. We can hope.

[tombogan03884]

 It worked in Kennasaw Ga.

[jaybet]

Nice. Hope it's ratified.

[PegLeg45]

It worked in Kennasaw Ga.

Yep.
Hope it passes, too.

Here are some stats:

http://www.cityrating.com/citycrime.asp?city=Kennesaw&state=GA



An older article, but it sums it up rightly:


Gun Ownership Mandatory In Kennesaw, Georgia
Crime Rate Plummets

by Chuck Baldwin

The New American magazine reminds us that March 25th marked the 16th anniversary of Kennesaw, Georgia's ordinance requiring heads of households (with certain exceptions) to keep at least one firearm in their homes.

The city's population grew from around 5,000 in 1980 to 13,000 by 1996 (latest available estimate). Yet there have been only three murders: two with knives (1984 and 1987) and one with a firearm (1997). After the law went into effect in 1982, crime against persons plummeted 74 percent compared to 1981, and fell another 45 percent in 1983 compared to 1982.

And it has stayed impressively low. In addition to nearly non-existent homicide (murders have averaged a mere 0.19 per year), the annual number of armed robberies, residential burglaries, commercial burglaries, and rapes have averaged, respectively, 1.69, 31.63, 19.75, and 2.00 through 1998.

With all the attention that has been heaped upon the lawful possession of firearms lately, you would think that a city that requires gun ownership would be the center of a media feeding frenzy. It isn't. The fact is I can't remember a major media outlet even mentioning Kennesaw. Can you?

The reason is obvious. Kennesaw proves that the presence of firearms actually improves safety and security. This is not the message that the media want us to hear. They want us to believe that guns are evil and are the cause of violence.

The facts tell a different story. What is even more interesting about Kennesaw is that the city's crime rate decreased with the simple knowledge that the entire community was armed. The bad guys didn't force the residents to prove it. Just knowing that residents were armed prompted them to move on to easier targets. Most criminals don't have a death wish.

There have been two occasions in my own family when the presence of a handgun averted potential disaster. In both instances the gun was never aimed at a person and no shot was fired.

http://www.tysknews.com/Depts/2nd_Amend/crime_rate_plummets.htm

[Sponsor]

[twyacht]

Too bad it won't work statewide, too many New York libs live here in the Southern part.  Thank God, Florida, as a whole is very Pro 2nd Amendment. Despite Chiefs of Police, City Councils, and County Commissioners.

I hope it flies with a huge majority. Maybe it will resonate throughout the state.

When CCW came to Florida, the opposition said it would be the Wild, Wild, West. It of course, wasn't, and the crime rate went down.

[m25operator]

"When CCW came to Florida, the opposition said it would be the Wild, Wild, West. It of course, wasn't, and the crime rate went down."

And Texas and Oklahoma and all the other ccw states, just didn't happen. Of course the easier it is to get a ccw license, the faster the crime rate drops. And the shall not issue states stay where they are or % of crimes against persons go's up.