Utah town: *mandatory* that all households own a gun!

M

Meat-Hook

New member
Nov 5, 2000 - 08:33 PM

Utah Town Requires All Households to Own Gun
The Associated Press

VIRGIN, Utah (AP) - This tiny southern Utah town has enacted an
ordinance requiring a gun and ammunition in every home for
residents' self-defense.

Most of Virgin's 350 residents already own firearms so the initiative
has lots of support, Mayor Jay Lee said. The ordinance was
passed June 15.

Residents had expressed fear that their Second Amendment right
to bear arms was under fire so the town council modeled a similar
measure passed by a Georgia city about 12 years ago.

The mentally ill, convicted felons, conscientious objectors and
people who cannot afford to own a gun are exempt.

AP-ES-11-05-00 2033EST
© Copyright 2000 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Brought to you by the Tampa Bay Online Network
 
Virgin. Its not far from St. George.

Most of the residents of the tiny town already own a gun, so this legislation is just for show. Essentially they're only taking a stand against anti-gun legislation.

Edit: But the article already states all of that. The story was actually broadcast by our local affiliates a few days ago.

[This message has been edited by Ding (edited November 06, 2000).]
 
Listen!......Can you hear that?........The sound of a thundering herd in mass migration.... :) Remember the scene in Jurassic Park the morning after they discovered the "vegesaureses"?
All of a sudden Virgin real estate may be mighty valuable...... :eek:

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NRA LIFE MEMBER
ILLEGITIMI NON CARBORUNDUM ESSE
 
They better watch it, HCI is gonna give them an F- on their "gun report card"!!! ;) I hear a little town in Utah calling my name.
 
Am I the only one who doesn't like the sound of this? Hey, giving people the choice to own weapons is just fine. Forcing them sounds like the same thing anti's are doing, only the other way around. Plus of course we have to consider the possible risks in making non-gun people own firearms. Do they know how to safely store and handle them? Or will it just increase the risk of gun-accidents and thefts of firearms?

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Tony S.

I'm not a complete idiot - several parts are missing
 
Tony,

If I were a citizen of Virgin, Utah and did not want to own a gun, I would simply claim that I could not afford one. I believe that this "wimp clause" was placed there for this purpose. And I believe that this law is a thumbing of the nose to Congress.

It shows backbone, and resolve, and God bless them for it!

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John/az
"When freedom is at stake, your silence is not golden, it's yellow..." RKBA!

www.cphv.COM & www.handguncontrol.NET are being sued by Handgun Control, Inc.!

See the "cease and desist" letter here: www.cphv.com/lawsuit.html
 
Forcing? Nah. Claim conscientious objector status.

It do seem to me that the town is merely enforcing the Second Amendment, not to mention the Militia Act and Title 10, Chapter 13 of the US Code. Kind of hard to be a militia if you don't have guns. :D

LawDog
 
http://www.sltrib.com/11052000/utah/40105.htm
The Salt Lake Tribune

Town Says Get a Gun -- Or Else
Sunday, November 5, 2000

BY THOMAS BURR
SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE

VIRGIN -- The murder rate in this tiny southwestern Utah town is nonexistent and drive-by shootings happen only in the movies. But it is still a good idea for residents to have a gun over the mantle.
If they don't, they are breaking the law.
An ordinance passed by the Virgin City Council this past summer requires residents to keep a firearm and plenty of ammo in their homes. The only exemptions: People whose religious beliefs preclude possessing guns or those restricted by law from owning one.
Otherwise, every head of a household in Virgin must have a gun handy or face a misdemeanor charge, although Mayor Jay Lee indicates he probably will not seek to prosecute violators.
Utah Attorney General's Office spokeswoman Tracey Tabet said Friday she has never heard of such a law in Utah before.
"I'm not sure whether or not this is enforceable," she said. Nationally, several communities, mostly in the South, have a similar ordinance.
Utah Code 76-10-500 forbids any government agency, except the Legislature, from regulating firearms, and Tabet says that may invalidate Virgin's ordinance.
Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith, whose department patrols Virgin, says he does not understand why the town would need to pass such a law. "I have a problem with legislating that you have to have guns. And I have equally the same problem if you are legislating to take away guns. I'm not sure it's a role government should take."
Ken Cornelius, the only council member to vote against the measure, said the law makes no sense.
"Why even have an ordinance you can't enforce?" he said. "Everyone in town pretty much owns a gun. I don't think we need to encourage or demand that they have one."
Cornelius said he has not seen anyone buy a gun because of the ordinance and calls the ordinance symbolic.
"Every mayor that gets in office has to do [his or her] own thing. [Jay Lee] is just trying to make a statement." Cornelius estimates that 80 percent of the community's 350 residents are unaware of the requirement.

The council enacted the ordinance after some residents expressed fear that their Second Amendment right to bear arms was under fire.
The move perplexes Kim DeMille of Utah's Safe to Learn, Safe to Worship Coalition, which is fighting to keep guns out of schools and churches.
"The state Legislature hasn't addressed guns on any basis," said DeMille. "I don't know why they would think their Second Amendment rights are being taken away."
_________

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
 
I'm with you, tony.s. It's not ANY government's GD business to tell anybody what they should or shouldn't own. I realize they're trying to send a message, but using the tactics of the anti-gunners (govt. dictating what people WILL do) is unacceptable. Govt. should be mum on anything that doesn't involve force or fraud on another person or persons.

To put it more succinctly: Govt. should keep the f*** out of our lives (save for the aforementioned exceptions). Period.
DAL

------------------
Reading "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal," by Ayn Rand, should be required of every politician and in every high school.

"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined."
--Patrick Henry, during Virginia's Convention to Ratify the Constitution (1788)

GOA, JPFO, PPFC, CSSA, LP, ARI, NRA
 
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