Coos County considers law mandating universal firearms

                The Associated Press
                 7/1/01 4:06 PM

                 COQUILLE, Ore. (AP) -- A former Coos County sheriff has
                 a simple solution for lowering the crime rate along his
                 stretch of the southern Oregon coast: require every house
                 to own a gun.

                 Mike Cook thought of the universal gun law after a
                 15-year-old girl died last summer in Coquille. The county
                 wouldn't have to enforce the law because just the idea of
                 guns in every house would deter criminals, he said.

                 "It's not going to change things that much. But it will tell
                 the world, 'Don't mess with us," he said.

                 County commissioners have agreed to meet with Cook to
                 discuss the proposal, but admit they are skeptical. Coos
                 County Sheriff Andy Jackson said he is also wary of the
                 plan.

                 "From what I hear, nobody wants to be forced into a
                 demand to have a gun, just like people don't want guns
                 taken away," he said.

                 Yet Cook's plan did not arise in a vacuum. Several other
                 towns scattered across the country have tried similar rules,
                 with varying success. At least three others have passed
                 such laws, only to repeal them, records show.

                 Cook discovered the idea on the Internet, where he read
                 about a gun ordinance in Kennesaw, Ga., that was
                 credited with cutting crime by 27 percent -- and keeping it
                 there despite a population that has nearly quadrupled since
                 the law was enacted in 1982.

                 Kennesaw police Cpl. Craig Graydon said the town
                 originally passed the law as a political statement after a
                 town in Illinois banned handguns.

                 At about the same time, Chiloquin, north of Klamath Falls,
                 passed a similar gun ordinance to discourage Californians
                 with an anti-gun slant from moving into town. The law still
                 stands today, but Mayor Joyce Smith said it hasn't
                 changed anything in the 716-person town.

                 Both Chiloquin and Kennesaw, Ga., don't enforce the
                 ordinances. They both have clauses exempting people who
                 can't have firearms because of their religion, a disability,
                 criminal record or philosophical belief.

                 Cook said his proposal would include the same clauses,
                 even though he believes most Coos County residents
                 already have guns in their houses.