Idaho Town Urges Residents to Arm Themselves

In Greenleaf, Idaho, city leaders are forward-thinking people who know that emergencies can happen without a moment’s notice, and they want to be prepared. The town of 862 residents is a quiet, pleasant group of houses and buildings in a rural area of Idaho that was settled by Quakers a century ago.

However, the Boise River isn’t far away, and the subdivisions spreading west from Boise continually edge closer to the tranquility of Greenleaf’s alfalfa and mint fields, so the likelihood of some kind of emergency situation is always growing. Steven G. Jett, a Greenleaf city councilman, decided to take steps to prepare for such an emergency. He put together a proposed ordinance to add to the Greenleaf City Code. Jett proposes that Section 2, Chapter 6, Subsection 2 of the code be rewritten with the heading, "Heads of households to maintain firearms." The proposal goes on to say, "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, it is recommended that every head of household residing in the city limits maintain a firearm, together with ammunition therefore, and obtain appropriate training relating to proper, safe and lawful handling of firearms."

Jett said that he got the idea for his ordinance when he saw the chaos wrought across the Gulf states in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and by the fact that a subdivision has already been platted outside Greenleaf with space for 240 houses on 105 acres. The subdivision could easily double the population of the city.

Kennesaw, Georgia, passed a law in 1982 requiring residents to arm themselves, and that law was the model for Jett’s idea. The law has proven to be impossible to enforce, but crime in the city declined rapidly after the law was enacted, even though the population continued to grow. "That’s the kind of message I want to send," Jett said. "We’re not sitting ducks. We don’t have any crime, and that’s the way I want to keep it."

When news of Jett’s proposal reached the mainstream media last month, it was quickly pounced upon by talk show hosts and late-night pundits, who had a field day needling Jett in their monologues. Journalists from as far away as Italy called Jett wanting to interview him. But Jett says that most people missed the point, because his proposal is simply to recommend gun ownership, not require it. His purpose behind suggesting the ordinance is one of concern for public safety.

The idea may have a handful of critics, who say either that the ordinance isn’t necessary, or they don’t like the idea of the government invading people’s houses to see whether or not they have a gun. Alan Weinacht, pastor of Greenleaf Friends Church, says that he is a hunter but he opposes the gun ordinance, noting that Quakers are peace-loving people. "It simply doesn’t resonate with a felt need," said Weinacht, adding that he thought the ordinance would not pass. "Nobody’s scared of anything. This is not exactly crime central."

But Jett says that’s exactly the reason his proposal is necessary, and people don’t understand that the ordinance will not require gun ownership. "We all hate government—councilmen, too," said. Jett, who is also director of the Southwest Idaho Juvenile Detention Center. "We are not for heavy-handed government at all. That’s why I backed off the ‘required’ wording early on, before I even had this printed up. The government does not want to step into your home and say: ‘Where is it? What do you have?’"

Most people in Greenleaf seem bemused by the notion that an ordinance is necessary anyway, since about 80% of them already own guns. "Firearms exist in significant numbers here," said Mayor Brad Holton. He said that the ordinance could be viewed as promoting responsibility for gun owners, since many residents already own weapons and it will be in everyone’s best interests to be trained to use them properly.

Although the ordinance does encourage firearm ownership, the largest part of it deals with emergency preparedness. The plan will establish an emergency response plan, promote citizen response teams and neighborhood watch volunteer groups, and develop a proactive approach to keep the crime rate nonexistent, as it is now.

Mayor Holton said that he himself owns about 25 rifles and handguns, and keeps them stored in a safe. "I keep all of them there but one," he said, "and you don’t’ want to run into that one at night." The council will vote in November on whether or not to adopt the ordinance.