Guess which town enjoyed a plunge in crime. In June 1981, Morton Grove, Ill., a northern suburb of Chicago, passed an ordinance banning handguns. The chief pointed out that the law did not prohibit ownership of shotguns or rifles, and that gun collectors were exempt.
Many citizens prefer shotguns to handguns for home defense.
Morton Grove residents could store their handguns outside the village limits or at a licensed gun club. Similarly, Kennesaw's law provides so many loopholes that, in effect, no one is compelled to obey it. Convicted felons are, of course, excluded. Craig Graydon, a Kennesaw Police Department spokesman, in a phone interview Tuesday. According to a National Rifle Association document, the law was not expected to increase gun ownership.