A small community near Boise, Idaho, plans to post signs on the five roads leading into town that read, “Welcome to Greenleaf, Idaho—This is not a gun free zone.”
The Greenleaf City Council made national headlines in 2006 when it passed Ordinance 208, which asks residents who do not object because of their religious beliefs to keep firearms in their homes. The town lacks a police force of its own, and the ordinance, along with the signs—which were donated and won’t cost taxpayers a penny—are seen as a strategy to deter or, failing that, defeat violent crime in the community of 875.
“Gun-free zones are targets,” City Councilman Steven Jett told the Idaho Statesman. “The shootings that have happened are at gun-free zones. Schools, malls and recently churches. I want people to know this is not a gun-free zone, and we are not a target.”
