Mr. Weatherby, the churchwarden, was born in the same year that the Firearms Act came into effect.
He recalled his childhood when his father would half-jokingly say, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t like guns. It’s the law.”
“I was taught that a man should own a gun,” he said.
Now 42, he was 12 when he first fired his weapon.
“I was so scared I almost dropped it,” he said.
Mr Weatherby said he once owned more than 20 guns but now owns none. He sold them over the years, including one he left behind when his father passed away in 2005, to get him through some tough times.
“I needed gas more than guns,” he said.
One of the places he could go to sell guns was the Deercreek Gun Shop, located on Main Street in Kennesaw.
James Rabun, 36, has been working at a gun store since graduating high school.
It’s a family business, opened by his father and grandfather, he said. Both can still be found there today. His father in the back is repairing a firearm, while his grandfather in the front is relaxing in a rocking chair.
For obvious reasons, Mr. Rabun supports Kennesaw’s gun laws. It’s good for business.
“The cool thing about guns is that people buy them for self-defense, but there are also a lot of people who like art or bitcoins, which are rare.”
Among the dozens of weapons hanging on the wall for sale are a double-barreled black powder shotgun similar to a musket and several “no longer made” Winchester rifles from the 1800s.
