The official logo of Gun Barrel City, a small town on the banks of the Cedar Creek Reservoir, is a pair of crossed revolvers. Its slogan is "We Shoot Straight With You." One of its main drags is Gun Barrel Lane, where you'll find the Carry Right Gun Shop. Its mayor's business attire is an American flag shirt.
But city leaders fear that their position on firearms might not be quite clear. And so they spelled it out.
According to WFAA, the Gun Barrel City City Council voted unanimously last night to pass a resolution urging every head of household -- felons, the mentally ill and conscientious objectors excluded -- to buy a gun and bullets "[i[n order to provide for and protect the safety, security and general welfare of the city and its inhabitants."
City officials don't actually seem to think that firearms enthusiasts who choose to live in a place called Gun Barrel City need the government's encouragement to arm themselves. It's a marketing move more than anything, something the town is familiar with.
This approach is nothing new for a city that apparently was incorporated in 1969 to sell beer and wine to visitors to the newly completed Cedar Creek Lake. In the process, the city jettisoned "Old Bethel Community" in favor of its current, more memorable name, an homage to the outlaws who frequented the backwoods during Prohibition.
Mayor Paul Eaton explained to WFAA that he doesn't want to return to the lawlessness of those days, but he does want to fill up some of the town's empty storefronts. Preferably with guns.
