By SOPHIE JANE EVANS FOR dailymail.com
PUBLISHED: 17:07, 3 July 2015 | UPDATED: 13:37, 7 July 2015
Photographer Nicolas Lévesque traveled to Kennesaw, Georgia, where the ownership of a gun is required by law
While police shootings continue to spark debate across America, this small town does not bat an eye at firearms
Lévesque captured images of locals, including bearded Dent Myers, who runs Civil War surplus store in the city
He found most residents are 'nice people' who are proud of both their guns and the unusual law, passed in 1982
'In Kennesaw, a good citizen is an armed citizen,' Lévesque said after finishing project, named 'In Guns We Trust'
They are of different ages, backgrounds and professions. But they all have one thing in common - they carry guns. Meet the residents of Kennesaw in Georgia - where firearms are not only accepted, they are legally required.
While police shootings and other gun crimes continue to spark debate across America, this small town doesn't bat an eye at its high presence of guns.
Most locals are trained to use their prized firearms, with a sign hanging in one shop reading: ''Notice!! Forget about the DOG. Beware of OWNER!'
Photographer Nicolas Lévesque traveled to the city - where the population is nearly 30,000 - to construct a photo essay on its remarkable gun law. He also created a short film about Kennesaw, which opens with the screenshot of an email he sent to the director of the Georgia Gun Owners.
In the email, obtained by Fast Company, the Canadian photographer requested an interview with the director 'about gun ownership and gun culture'.
The director, based in Kennesaw, responded with a refusal, and a statement reading: 'Our rights do not come from government, but from God.'
Lévesque traveled to the town anyway, capturing black-and-white photos of its working-class citizens, of various ages and genders, and their guns.
The photographer described the residents as 'nice people, good people', most of whom were proud of their weapons and the law, made in 1982.
During his time there, he met Dent Myers, who runs a Civil War surplus store filled with Confederate flags, and spent hours firing guns himself. He also spoke to people in the Cobb County town's streets, cafes and shopping malls for his project, named 'In Guns We Trust'.
At no point, Lévesque said, was he scared or intimidated by the town's people. In a description of his 12-minute film on his website, the photographer and filmmaker writes: 'In Kennesaw, a small American town in the state of Georgia, a good citizen is an armed citizen. By law, since 1982, each head of household must own at least one working firearm with ammunition.'
Kennesaw's gun legislation was approved following the passage of a law in Morton Grove, Illinois, prohibiting the possession of handguns.
Under the Kennesaw law, the head of every household must maintain a firearm to provide for and protect the safety, security and welfare of citizens.
They must also possess ammunition for their gun or guns. The only citizens exempt from this law are those who suffer from a physical or mental disability, are extremely poor, or oppose the legislation based on religious views. Criminals convicted of felonies are also exempt from the law.
Lévesque, from Québec, studied photography, arts and cinema before co-founding the KAHEM Photographers Association, according to his website. Although he has traveled across the world for his projects - which are typically of 'extreme environments' - he tends to gravitate toward South America.
He is currently photographing Northern Canada's seal hunting culture, it is reported.
Some of his previous creative works include 'The Queen's Living Room', 'Pêcher Les Hommes', '70km/h' and 'Nemagon'.
Lévesque's film on Kennesaw, released in 2012, was edited by Guillaume Langlois.
Morton Grove's 1981 gun prohibition law was dropped in July 2008.
Originally published here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3148447/In-guns-trust-Incredible-black-white-photo-series-captures-life-inside-small-Georgia-town-armed.html
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