Under a 1982 ordinance, every household in Kennesaw, Georgia, is required to own a gun and ammunition, "in order to provide for and protect" the city's safety. It should probably be no surprise that the city's council recently voted—also in the name of some backwards idea of safety?— to ban a mosque from opening.

According NBC outlet 11 Alive, a local Muslim group petitioned Kennesaw's city council to be allowed to operate out of a small storefront space in a shopping center and was voted down 4-1 this week. According to the Daily Dot, the landlord had no problems with its prospective tenants, and the group had previously agreed to a list of conditions laid out by the city attorney including a limit on its lease and the number of worshippers who could congregate at one time.

Mayor Mark Matthews implied after a previous hearing last month that the city had an umbrella policy against allowing religious organizations to rent retail space, calling the vote "a purely technical hearing on the appropriate land use for a piece of property in the city of Kennesaw." But that isn't the case. As 11 Alive points out, Kennesaw's city council voted to allow a Christian church to rent a storefront in a shopping center just five months ago.

Citizens of Kennesaw who opposed the mosque made no such bones about their intentions. "They're training their kids how to do terrible things to Americans," the racist at the front of the photo below says during 11 Alive's video coverage. "And we're trying to stop it."

The four members who voted against the mosque reportedly did so without explaining their motives. Doug Dillard, the Muslim group's attorney, told 11 Alive the group may sue the city.

[Image via Wikipedia]