The people of Byron, Maine, unanimously rejected a proposal in a town meeting Monday that would have required every household to own a firearm and ammunition, Reuters reported.

Sixty Byron residents crammed in a tiny schoolhouse where they voted down the measure at their annual town meeting.

The town residents had a quick discussion and then agreed to go ahead and vote rather than debate the proposal. Not even Bruce Simmons, the man who came up with the idea in the first place, voted to support it.

The entire point was to send a message to the U.S. government, Simmons told Reuters.

"I feel we accomplished what we set out to do and I hope we will wake this town up," Simmons said. "We made a statement to the federal government that they can't take our guns away."

Before town residents had gathered, Byron officials made it seem as if the measure would definitely pass.

"We're trying to prevent someone from coming into our town and trying to restrict our rights," Head Selectman Anne Simmons-Edmunds told the River Valley Sun Journal before it was rejected. "It's time to tell the government, 'Enough's enough. Quit micromanaging us.'"

Byron is the second Maine town to consider making gun ownership mandatory, with Sabattus being the first to propose the issue. It was rejected there after opposition from town politicians and the police chief.

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