I used to work Dodge City when I lived in Western Kansas.
The city had a law banning guns North of the Arkansas River. In actual fact it only applied to the Cowboys. The reason was the same as now.
They wanted the people in power (the saloon owners etc.) to be able to rob the Cowboys with impunity.
Baloney
I once went to Dodge City in an effort to find a salesman in that area. The campaign was a bust, a waste of money. I called the head office and told the CEO that this will be the first time he heard this for real: “I’m getting the hell out of Dodge.”
We still laugh about that.