CONYERS, Ga. (AP) -- Gun racks have long been standard equipment on pickup trucks here, but the gun culture has been diluted by an influx of people who have transformed the once-rural area into a fast-growing Atlanta suburb. Six students were wounded Thursday when 15-year-old Thomas Solomon Jr. walked into his school and began firing a rifle and a .357 Magnum revolver that police say he stole from his stepfather's locked gun cabinet. The shooting came just hours before the Senate voted in favor of new gun control legislation pushed by President Clinton. The attack also tested beliefs about guns in Rockdale County, which was mostly rural until the 1980s, when it became another part of Atlanta's suburban sprawl. ``We've got both ends of the spectrum here in this community, but we are a semi-rural area and a suburb of Atlanta,'' Sheriff Jeff Wigington said. ``We have some areas where people go hunting, especially in adjacent counties. So I know there are lots of homes here with guns.'' When asked about guns Friday, convenience store clerk Jeanette Patterson said ``everybody's got them.'' ``This is a small community. You've got your pickup trucks, your tobacco chewing and your gun racks. This is not downtown Atlanta.'' During hunting season, the convenience store opens early to serve coffee, snacks and drinks to hunters decked out in camouflage. Some shoot deer in a wooded area just across the road from the store. Mrs. Patterson's 15-year-old son is in Solomon's Boy Scout troop and was in the Heritage High School common area when the shooting started. She blames parents -- not movies, video games or guns -- for school violence. ``To me, some people are just predestined for violence and parents should be aware of it and get counseling,'' she said. ``They need to stop passing the buck to something else.'' Allan Morgan, an AT&T supervisor who lives a few doors down from the Solomons, said his 17-year-old son, Skip, visited the Solomons last summer and became uncomfortable when shown a cabinet full of weapons. ``My kids aren't ones to hang around guns,'' said Morgan, a transplant from Rhode Island. ``I believe in the right to bear arms, as long as they are reasonable. I fully support what's going on in Congress to get guns to responsible people. I don't want to legislate against hunters. Just don't use them on people.'' On Friday, school officials met with Heritage students at a church to outline possible new security measures, including metal detectors, uniforms and clear plastic book bags. Many students said they didn't think any of those measures would have prevented the shooting. ``I have nothing against guns,'' said Kenny McKay, a 16-year-old sophomore. ``I don't think guns did this. I think a hardened heart did this. I do believe if he hadn't had access to the guns it wouldn't have happened. But it takes a long time to get that much hate.'' McKay said he enjoys hunting and shooting, but believes it should be done under adult supervision. David Nix, a mechanical engineer whose daughter will attend Heritage in two years, said he hunted as a youth in rural South Carolina but has changed his mind about firearms because of violence in his own home. ``Statistics show that when there's a gun around, people are more likely to kill someone they know,'' he said. ``I think the violence in the United States dictates that guns should be more tightly controlled.'' -=-=- 