California City Set to Vote on Gun Shop Ban

Keeping and bearing arms is as American as baseball and apple pie, much to the chagrin of gun control fans. They’d much prefer to see gun ownership curtailed outright, but if they’re ever going to see that longterm goal come to fruition, they first have to push the Second Amendment to the fringes of society. 

California has probably done more than any other state to make gun ownership legally and culturally taboo, and it’s not always the Democrats at the statehouse in Sacramento who are leading the charge. Local governments across the state are also taking aim at keeping, bearing, and buying guns, with the latest crackdown likely to take place in the seaside city of Monterey later today.

On Tuesday, the Monterey City Council will vote on an urgency ordinance to temporarily prohibit the establishment and operation of new firearms and ammunition retail sale businesses in the city.

“This matter is urgent because without a moratorium, an unlimited number of firearms and ammunition sales businesses may locate almost anywhere in the City without local regulation,” Tuesday’s agenda reads.

The anti-gunners on the city council aren’t really worried about an “unlimited” number of gun shops opening in town. Their heartburn seems to be the result of a single store getting ready to open its doors to customers. 

A new gun store is expected to open on Ocean Avenue in the next few weeks.

Several Monterey residents from the Oak Grove neighborhood spoke out against it during the last council meeting Feb. 4.

“The proposed site is near a daycare facility, a gun shop is entirely inappropriate for our neighborhood,” said Donna Betsold, president of the Oak Grove Neighborhood Association during public comment.

Residents shared concerns about the site being too close to other homes, a nearby preschool and bringing in lingering crowds.

“I’ve see the negative things that happen to the neighborhood when a business goes in that’s kind of unsavory to the neighborhood,” said Bob Walker, an Oak Grove resident. “I think the same thing will happen here.”

The good news is that today’s vote won’t impact the gun store that’s slated to hold it’s grand opening in a few weeks, so Butthurt Bob is just going to have to find a way to live with his new neighbor. The vote is really about heading off any other FFL who’s thinking about establishing a retail location in Monterey; an “urgent” matter, according to the proposed resolution.

The City’s Zoning Code does not regulate or restrict the establishment or operation of firearms or ammunition retail sales businesses in most areas of the City, including home occupations in residential areas. Given this, an urgency ordinance is recommended to temporarily halt this use until Staff have time to study appropriate buffers from sensitive uses (e.g., residences, schools, day cares, liquor stores) and research other regulations. This matter is urgent because without a moratorium, an unlimited number of firearms and ammunition sales businesses may locate almost anywhere in the City without local regulation. When certain types of land uses are incompatible with each other, such as firearm stores in residential neighborhoods, it can lead to disputes and quality of life impacts.

This urgency interim zoning ordinance is necessary to preserve the health, safety, and welfare of the residents of Monterey by preventing a proliferation of firearm business locations in the City without regard to the appropriateness of their location. Here, the location of a new firearm business at 301 Ocean Avenue, while legal, sits below residential units and near other sensitive uses, such as a preschool and a liquor store. This has brought to light potential vulnerabilities to the public caused by the absence of City regulations governing the location and operation of this type of business, and a corresponding urgent need to fix the problem. 

Why is a liquor store near a daycare just fine, but a gun shop located a block away an issue? I mean, I don’t have a problem with either establishment, but it seems to me that if the NIMBYs are worried about the impact that a firearms retailer would have on the neighborhood they should be at least as concerned about people buying booze so close to a child care facility. 

Even in the most health-conscious quarters of California, though, alcohol just isn’t nearly as frowned upon as gun ownership. The modern day prohibitionists aren’t out there trying to shut down bars and liquor stores in the Golden State, after all, but Monterey isn’t the first town on the Pacific coast to call for a moratorium on gun stores. Burbank, Redwood City, and Imperial City are just a few locales that have taken similar steps in the past few years, and most of them have followed up with extraordinarily restrictive zoning laws that make it almost impossible for any new FFL to open their doors to customers. If they can’t ban guns outright, the new prohibitionists can at least make it as painful as possible to exercise our Second Amendment rights, and they’re doing just that in Monterey.