Residents of a breezy beach community in California are up-in-arms over the fact that a gun store is opening next to one of the city's daycares. Goodland Guns announced last month that it was moving next door to Here We Grow Early Learning Center in Goleta , a community of just over 30,000 people located just north of Santa Barbara, California. On August 3, members of the community rallied in a parking lot adjacent to the daycare.
Demonstrators gave statements opposing the opening of a gun store next door, according to SFGATE. Dan Ashton, the owner of the gun store, and Goleta City Council members also attended the rally to address the concerns of the community members. Ashton told SFGATE that the store is opening at the new spot despite the outcry.
The grand opening is set for September 5. He told the paper if he could have it his way he'd stay at his current location in Old Town Goleta. He's been operating his gun store from that location for 11 years, but was recently told to vacate by his landlord so they could raise the rent on the property.
That left Ashton scrambling for a new home for his business. "Small businesses in California are being squeezed out by skyrocketing commercial rents, and this was the only viable location that accommodated the State’s strict operational requirements.” Ashton said he thought he had some productive conversations with concerned residents at the rally, and said his goal is to be a good neighbor, wherever his shop is located. That said, some residents of Goleta are still critical of a gun shop operating so close to a children's educational center.
An online petition is collecting signatures from concerned residents in a big to prevent the gun shop from opening. The gun store's location and relevant zoning issues will be on the schedule for the September 1 Goleta City Council meeting, Nisbet said. He noted that even if the city cracks down on where gun stores can be located, it's not likely going to affect Ashton's gun store.
Ashton said he doesn't blame the city for his difficulties finding a viable spot to operate his business, but the state's strict laws regulation businesses like his. The city was simply doing its job interpreting (although incorrectly at times) and enforcing the incredibly strict California Building Code (CBC) and California Fire Code (CFC)," he wrote. "The real issue is the crushing regulatory environment the State of California has created for small businesses.
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