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Gunreference1
08-19-2010, 09:09 AM
Neighbors Fight the Re-opening of SF's Only Gun Shop

by Samantha Bell

August 18, 2010 4:00 PM

San Francisco's only gun shop is set to re-open but not if a nearby neighborhood group has anything to say about it. High Bridge Arms Inc. had been operating legally out of a small storefront near the intersection of Mission and Valencia since the 1950s but closed at the beginning of the year. Renovations have begun under new management and the only thing standing in their way now is a campaign to deny them a zoning permit.

The Northwest Bernal Alliance has been raising awareness and opposition through an e-mail campaign. Neighbor Jaime Ross told ABC7/KGO that she'd rather see a family friendly business that support the community open up.

Not all neighbors disapprove. Jaimee Greanleaf, a bartender next door to the shop, thinks it's great they are re-opening because it's a local business "and there's always cops around".

The owner originally closed up shop because it was too much work to stay in business. Back in 2007, SF Weekly ran a piece about the extent of the city's control on the only gun shop in SF. One employee commented on the new gun control regulations by saying "That's San Francisco. It's tough. But, if you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen."

The new manager, Steven Alcairo, seems up for the challenge. When asked about the current opposition he said, "They're there, they're out there, and that's fine, it's their right to be that way, and that's OK. But they also have to understand it is also my right to commerce and our right to have and own and operate this business legally".

The permit hearing is scheduled for September 8th. If approved, the owner plans to be back in business before the end of the year.

http://sfappeal.com/news/2010/08/neighbors-fight-the-re-opening-of-sfs-only-gun-shop.php

Steve

Gunreference1
08-30-2010, 08:46 AM
S.F.'s lone gun store draws neighbors' fire

Phil Bronstein

Monday, August 30, 2010

I just got back from Bosnia, and the only guns I saw were rusted relics in makeshift museums.

Somehow the capital, Sarajevo, managed to emerge from four years of hyperviolent siege with lots of bullet-pocked buildings and mortar casings as objects d'art in street stalls but with no apparent firearms problems.

Back here in San Francisco, though, where plastic bags, soda drinks and mishandled recycling cause health-hazard panic, the reopening of a totally legit gun store was bound to catch some neighborhood flak.

These aren't gangbanger street guns but licensed firearms, complete with background checks and more official limitations than we put on torture.

Still, the Northwest Bernal Alliance and three other local groups are urging authorities to deny a permit to High Bridge Arms gun store on Mission Street after a brief closure because its members don't want such a place "near our homes and/or schools."

Officially, the organizations are not opposed to people owning guns, Alliance member Jaime Ross told me. They'd just "rather have something the neighborhood could enjoy - a laundry or wine and cheese shop."

Do we really need to make a high-caliber stink about reopening the only legal firearms sales outlet in the city, even in a nice neighborhood? No. The place has been a gun store for 50 years, and local Ingleside police Capt. Louis Cassanego says that as far as he knows, "there's never been a problem." The captain is for the permit "so long as certain precautions are taken," including all legal requirements and then some. But e-mails he's seeing are running 10-1 against the store's permit application.

It's not a puppy store, after all, or community center. Neither is it a bordello.

High Bridge manager Steve Alcairo was working on the shop last week. He said he hasn't talked with anyone from the alliance and was hoping to reach out to them. Steve is a soft-spoken San Francisco native and Woodrow Wilson High grad. He believes in legalizing pot and gay rights. His Vietnam vet dad kept no guns in their Visitacion Valley home. Steve saw a kid's eye put out with a BB gun when he was 12 and knows people who have been shot.

But he feels he runs a stand-up business where customers get both examined and practical help on gun safety issues.

"I want to know where their fear comes from," he says of the store's opponents. "This is the most scrutinized and regulated business on the whole street. We're watched more closely than the health department watches restaurants."

Not to mention that the store has a steady client traffic of cops.

One group rooting for High Bridge is the Pink Pistols, a gay gun rights organization. Local chapter head Tom (he wouldn't give his last name) put a uniquely green spin on this. "California now has a law that you can't receive ammunition through the mail. And many people in San Francisco don't have cars." Therefore, a city gun store is helpful and encourages the use of mass transit.

OK, maybe that's a stretch. But Tom notes that High Bridge is "a lawful business conducted in a lawful way for people who want to lawfully participate in the shooting sports." Lawful. I get it.

Now can everyone just be sensible?

Phil Bronstein's column appears on Mondays. E-mail him at pbronstein@sfchronicle.com, and read his blog at sfgate.com./blogs/bronstein.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/29/EDJG1F36DK.DTL

Steve

Gunreference1
09-09-2010, 01:09 AM
Gun shop remains after permit OK’d

By: Brent Begin
Examiner Staff Writer
September 9, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO — The City’s lone gun shop dodged a bullet Wednesday.

Despite neighborhood objections, police gave conditional approval to renew a license for High Bridge Arms in the Mission district. The gun store will be allowed to continue operating after shutting down when its permit expired in February.

For the rest of the story click the link below.

http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Gun-shop-remains-after-permit-OKd-102503629.html

Steve