The last San Francisco gun store will be closing its doors on Oct. 31 after a lengthy battle with the city’s increased gun control regulations, which employees claim have deterred customers from purchasing arms.
High Bridge Arms, which has been a staple in San Francisco since the 1950s, reluctantly decided to shut its doors after a local politician recently proposed a new law that would require gun store owners to submit video surveillance footage reports of customer purchases and file weekly reports of ammunition sales with the
police, according to The Associated Press.
“It's with tremendous sadness and regret that I have to announce we are closing our shop," said High Bridge Arms manager Steve Alcairo in a Facebook post, according to the AP. “It has been a long and difficult ride, but a great pleasure to be your last San Francisco gun shop.”
California currently has some of the strictest gun control regulation laws in the country, including background checks on all firearm sales and a limit of one handgun
purchase per month, according to the Christian Science Monitor.
“Easy access to guns and ammunition continue to contribute to senseless violent crime here in San Francisco and across the country,” said San Francisco supervisor Mark Farrell. “We should do everything in our power to give local law enforcement the additional tools they need to prevent crime and keep our neighborhoods safe.”
When the new regulation requiring video footage submissions was announced, Alcairo said that sales immediately began to drop.
“When the idea was just announced, the following two weeks, sales just dipped. It was like a ghost town in here;
nobody was coming in,” Alcairo said, according to CBS News.
Alcairo also emphasized that the store is closing its doors in order to respect its customers and their constitutional rights.
"I'm not doing [the regulation] to our customers. Enough is enough. Buying a gun is a constitutionally protected right. Our customers shouldn't be treated like they're doing something wrong,” he said. “This is the city that defended gay marriage and fights for unpopular causes like medical marijuana. Where's my support?”
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