--Please contact the City at 671-5267 and ask to be notified of an upcoming public hearing on this issue. Make your voice heard: Keep Pleasant Hill neighborhoods safe from gun violence!
As Pleasant Hill residents, and members of the Contra Costa Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, we were alarmed to read in the May/June Pleasant Hill Outlook Newsletter that the City had approved a home occupation business permit for LNC Arms (Retail Sales of Firearms) on Scottsdale Rd. in the Tres Lagos North development. No one in Pleasant Hill was informed of this -- as there was no public hearing. Neither the neighbors nor the Tres Lagos Homeowners Association were told that firearms and ammunition were going to be sold out of one of their condominiums.
Firearms and ammunition are two dangerous products. Sales of firearms and ammunition belong in a commercial business zone with proper security and oversight. This is not an appropriate activity for a residential neighborhood where the storage and/or mail deliveries of firearms and ammunition creates a public safety risk for children who may play at the house and the surrounding neighbors.
There are some who are arguing that this is a Second Amendment issue because it has to do with guns. It is not! This is a zoning issue. There are many activities that are not appropriate for home businesses. This is one of them -- selling guns and bullets is not like teaching piano lessons. These sales belong in a commercially zoned area where there is proper security and oversight.
It is essential that firearms and ammunition sales be regulated to ensure the safety of persons in their homes. Selling guns and ammunition from the home (whether over the Internet or not) creates a safety risk for the residents in the neighborhood including; the safety of residents in close proximity to the home gun dealer, the negative influence on children in the neighborhood, the possible increase in violence and/or criminals in the neighborhood, trafficked firearms, and the storage of live ammunition.
You can read about this issue in the Contra Costa Times here: http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_20612246/online-gun-business-based-pleasant-hill-condo-raises?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com
(Ed. note: you can also read about the issue in Pleasant Hill Patch, and ).
The City of Pinole recently banned home occupation gun dealers after Pinole Police Chief John Hardester outlined sthe following specific public health, safety and welfare concerns -- and residents showed up at a public hearing to overwhelmingly support the ban:
- Safety of residents in close proximity to such home occupation businesses
- Possible increase in violence/criminal activity in City residential neighborhoods
- Lack of sufficient federal or state inspections
Over a dozen Pleasant Hill residents protested the Home Gun Dealer and then attended the May 21st City Council Meeting. You can watch the public comments on video here starting at 00:36:20 - 01:21:24: http://pleasanthill.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=782
After public comment the council voted (4-1, Weir voted against) to agendize a study session in the near future. Please contact the City and ask to be notified of this public hearing and make your voice heard. There have been two shootings in Pleasant Hill in the last year. We don't need gun dealers operating out of residential neighborhoods. Keep Pleasant Hill neighborhoods safe from gun violence!
