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Ridgefield ban on gun shops near school is way off
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Ridgefield ban on gun shops near school is way off target
Sunday, July 28, 2002
Ridgefield has a shiny new ordinance banning gun shops within 100 feet of churches or schools.
You might think that a borough's attempt to keep guns out of the sight of churchgoers and schoolchildren would be worthy of serious applause, but I'm having a hard time getting worked up about it.
For one thing, the United States Supreme Court has already declared unconstitutional the so-called gun-free school zone law which was enacted in 1990 by Congress and signed by President Bush the first. This makes it kind of tough to believe that a judge will uphold the Ridgefield Borough Council's power to push gun shops out of school neighborhoods.
Make that one gun shop: The Bergen Sporting Goods store, owned by Ronald Granito and located just 25 feet from the property line of the Bergen Boulevard School, is the real target here.
It was in May, the same month the council adopted its ordinance, that Granito had his grand opening. The next day, May 18, Granito had his grand closing: The borough ordered it shut because Granito hadn't applied for a zoning permit.
Granito has an excuse - in fact he has a letter. It is from a borough zoning official declaring that a sporting goods store that sells guns fits perfectly within the permitted uses of the zone. The letter was received by Granito late last year, after which he sought, and received, federal and state approval to open his store.
Bergen Sporting Goods is about a block from the shop where he used to work, Navy Arms. Though it closed a year or so ago, Navy Arms was for almost 40 years a premier gun shop in North Jersey, and it seems that Navy Arms sold guns all those years without any harm occurring to generations of Ridgefield children on their way to and from school.
The attorney who once represented Navy Arms also represents Granito. He is Evan Nappen of Eatontown. Nappen wrote a book, "Nappen II: New Jersey Gun, Knife & Weapon Law," and is a specialist in gun issues. He said Thursday that Granito will file an appeal of the zoning permit decision shortly.
With his letter from the zoning official, Granito would seem to have a bit of a case against the borough. Even if a judge ruled that the letter was not binding, it is quite possible that Granito would only have to get a zoning permit in order to reopen, and that since he originally sought permission on the zoning front long before the ordinance was approved, he was grandfathered into the old zoning designation.
The borough might count itself lucky to lose the case on the narrow issue of the zoning permit. Should the borough win, there likely would be a constitutional challenge to the ordinance itself, and that could prove expensive to Ridgefield taxpayers.
Granito's attorney, Nappen, pointed out that elementary school kids couldn't legally buy guns at Granito's store in any event, and, furthermore, criminals don't buy at legal gun shops because the federal and state licensing requirements would quickly find them out. In fact, Nappen said, the most frequent customers of gun shops are law enforcement officers, and it is always nice to have law enforcement officers dropping by schools.
"There is no logic to this," Nappen said disgustedly. "If you are going to ban gun shops, why not other businesses? Why not completely clear the area for 100 feet around all the schools? Put in a moat and put up fencing so the kids don't fall into the moat."
He is right - this could get crazy. If Ridgefield's council thinks state and federally approved gun shops are too dangerous to be allowed near schools, why not also ban corner stores (cigarettes and lotto tickets)? Gas stations (explosions)? Doctors' offices (needles)? Post offices (anthrax spores)? DMVs (where terrorists stand in line for validation)? The list might be endless, so if the Borough Council is intent on protecting Ridgefield schoolchildren from improbable - but always, it must be admitted, barely possible - dangers, it has a lot more banning ahead of it. A lot more legal bills, too.
Rod Allee may be reached at The Record, One Garret Mountain Plaza, P.O. Box 471, West Paterson, N.J. 07424, or via e-mail at allee@northjersey.com. Please include your name and phone number.
http://www.bergen.com/page.php?level_3_id=261&page=4433475
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Sunday, July 28, 2002
Ridgefield has a shiny new ordinance banning gun shops within 100 feet of churches or schools.
You might think that a borough's attempt to keep guns out of the sight of churchgoers and schoolchildren would be worthy of serious applause, but I'm having a hard time getting worked up about it.
For one thing, the United States Supreme Court has already declared unconstitutional the so-called gun-free school zone law which was enacted in 1990 by Congress and signed by President Bush the first. This makes it kind of tough to believe that a judge will uphold the Ridgefield Borough Council's power to push gun shops out of school neighborhoods.
Make that one gun shop: The Bergen Sporting Goods store, owned by Ronald Granito and located just 25 feet from the property line of the Bergen Boulevard School, is the real target here.
It was in May, the same month the council adopted its ordinance, that Granito had his grand opening. The next day, May 18, Granito had his grand closing: The borough ordered it shut because Granito hadn't applied for a zoning permit.
Granito has an excuse - in fact he has a letter. It is from a borough zoning official declaring that a sporting goods store that sells guns fits perfectly within the permitted uses of the zone. The letter was received by Granito late last year, after which he sought, and received, federal and state approval to open his store.
Bergen Sporting Goods is about a block from the shop where he used to work, Navy Arms. Though it closed a year or so ago, Navy Arms was for almost 40 years a premier gun shop in North Jersey, and it seems that Navy Arms sold guns all those years without any harm occurring to generations of Ridgefield children on their way to and from school.
The attorney who once represented Navy Arms also represents Granito. He is Evan Nappen of Eatontown. Nappen wrote a book, "Nappen II: New Jersey Gun, Knife & Weapon Law," and is a specialist in gun issues. He said Thursday that Granito will file an appeal of the zoning permit decision shortly.
With his letter from the zoning official, Granito would seem to have a bit of a case against the borough. Even if a judge ruled that the letter was not binding, it is quite possible that Granito would only have to get a zoning permit in order to reopen, and that since he originally sought permission on the zoning front long before the ordinance was approved, he was grandfathered into the old zoning designation.
The borough might count itself lucky to lose the case on the narrow issue of the zoning permit. Should the borough win, there likely would be a constitutional challenge to the ordinance itself, and that could prove expensive to Ridgefield taxpayers.
Granito's attorney, Nappen, pointed out that elementary school kids couldn't legally buy guns at Granito's store in any event, and, furthermore, criminals don't buy at legal gun shops because the federal and state licensing requirements would quickly find them out. In fact, Nappen said, the most frequent customers of gun shops are law enforcement officers, and it is always nice to have law enforcement officers dropping by schools.
"There is no logic to this," Nappen said disgustedly. "If you are going to ban gun shops, why not other businesses? Why not completely clear the area for 100 feet around all the schools? Put in a moat and put up fencing so the kids don't fall into the moat."
He is right - this could get crazy. If Ridgefield's council thinks state and federally approved gun shops are too dangerous to be allowed near schools, why not also ban corner stores (cigarettes and lotto tickets)? Gas stations (explosions)? Doctors' offices (needles)? Post offices (anthrax spores)? DMVs (where terrorists stand in line for validation)? The list might be endless, so if the Borough Council is intent on protecting Ridgefield schoolchildren from improbable - but always, it must be admitted, barely possible - dangers, it has a lot more banning ahead of it. A lot more legal bills, too.
Rod Allee may be reached at The Record, One Garret Mountain Plaza, P.O. Box 471, West Paterson, N.J. 07424, or via e-mail at allee@northjersey.com. Please include your name and phone number.
http://www.bergen.com/page.php?level_3_id=261&page=4433475
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Comments
By Peggy Kreimer, Post staff reporter
A Kentucky appeals court has ruled that zoning laws can prohibit gun shops, a decision that a Newport gun shop owner says will open the gates for cities to practice gun control through zoning.
Peter Garrett, owner of Peter Garrett Gunsmith in Newport, said he will take his case to the Kentucky Supreme Court.
"If it's struck down in the Supreme Court, we will go to the legislature and have the law changed," Garrett said.
The Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled Friday that Campbell Circuit Court was correct in upholding the zoning regulations of the cities of Dayton and Bellevue that ban gun shops in certain zones. Both cities have areas where gun shops are allowed.
Garrett had wanted to expand his business into Dayton and Bellevue, but was told the zoning in the areas he was eying did not allow such businesses.
Garrett had argued that state law says local governments may not "occupy any part of the field of regulation of the transfer, ownership, possession, carrying or transportation of firearms, ammunition or components of firearms."
He said prohibiting a gun shop through zoning violates that law.
The appeals court judges said the law does not specify location and zoning laws do not regulate the areas specified in the state law.
Garrett said the areas that would allow a gun shop were not suitable for his small shop. He said Dayton's zoning would allow his business only on the undeveloped riverfront and Bellevue would allow him in the shopping center, where available spaces were too large.
"This is ludicrous," Garrett said. "Every self-important city official with an anti-gun bias will start passing zoning laws against guns."
The appeals court, however, upheld the cities' authority to regulate zoning.
The court's opinion read: "Without the power to control the location of gun shops and firearm dealers, a city could find itself at the mercy of the firearms business that could begin operating wherever they choose, for example, in the heart of a community surrounded by single-family homes. In short, we conclude the trial court ruled correctly on this issue."
Publication Date: 07-27-2002
http://www.kypost.com/2002/jul/27/kygunshop072702.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
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