SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The only gun store in San Francisco is shuttering for good, saying it can no longer operate in the city’s political climate of increased gun control regulations and vocal opposition to its business.
“It’s with tremendous sadness and regret that I have to announce we are closing our shop,” High Bridge Arms manager Steve Alcairo announced in a Facebook post on Sept. 11. “It has been a long and difficult ride, but a great pleasure to be your last San Francisco gun shop.”
Alcairo said the breaking point came this summer when a local politician proposed a law that would require High Bridge Arms to video record every gun sale and submit a weekly report of ammunition sales to the police. If passed, the law would join several local gun control ordinances on the books in a city still scarred by the 1993 murder of eight in a downtown high-rise and the 1978 assassination of Mayor George Moscone and gay rights activist Harvey Milk.
“I’m not doing that to our customers. Enough is enough,” Alcairo said. “Buying a gun is a constitutionally protected right. Our customers shouldn’t be treated like they’re doing something wrong.”
The announcement prompted an outpouring of sympathy and anger online from gun enthusiasts — and a steady stream of customers eager to take advantage of going-out-of-business prices.
The new rifles lining the store’s walls are quickly dwindling, and the handguns in the glass cases are going fast. So are T-shirts that boast in English and Chinese that High Bridge is “The Last San Francisco Gun Store.”
For years, the High Bridge Arms weathered mounting restrictions imposed by local lawmakers and voters, who passed a handgun ban in 2005 that a judge later struck down. The gun store increasingly stood out in the gentrifying Bernal Heights neighborhood of hot restaurants, trendy bars and a chic marijuana dispensary, while weathering organized campaigns calling for its closure.
High Bridge will close Oct. 31, Alcairo said.
Supervisor Mark Farrell said he introduced the latest bill to help police combat violent crime in the city. “Anything that makes San Francisco safer, I support,” he said.
Farrell said the bill hasn’t been voted on, and he doesn’t understand why the store is closing now. He said it was “comical” that the High Bridge is blaming its closure on a proposed law still months away from taking effect.
Alcairo said news coverage of the bill’s introduction in July slowed sales considerably because customers wrongly believed their purchases would be recorded and turned over to police. He said he had to lay off three clerks and that sales slumped throughout the summer. The store’s summer slump comes amid an overall gun sales surge in the state, according to California Department of Justice statistics.
The California DOJ reported 931,000 guns sold last year— three times the number sold in 2004 and the second highest annual number since the department began keeping sales records in 1991.
In the end, Alcairo said, he and the High Bridge Arms owner tired of the continued opposition and mountains of paperwork required by the San Francisco Police Department, state Department of Justice and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Alcairo grew up near the store and says he is angry and disappointed with San Francisco.
“This is the city that defended gay marriage and fights for unpopular causes like medical marijuana,” he said. “Where’s my support?”
Champion pistol shooter Bob Chow opened the store in 1952, four years after competing for the United States in the summer Olympics in London. Chow sold the store to Andy Takahashi in 1988. Chow died in 2003. Takahashi, who also owns the building that houses the store, declined to comment.
Alcairo said the owner shouldn’t have a problem attracting another type of business in economically booming San Francisco.
The quirky city fixture attracted gun enthusiasts from around the world, many posing in photos with Alcairo and his pistol-packing clerks. Alcairo said professional athletes would visit the store when playing in San Francisco for the novelty of buying a weapon — and a T-shirt — from the city’s last gun store.
“High Bridge has always taken care of me,” said Chris Cheng, a San Francisco resident who calls it “my home store.” Cheng won a $100,000 cash prize and a professional marksman contract after winning the History Channel’s “Top Shot” competition.
“It’s always been a challenge for the store to do business in San Francisco,” Cheng said.
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He’s closing the store under his own volition. He is not being shuttered.
But look at why? What San Fran is up to differs little from the Antiabortion folks methods. SCOTUS ruled abortion legal so the Pro Life folks went about making it impossible. Excessive legislation and absurd requirements placed on abortion providers made it impossible for them to stay in operation. It’s an end run around the Constitution.
Same thing here. Requiring video of gun and ammo sales? Why other than to burden. The San Fran power structure is quite Liberal . They don’t like this guy ( who seems to have no record of wrong doing ) And they don’t like guns. But Guns are legal. So just make them impossible. deny them to those that want them because you don’t like them.
And folks are going to get them. Just like they are going to get abortions. Perhaps they’ll do both in a back alley. No video no doctors…no records no background checks…nothing. Stupid.
“Buying a gun is a constitutionally protected right…”
There is the break point. Responsible folks owning a gun is what should be constitutionally protected. And potential gun owners need to prove their responsibility before a purchase is approved.
So let’s add to the federal budget–perhaps with a tax on ammo–state and local offices (supplemented by vetted volunteers for data entry if needed) that vet potential gun owners before a gun purchase. Have two notarized recommendations from non-family members. Pass a psych test. Pass a gun safety class conducted by an approved law enforcement officer. Now you are approved for a gun purchase and this data is entered into the background check database. If the law enforcement officer has any concerns a Gun Ownership Restraining Order will be requested from a federal judge. If approved, this information will be entered into the background check database. Successful completion provides a certificate for gun purchase that is approved for 5 years.
At the point of purchase, you have to pass a federal background check that will take as long as it takes. No exceptions. Also, the “felony conviction” needs to be expanded to include any misdemeanor convictions that indicate anger management issues, use of guns, assaults, domestic violence, etc. These convictions will be added to the federal database.
Note, graduation from any special education schools will automatically bar the individual from responsible gun ownership for the life of the individual. No exceptions.
Now, we have a well regulated gun ownership program. If money is left from the ammo tax, public safety education will be provided for gun safety in the home, in the vehicle, how to safely transport, etc. If no extra funds, tax the gun purchase.
A responsible gun owner has to be PROVEN before the purchase.
The 2nd amendment says nothing about buying a gun. Going all Fat Tony here, but it says “keep and bear arms” Nothing about buying. If we are going to go to the founders original language, nothing about buying are is guaranteed
Remember “originalism”?.
OK but I don’t think this guy was opposed to background checks or reasonable waiting periods. I can’t find any source of the store ever having violated any law. In fact he’s closing because he can no longer comply with the ridiculous shit SF is imposing on him.
The United States Constitution does not guarantee anyone the right to a personal fire arm. If guarantees the right of the people to form militias ( at that time a National Guard ) for defense against their enemies. In 1789 personal fire arm ownership was like owning a toaster today. You didn’t need a Constitutional guarantee for something like that.
Doesn’t that go against the Supreme Court ruling that individuals have a right to bear arms? I’m looking for ways to make sure that RESPONSIBLE people bear arms. We’re allowing people to buy guns like it’s candy–and the retailers and gun manufacturers don’t want any stifling of impulse purchases. That has to end. The carnage is too high of a price to pay.