Political pressure in Arlington Virginia
The battle on Pershing Drive
2016-02-28:
How is political pressure applied to affect outcomes in Arlington County, Virginia?
Here is a case study in that.
(How this will end up is not known at the present.
My expectation, based on past events in Arlington
(e.g., activists preventing a Cherrydale gun ship from opening),
is that the anti-gun-store activists will win, one way or the other,
and the gun store will not in fact open,
or if it does, will close after a short time.
Why?
Basically, because the passion of the anti-gun-shop people
is greater than that of the pro-gun-shop people.
But that is just my opinion, and is not certain.
It will be interesting to see what does happen, and why.)
Disclosure: Many years ago I lived about five blocks from Pershing Drive,
so I find this controversy interesting.
Google Map of the location
An activist organization formed to oppose NOVA Armory is
Act 4 Lyon Park.
This web site contains a detailed list of press coverage of this issue,
far more complete than what appears below.
2016-02-24-ArlNow-developing-gun-store-offering-largest-selection-inside-the-beltway-coming-to-lyon-park
Gun Store Touting Largest Selection Inside the Beltway Coming to Lyon ParkARLnow.com, 2016-02-24 1735
2016-02-26-ArlNow-petition-launched-against-lyon-park-gun-store
Petition Launched Against Lyon Park Gun StoreARLnow.com, 2016-02-26 1005
2016-02-28-WP-gun-store-owner-neighbors-may-meet-over-arlington-dispute
Gun store operator, neighbors may meet over Arlington disputeBy Patricia Sullivan
Washington Post, 2016-02-28
Residents of Arlington County’s Lyon Park neighborhood are scheduled to meet with two County Board members Sunday and are setting up a meeting with the owner of a gun store that is to open in the neighborhood next month, even as an online petition opposing the store neared 2,500 signatures.
John Goldener, president of the Lyon Park Citizens Association, said the group will meet with two County Board members Sunday night to share information and is trying to schedule a meeting with the owner of the business. The meeting, he said, will be limited to people who live in nearby neighborhoods.
...
2016-02-29-ArlNow-media-denied-access-to-lyon-park-community-meeting-about-gun-store
Media Denied Access to Lyon Park Community Meeting About Gun StoreARLnow.com, 2016-02-29
...
John Goldener, president of the Lyon Park Citizens Association,
spoke to ARLnow.com after the meeting,
which ran from 7-9 p.m. (on Sunday, 2016-02-28) and was attended by about 140 residents, he said.
Goldener declined to provide details about the discussion,
saying that the civic association purposely excluded outsiders
because the meeting was intended to be a safe space for community members to discuss the gun store.
“All I can tell you is what the meeting was about,” Goldener said.
“This was an opportunity for people in the community to have a safe, civil discussion.”
“The civic association’s role here is to be a facilitator,”
Goldener added. “We don’t take a stance on this particular issue.”
On a night in which the local investigative journalism drama Spotlight later won the Academy Award for Best Picture,
Goldener said he has “tremendous respect” for local news outlets,
but the community was worried about “people coming from out of the area, with their agendas.”
[Sounds like a good idea to me,
to facilitate a two-way conversation about the issues involved
between the county authorities
and the residents in the immediate neighborhood of the proposed gun shop,
without outside agitators interfering with the discussion.
This allows separation between the direct, immediate impact on the neighborhood
and the larger, global concerns about gun sales, gun regulation, and gun control.]
...
2016-03-03-WP-state-lawmakers-to-owner-of-gun-store-please-dont-open-in-arlington
Can Va. state lawmakers stop a gun store from opening in Arlington?By Patricia Sullivan
Washington Post, 2016-03-03
The seven state legislators who represent Arlington County
wrote a letter [thanks to ARLnow for the letter!] Wednesday
to the property owner of the office where a gun store intends to open later this month,
asking her to reconsider the lease.
The letter recalls the years in the 1990s when Virginia was known as the “gun-running capital of the East Coast”
and warns that Nova Armory, the business that aims to locate at 2300 N. Pershing Dr., is “already marketing aggressively” to residents of other states.
[No indication is given in this article, or the letter,
as to how the legislators know that.]
...
2016-03-04-ArlNow-The-Gun-Shop-Strikes-Back
Lyon Park Gun Shop Threatens to Sue Critics, LawmakersARLnow.com, 2016-03-04 9:50 AM
[Between 9:50 AM, when the article was posted, and 3:50 PM
this article attracted 304 comments.
That's about one per minute.
Talk about exciting the community!]
NOVA Armory, the gun store that says it’s planning to open soon in Lyon Park,
has responded to critics with a long, threatening press release.
...
[The text of the press release in full appears at the end of this article,
and also below is a link to a PDF of the release.]
2016-03-04-NOVA-Armory-Press-Release
NOVA Armory Press Release:Gun Shop Fires Back at Critics (3-page PDF)
NOVA Armory, 2016-03-04
2016-03-04-WP-fight-over-arlington-gun-store-opening-pits-teenage-girl-against-legislators
Fight over Arlington gun store’s opening pits teenage girl against legislatorsBy Patricia Sullivan
Washington Post, 2016-03-04
[This story includes a color photo of 16-year-old Lauren Pratte,
from NOVA Armory's 2016-03-04 press release.]
The fight between a planned Arlington gun store and its neighbors escalated this week with an exchange of threats between state lawmakers and the business owner — in the voice of his 16-year-old daughter.
A news release issued Friday by Nova Armory quotes Lauren Pratte, the daughter of business owner Dennis R. Pratte, and describes her as the gun store’s “owner-in-training.” It includes a photo of Lauren, smiling and holding an antique gun.
...
Dennis Pratte on Friday canceled plans to meet Monday with the executive board of the Lyon Park Citizens Association, which is against the store. He also canceled plans to attend a community meeting in April.
Instead, according to a notice posted Friday on the Nova Armory website, the Lyon Park executive board was invited to a meeting at the store next week. The notice also said that there would be an “Open House” at the store next Saturday and that it would open for “normal business” on March 19.
...
Karen Taylor Soiles, a physical therapist who rents space in the same three-story commercial building where Nova Armory intends to open, said her landlord and most other tenants are avoiding discussion about the shop, although it’s the prime topic at every neighborhood gathering.
“My patients have been voicing their concerns,” Soiles said. “My lease is up in May, and I don’t know what to do . . . I wasn’t looking for this, but it came to my doorstep.”
...
2016-03-08-NRA-another-virginia-gun-store-faces-another-angry-mob
Another Virginia Gun Store Faces Another Angry Mobby Marshall Lewin
America'a 1st Freedom (a publication of the NRA), 2016-03-08
...
Dennis Pratte, the would-be proprietor of NOVA Armory,
recently talked to America’s 1st Freedom, and said
“the pushback has been crazy.”
...
Pratte says he never wanted any of this controversy and conflict.
He deliberately didn’t put up signs or advertisements announcing his plans to open the store.
After all, after seeing the firestorm that forced NOVA Firearms to abandon its plan to open a store in Arlington’s Cherrydale neighborhood, who would?
Pratte went through all the paperwork and permitting—
saying Arlington County officials were “a pleasure to work with and bent over backwards” to accommodate him—
and everything was going smoothly
until someone apparently discovered the reserved parking spaces in the store’s parking lot,
which were marked “Reserved for NOVA Armory Customers.”
Then all hell broke loose.
Originally, Pratte had agreed to meet with Lyon Park residents at one of their community meetings to discuss their concerns.
When travel plans conflicted with that meeting, and Pratte had to cancel,
residents invited him to another later meeting—
and again, Pratte agreed.
But now, he says, after the letter sent by Arlington’s politicians
and all the rest of the gnashing of teeth, “enough is enough”—
so he canceled attending that meeting.
[Big mistake.
He should have attended, and at least listened to their concerns.
Show some respect for the community in which his store hopes to exist.]
Opponents of the store tried to make it sound like Pratte is unwilling to listen to their concerns,
but as he said, “I didn’t want it to turn into a big shouting match.”
[Don't jump to conclusions.]
So now, instead, Pratte is inviting all of his new neighbors to see firsthand
what he plans for the store by attending an open house at NOVA Armory this Saturday, March 12.
“A picture is worth a thousand words,” Pratte says.
So instead of trying to explain everything about guns to a hostile audience that may be misinformed, he says,
“The best way for them to see what we plan is to come and see it in person.”
For now, NOVA Armory is scheduled to have its grand opening on March 26.
And for now, Pratte hopes, he might face at worst maybe a day of protestors picketing the store at its grand opening, and that’ll be it.
...
2016-03-08-ArlNow-nova-armory-sets-opening-date-as-civic-association-set-to-vote
NOVA Armory Sets Opening Date As Civic Association Set to VoteARLnow.com, 2016-03-08 (Tuesday)
NOVA Armory, the controversial planned gun store in Lyon Park, says it will hold a grand opening at 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 26.
The store, at 2300 N. Pershing Drive, says it has all applicable permits needed to open.
The grand opening will feature a ribbon-cutting ceremony with “several VIPs,” the store’s website says.
The Lyon Park Citizens Association, however, is still discussing the store and has planned a membership vote on whether the association should take an official stance on NOVA Armory.
It’s unclear what stance the association would take, though many residents have expressed concerns about the store and its proximity to a nearby preschool.
John Goldener, president of the civic association, confirmed the vote was to take place at some point this week. It comes after NOVA Armory, in a press release issued Friday, threatened to sue opponents and “local crazies.”
“The Association will not… respond favorably to any threats to our residents or to free speech in our meetings, our online forums, or on individual members’ social media pages,
as appeared in NOVA Armory’s own March 4 press release to this and other media outlets,”
Goldener said Monday.
“We assume that the business owner is a proud and responsible gun owner,
as are many residents of Lyon Park and members of the LPCA.
He should understand better than most that the Constitution is not a buffet,
and your cannot infringe upon individuals’ First Amendment rights in order to defend those in the Second.”
“We remain wholly committed to productive and constructive dialogue on this any any other issue of interest or concern to our residents,” Goldener added.
On Friday NOVA Armory said on its website — in a post that has since been removed —
that is [sic] cancelled a planned private meeting with the citizens association
and would only meet with residents at the store.
Since then, the stance of NOVA Armory’s owner appears to have softened a bit.
“Dennis Pratte and I have been in touch today, and we are working together to find a new time for him to meet with the Association,” Goldener told ARLnow.com Tuesday.
Pratte, meanwhile says his business is legal and wants Lyon Park residents to stop by the store to clear up “misinformation floating around the internet” before voting.
“NOVA Armory’s application for zoning was approved and all the inspections were passed by the county,” Pratte wrote. “The business received an occupancy permit. And, every inspector, and every law enforcement official that has visited the shop has left confident knowing that they have met all the requirements to operate this business, and to operate it safely from this location. So, before the committee votes, I would hope they take this information into account, or at least stop by the business before casting their vote so they can make an informed decision.”
2016-03-12-Arlington-Oounty-Board-Meeting
Video of the 2016-03-12 Arlington County Board MeetingThe comments from community members to NOVA Armory
and the response from the five board members, the county manager, and the county attorney
runs, in the complete video, from 7 minutes, 20 seconds to 42 minutes
(the above clip is, at least in my browser, clipped to just that portion).
2016-03-14-WP-he-says-the-arlington-gun-store-will-be-great-he-just-wont-say-who-owns-it
He says the Arlington gun store will be great. He just won’t say who owns it.By Patricia Sullivan
Washington Post, 2016-03-14, March 13 at 6:48 PM
Dennis R. Pratte II doesn’t want people to consider him the owner of Nova Armory, the Arlington gun store he plans to open later this month.
Pratte, 46, describes himself as a “supporter” of the business — albeit one who holds the federal firearms sales license, applied for and signed the certificate of occupancy and lives in the same McLean, Va., house where the registered owner of the business, Broadstone Security LLC, is based.
Nova Armory, Pratte says, is “a family owned and operated business — and more specifically a female, minority-owned business.” He won’t say whether he is referring to his wife, Yong OK Pratte, who is listed on paperwork as an officer for one of Pratte’s previous gun businesses, or his 16-year-old daughter Lauren, whom he has publicly described as Nova Armory’s “owner-in-training” and who was there the other day, along with her older brother Alex.
“I may or may not be the owner,” Pratte said coyly after a reporter showed up Tuesday at the 900-square-foot storefront at 2300 N. Pershing Dr. “Just say ‘Mr. Pratte declined to comment’.”
Such secrecy is not going over well among many residents of the surrounding Lyon Park neighborhood, who say they do not want a gun store in general and are particularly suspicious about who is behind this one.
“This lack of transparency goes to the heart of the really intense reactions that people are having,” said Natalie Roy, a 25-year resident. “It’s not like he’s selling teddy bears.”
...
Members of the Lyon Park Citizens Association last week
voted 264 to 16 to oppose the gun-store opening,
with 21 people saying the association should not take a position.
After several canceled meetings,
Pratte and the neighborhood group’s executive board are scheduled to sit down together Monday.
...
Pratte said Nova Armory will concentrate on rifles and shotguns used for sport or collectors, and will ask customers to park in back and use the rear entrance to the store so as not to attract attention. He said he will sell Class III firearms to government buyers and “local law-enforcement-type agencies,” but will not stock them in the store. Nova Armory will stock handguns, he said, but “We are not selling $100 Saturday night specials. Our low end will be about $1,000. This is meant to be an exclusive store.”
He did not directly answer questions about whether he would sell semiautomatic weapons such as assault rifles, instead describing the superior stopping power of a hunting rifle or shotgun. He also declined to answer questions about his military background, his employment record, and whether any non-relatives are business partners, citing his preference for privacy.
In a letter to her other tenants, [building owner Ekaterina] Varley said Nova Armory has met all legal requirements to operate a gun store and will have military and law enforcement veterans working there.
Varley’s letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, says the store will be operated by “individuals with over 20-years of experience in the firearms industry . . . they have taken their past experiences to create a new, 1-of-a-kind, retail firearms store.”
...
2016-03-14-InsideNOVA-McCaffrey-arlington-leaders-our-hands-are-tied-on-gun-store
Arlington leaders: Our hands are tied on gun storeby Scott McCaffrey
Inside NOVA, 2016-03-14
Arlington officials say that despite their personal beliefs, they are hamstrung by state and federal law from taking steps to prevent a proposed gun shop from opening on Pershing Drive.
“If I had the authority to do something, I would,” County Board Vice Chairman Jay Fisette (D) said after opponents of the Nova Armory descended on the March 12 board meeting to express their anger to elected officials and staff.
Those critics came away with a sympathetic hearing, but little in the way of promises.
Local governments across Virginia are limited by the state legislature, which “has gone out of its way” to strip local authority on gun issues, County Attorney Stephen MacIsaac noted.
“We are at the mercy of the General Assembly, and to some degree, the Congress,” said MacIsaac, who added that local governments have no more power to regulate establishment of gun shops than they do comic-book shops.
...
The other option, county officials said, was for the public to put pressure on the store owner and landlord, as was the case when gun shops were planned for the Cherrydale and Nauck neighborhoods.
[You can bet your last dollar
that that is exactly what many people in Arlington will do,
by any means they can,
including secondary boycotts.]
2016-03-16-WAMU-gun_store_rattles_arlingtons_lyon_park_neighborhood
Gun Store Rattles Arlington's Lyon Park Neighborhoodby Michael Pope
WAMU, 2016-03-16
2016-03-17-Washingtonian-arlington-nova-armory-gun-shop-neighborhood-opposition-daniel-hawes-dennis-pratte
Arlington Residents Don’t Want a Gun Shop.A Lawyer for the Store Doesn’t Understand Why
By Jennifer Ortiz
Washingtonian, 2016-03-17
...
Daniel Hawes, the attorney for Broadstone Security LLC,
the entity that owns the store, NOVA Armory,
through the management of Dennis R. Pratte, says he doesn’t quite understand the community’s concern.
...
The Lyon Park Citizens Association took a vote, and found that
88 percent of people polled opposed the opening of NOVA Armory.
And on Wednesday night,
93 percent of residents of the neighboring Ashton Heights neighborhood
voted against the the firearm business
according to email correspondence from an attendee.
...
2016-03-17-WAMU-nova_armory_owner_breaks_silence_on_kojo_nnamdi_show
Controversial Arlington Gun Store's Owner Breaks His SilenceBy: Michael Pope
WAMU, 2016-03-17
The owner of a new gun store in Arlington appeared on WAMU 88.5's The Kojo Nnamdi Show on Thursday, defending his threat to sue members of the General Assembly and assuring concerned neighbors his store would not stock machine guns.
Dennis Pratte's business, NOVA Armory, isn't open yet, but it has residents in the Lyon Park neighborhood concerned about property values and gun violence.
"We can actually open legally today if we'd like," Pratte said via telephone in his first extensive broadcast interview. "But we've pushed it back a week, primarily due to delays responding to neighbors, trying to calm the fears of the folks in the area."
Some in Lyon Park also worry that the neighborhood's commercial district will suffer if people stop patronizing businesses because of the gun store. Resident Emily Hughes also appeared on The Kojo Nnamdi Show to voice the concerns shared by many of her neighbors.
"I don't like the idea that somebody could walk into Mr. Pratte's store, buy a firearm and then go sit down at the restaurant next door and decide to shoot somebody," she said.
...
2016-03-22-FCNP-Clark-when-Arlington-was-not-so-antigun
Our Man in Arlingtonby Charlie Clark
Falls Church News-Press, 2016-03-22
...
How Arlington and the nation have changed. Before the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School, before the National Rifle Association transformed from a gun-safety sportsman’s group to an intimidating lobby, before Arlington became less working-class, guns were visible routinely—in schools and shopping strips.
From the 1961 until 1999, Arlington’s public high schools had rifle teams whose members carried weapons to school and practiced on campus ranges. Jim Allen, a founding teacher at Yorktown and later its athletic director, recalls that when the school opened in 1961, rifle coach Bill Beals commented, “Who ever heard of a high school rifle team?”
Allen and fellow biology teacher Clarence Seldomridge (who also coached rifle) allowed students to store .22 caliber rifles in their classroom closet because it was right up a stairwell from the range. “No one thought anything of it,” he says.
The 1991 Yorktown yearbook—one of many showing the rifle team kneeling with weapons and padded coats– described that range as “deep beneath the Yorktown cafeteria.” Safety protocol was strictly followed, Allen says, though one time a rifle “kicked up” and put a bullet through a waterpipe. It required a police and fire fighter response, but nothing more.
One Yorktown student who loved the team was Ron Anglin, class of ’66. Back when he was around 10, Anglin’s father bought him a .22 rifle at Sports Fair in Cherrydale, The boy walked with his weapon to lessons at the Washington-Lee High School rifle range “underneath the bleachers.”
...
After Columbine, the Arlington School Board voted to end campus rifle practice. The Virginia code, schools spokeswoman Linda Erdos reports, prohibits weapons on school property.
All three high schools today offer rifle teams, however, and at least a half-dozen Arlington rifle students have recently gone on to compete at college level. The typically 10-member squads practice off-site using air rifles. Yorktowners travel to a range on a VFW post and Masonic lodge.
...
2016-03-25-ArlNow-gun-store-to-hold-ribbon-cutting-ceremony-while-opponents-hold-community-celebration
Gun Store to Hold Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony While Opponents Hold ‘Community Celebration’ArlNow, 2016-03-25
2016-03-26-WTOP-arlington-gun-shop-opening-met-with-fanfare-opposition
Arlington gun shop opening met with fanfare, oppositionby Dennis Foley
WTOP (103.5 FM), 2016-03-26
[This story features a photo of the ribbon-cutting.
Everyone looks very happy, especially Dennis Pratte.]
...
Along with other politicians,
the Arlington Chamber of Commerce took part in the ribbon cutting ceremony,
speaking highly of the newest retail outlet in the county.
Nova Armory’s owner says the shop is just supplying a demand.
“The Second Amendment is not just about hunting.
It’s about personal protection, self-preservation,” Pratte said.
“We provide a needed service to people who take that seriously.”
And although Nova Armory just opened, Pratte is already looking at his next possible location.
“We’d like to open a place in D.C.,” said Pratte.
“If there’s any landlords that want to give it shot, give me a call.”
2016-03-27-WP-gun-store-opens-in-arlington-county-to-strong-support-and-business
Gun store opens in Arlington County to strong support and businessby Patricia Sullivan
Washington Post, 2016-03-27
...
The neighborhood group decided not to stage a protest at the store because
“we don’t want to have a confrontation,”
said Natalie Roy, one of the Lyon Park group’s organizers.
“Why give the gun-store owner any unnecessary publicity, which is what he’s after.”
[The photo in the print edition makes it clear that she is
the Natalie Roy who advertises frequently in the local papers as "The Bicycling Realtor"?]
Numerous elected officials, including four state legislators, four of five Arlington County Board members, the county manager and a school board member attended the Lyon Park rally, calling on residents to not give up the fight.
State Sen. Barbara A. Favola (D-Arlington) described her unsuccessful attempt to pass a bill that would give local communities control of gun stores.
Del. Alfonso H. Lopez (D-Arlington) decried the General Assembly’s unwillingness to ban any weapons, even flamethrowers.
Del. Mark Levine (D-Alexandria) urged residents to “picket, protest and apply peer pressure.”
County Board member Christian Dorsey (D), who brought his daughter to the rally,
said the county will apply “certainly a level of vigilance — not special scrutiny,
but we’re going to be watching closely to be sure [the store] operates as it’s supposed to.”
Arlington residents can buy guns at a pawnshop on Lee Highway or head out to Fairfax County,
where numerous stores, including some formerly owned by Pratte, operate.
But some have been hostile to stand-alone shops;
last year, residents in the Cherrydale neighborhood persuaded a landlord to revoke a lease to a McLean business, Nova Firearms, that wanted to relocate there.
Last week, another low-level confrontation took place when the store’s landlord towed another tenant’s van that was adorned with articles about gun violence.
Karen Taylor Soiles, a physical therapist who works above the gun store,
said Katya Varley had her vehicle towed and refused to pay the $95 towing fee.
Varley declined to talk Saturday to a reporter.
...
2016-04-25-WP-arlington-gun-store-sues-critics
Arlington gun store’s owner sues critics,says opponents issued death threats
By Patricia Sullivan
Washington Post, 2016-04-25
The owner of the Arlington gun store that opened last month despite vociferous objections from local residents
has sued 64 people, including elected officials,
claiming that they conspired to destroy the business, harassed the owner and landlord
and mailed death threats to the 16-year-old “owner-in-training.”
The suit, filed last week in Richmond Circuit Court,
named seven state legislators who appealed to the landlord, on official General Assembly stationery,
to refuse to rent 2300 N. Pershing Dr. to Nova Armory.
The lawsuit also named
Arlington County Board member Christian Dorsey, School Board member Barbara Kanninen
and multiple residents who have spoken out against the gun store.
Daniel Hawes, attorney for Broadstone Security, which does business as Nova Armory, said the plaintiffs warned the lawmakers and residents against “interference” with the business.
“People generally don’t like it if you try to destroy their business. That’s malicious behavior,” Hawes said. He said someone has been following customers who leave the store and taking photos of their cars and license plates. “There’s been all sorts of creepy stuff by people with a morbid obsession, a neurotic obsession, with firearms,” he said. “They are really dangerous people.”
The complaint says defamatory comments on social media, harassing phone calls and emails and a mailed death threat to 16-year-old Lauren Pratte forced the business to spend time and money “in merely surviving the crisis.” Pratte is the daughter of Dennis R. Pratte II, who described Nova Armory as a family-owned business. The lawsuit asks for $2.1 million in lost revenue and damages, an amount that can be tripled under law.
...
2016-04-25-ArlNow-nova-armory-sues-residents-lawmakers
Nova Armory Sues Residents, LawmakersArlNow, 2016-04-25
Lyon Park gun store Nova Armory is suing 64 people who spoke out against its recent opening, including local residents and lawmakers.
A [PDF] copy of the lawsuit can be downloaded here.
[This 14 page document makes for highly interesting reading.
I am certainly not a lawyer, but their case sounds somewhat plausible.
The only thing obviously unjustified in their suit
is the claim that some of the anti-gunshop arguments were and are racist.
I don't think you have to be a racist to support those arguments.
That is not to say that I am taking a side, one way or the other in conflict between the gunshop and its opponents,
merely that I don't see racism as being part of the issue here,
nor do I believe the opponents were motivated by racism.
Gun crimes are and have been committed by people of all races.]
...
2016-05-10-ArlNow-zoning-board-to-hear-resident-challenge-to-gun-store
Zoning Board to Hear Resident Challenge to Gun StoreArlNow.com, 2015-05-10
A group of Lyon Park and Ashton Heights residents is trying to challenge the legality of Nova Armory’s Certificate of Occupancy.
...
In a report to the BZA, Arlington’s Acting Zoning Administrator, Arlova Vonhm, recommends denying the appeal and upholding Nova Armory’s Certificate of Occupancy at 2300 N. Pershing Drive. Vonhm addressed each of the challenges made by the residents:
...
2016-05-12-DailyCaller-zoning-board-rules-in-favor-of-local-virginia-gun-store
Zoning Board Rules In Favor Of Local Virginia Gun Storeby Kerry Picket
Daily Caller, 2016-05-12
Chalk up another victory up for NOVA Armory. The suburban Virginia firearms store beat back an appeal late Wednesday night that asked the Arlington County Zoning Board to revoke its small business occupancy permit.
The five-member board voted unanimously to uphold issuing the occupancy certificate to NOVA Armory, though board members stressed that their decision was based on zoning rules rather than the Second Amendment.
...
Another member agreed, saying, “For us this is not about a Second Amendment right. It’s very narrow. So our personal feelings about how we feel about this gun store or any gun store or guns in general is completely not relevant to our decision here. It is a technical decision based on a zoning question.”
...
2016-10-03-WP-arlington-gun-store-that-riled-the-neighborhood-is-sold-to-employee
Arlington gun store that riled the neighborhood is sold to employeeby Patricia Sullivan
Washington Post, 2016-10-03
An Arlington gun store whose owner enraged neighbors — first by claiming it was owned by his 16-year-old daughter and then by suing them for speaking out in opposition — has sold the property to an employee.
Dennis R. Pratte, who opened Nova Armory in March under the business name of Broadstone Security, said he sold the business Aug. 19 to Shawn Poulin, the store’s manager, who continues to operate it.
Poulin, in an interview at the store Saturday, said that the business is “in the black” and that he plans to expand to the second floor, with a showroom to feature rifles, tactical gear and an expanded clothing line. The former Marine said he’s the majority owner of the store. He said his partner is a Fairfax County company that makes amphibious patrol boats, but he would not name the firm.
...
2017
2017-03-07-ArlNow-dropped-gun-store-lawsuit-helps-bring-va-bill-to-protect-protesters
Dropped Gun Store Lawsuit Helps Bring Va. Bill to Protect Protestersby Chris Teale
The lawsuit against 64 people who spoke in opposition to Nova Armory, the Lyon Park gun store, helped provide the impetus for a state bill to protect protesters from similar court action.
House Bill 1941, introduced by southwest Virginia Del. Terry Kilgore (R-1) and co-patroned by local Del. Mark Levine (D-45), provides immunity from a lawsuit to anyone who speaks out on a matter of public concern, unless they knowingly make false statements. Defendants in so-called “strategic lawsuits against public participation” could be awarded reasonable attorney fees and costs under the bill.
It passed unanimously in both the House of Delegates and the state Senate, and awaits the signature of Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D).
...
ArlNow, 2017-03-07
posted by KHarbaugh at 06:00
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