L.A. County’s flip-flop aids distant gun shops
Firearm sales surge in Riverside County as neighboring sheriff sends mixed signals.
Much like toilet paper and bottled water, firearms and ammunition are flying off the shelves in Riverside County, where gun stores are considered an essential business, according to the Sheriff ’s Department.
In California’s updated stay-at-home order, Gov. Gavin Newsom left to county sheriffs the determination of whether gun stores are considered necessary and allowed to remain open.
When firearm activists filed a federal lawsuit against the state Friday after Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villaneuva announced he would close gun shops in L.A., Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco sided with protesters and decided to keep gun shops there open.
“Not only do they seem to fit in the ‘essential’ category, closing them and denying people the right to own a handgun is an obvious violation of the 2nd Amendment,” Bianco said on Twitter on Friday.
By Saturday, the Trump administration had ruled that gun shops were considered essential and should remain open.
The brouhaha began last week when Villaneuva ordered the closure of all L.A. County gun shops, noting that if they didn’t shut down, they would be cited and potentially lose their business licenses.
One day later, the Los Angeles County sheriff walked back that announcement, saying it was up to the governor to decide what businesses must close. But when Newsom turned the tables, saying the decision should be made at the local level, Villaneuva doubled down and said his department would allow gun purchases to be made during the coronavirus pandemic only by police or security personnel.
Gun activists sued, and by Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security stepped in, announcing that essential businesses include firearm and ammunition manufacturing, sales and distribution.
On Monday, Villaneuva made another about-face, announcing on Twitter that gun shops would reopen in Los Angeles County. But by then, gun enthusiasts were flocking to Riverside County, especially first-time buyers.
Warrior One Guns & Ammo owner Norris Sweden posted a video on Facebook expressing his frustration with the initial call to close gun shops.
“We are essential, and it’s as simple as that,” the owner of the Riverside store said in the post, which has received more than 750,000 views and more than 1,000 comments.
Since posting the video, Sweden said that people had been coming from as far away as Livermore to the north and San Diego to the south. People start lining up outside the store as early as 6 a.m. most days, he said.
At Second Amendment Sports in Palm Desert, store manager Kent Miller said sales had doubled recently and the store had had to limit the amount of ammunition for specific calibers to manage the high demand.
The uptick in sales comes as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases continues to grow in Riverside County. As of Tuesday, there were 291 confirmed COVID-19 cases and nine deaths, records show.