l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 【 以下文字转载自 GunsAndGears 讨论区 】
发信人: foxbat (狐蝠), 信区: GunsAndGears
标 题: 旧金山人民终于把自己阉了
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Mon Oct 5 09:51:49 2015, 美东)
泥哥杀人越货的好日子一眼望不到头啊
San Francisco's last gun store closing doors for good
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."
View gallery
In this Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015 photo, High Bridge …
In this Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015 photo, High Bridge Arms general manager
Steve Alcairo holds a fire …
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.
View gallery
In this Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015 photo, pedestrians …
In this Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015 photo, pedestrians walk past High Bridge
Arms in San Francisco. Hi …
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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