Are gun shops ‘essential’ during the coronavirus pandemic? It depends on where you live.
A store that sells guns and ammunition may or may not be an essential service, depending on the county where you live.
Durham, Wake and Orange county officials say gun stores are not essential, limiting them to online, delivery or mail-order sales.
But officials in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County specifically name “firearm and ammunition suppliers and retailers for purposes of safety and security” as essential in their stay-at-home order. That means customers can keep coming into local stores to buy firearms and ammunition.
The city of Durham, along with Durham, Orange and Wake counties do not cite firearms in their orders, but officials said gun shops don’t fall into the essential-services category.
Gov. Roy Cooper’s statewide stay-at-home order and information issued Friday indicated gun shops could stay open but also that local, more restrictive orders must be followed.
The orders come as many guns shops have seen a surge in business amid the uncertainties of the growing coronavirus pandemic.
“It is a mistake by the Wake County commissioners,” said Bill Edwards, co-owner of Triangle Shooting Academy, an indoor shooting range that provides training, sells firearms and other services. “They have failed to realize it is against the law.”
Edwards said he and other gun-rights advocates have asked Greg Ford, the chairman of the Wake County Board of Commissioners, to change the county’s order. They consider the shooting range and the gun and ammunition sales they provide essential, Edwards said.
Barry Perry , owner of Perry’s Gun Shop in Wendell, which also serves law enforcement, said the Wake County and other counties’ orders discriminate against guns shops. He questioned whether Wake’s decision was political and infringes on gun rights outlined in the Second Amendment.
Why can hardware stores stay open to provide equipment for landscapers and other trades but not gun stores, he asked. Other advocates questioned the fairness of orders that allow other businesses like Walmart to remain open and sell guns, but not gun shops.
Ford did not return phone messages or an email sent by a reporter Friday morning. Wake County officials didn’t respond to an email sent Friday afternoon.
Lawsuit over fairness, gun rights
Durham Mayor Steve Schewel said gun shops aren’t being singled out.
“Every retailer is under the exact same restraints,” he said. “The book stores, the flower stores and the gun stores.”
Retailers like Walmart sell many items that compete with various businesses, but they also sell food which is an essential service, Schewel said. If officers need supplies, they can get them from the agencies they work for, he said.
Paul Valone, president of gun rights organization Grass Roots North Carolina, said gun stores sell things people need to protect their families and homes.
“I think they are denying people the ability to protect themselves,” Valone said.
Grass Roots North Carolina filed a federal lawsuit against Wake County Sheriff Gerald Baker on Friday, asking the court to force Baker to resume accepting pistol purchase permit applications.
The sheriff suspended accepting those applications Tuesday due to concerns about the crowds of applicants spreading the novel coronavirus. He also said the number of applications had overwhelmed the Clerk of Courts office, which must do background checks on applicants.
Penny Rich, the chair of the Orange County Board of Commissioners, said she had to talk with County Attorney John Roberts when asked about gun shops Thursday. Roberts directed questions to the county’s information line. The staff member who answered the phone said he would have to talk with someone about it first.
On Friday, Rich talked with Deputy County Manager Travis Myren, who said although the county does not consider gun shops essential, they can still do delivery, curbside, online and mail-order sales. The county’s order just prohibits customers entering the shops.
Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood, when reached by text during a meeting Friday afternoon, said he was unaware of the county’s decision and would not be able to comment without more information.
“I pledged to the folks who asked to place this order in place not to charge anyone unless we were provoked,” Blackwood said.
Different rules across nation
The question about whether gun shops should be treated like gas stations, grocery and hardware stores in pandemic-related restrictions, also varies by state.
At least 19 states have issued stay-at-home orders, The New York Times reported. Guns stores are deemed essential in Ohio, Illinois and Michigan. But not in New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts. Last week, the governor of Pennsylvania changed a statewide order preventing gun shops from opening to allowing them to see customers by appointment, following a lawsuit. Suits have also been filed in Los Angeles, New Jersey and other areas.
Grass Roots North Carolina was involved in a 2011 lawsuit that led to a revision of the State Emergency Management Act.
The North Carolina law authorizes cities and counties to enact prohibitions and restrictions during an emergency, but exempts lawfully owned handguns, rifles and shotguns, wrote Norma Houston, a lecturer in public law and government at UNC’s School of Government, in a 2012 blog post.
Cities and counties can impose restrictions on gun shops as part of a broader order, the post states.
“If a city or county imposes restrictions on the operation of businesses and commercial establishments, such as limiting hours of operation, it may include gun stores within those restrictions to the same extent as other businesses,” Houston wrote.
Staff writer Anna Johnson contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 28, 2020 at 10:40 AM.
