The gun control debate has reached the San Carlos Chamber of Commerce.
The potential opening of Turner’s Outdoorsman, a sporting goods store chain known for selling guns, triggered a community reaction which resulted in a moratorium.
A moratorium means that the store is temporarily banned from opening in the city. To decide whether the moratorium should remain in place, the San Carlos City Council held a community forum to hear civilian input.
The forum was held at Carlmont on May 10 and invited all members of the community to voice their views. It was filmed so the city council could review the responses.
Despite the fact that San Carlos is located in the heart of Liberal Silicon Valley, San Carlos community members expressed a wide array of viewpoints.
Many expressed a moderate opinion. The majority of attendees seemed to be opposed to another gun store opening because San Carlos already has one. Imbert and Smithers is a gun shop located on El Camino Real and has been in San Carlos for several decades.
“The current gun store is part of the community promotes gun safety but we need to restrict guns,” Marie Reardon said.
The already existent gun store, coupled with the recent gun incidents nationwide, seemed to fuel some people’s opinions.
“I’m a gun owner, but we have a gun shop already that’s been perfectly adequate for decades,” retired Redwood High School teacher Mary* Svenson said. “As a former schoolteacher, the proposed location concerns me because it’s so close to a high school. I don’t know that more gun shops in our town will do anything to improve the quality of life.”
Another school parent reflected these concerns.
“I have an almost-ten-year-old son who goes to an elementary school where he gets to practice things like lockdown drills,” Melissa Damon said. “The people who came from that store are talking about sportsman and hunting and I really don’t have a problem with that. It’s the guns that are made to kill people – lots of people that I want to keep out of our community.”
Others projected more conservative views.
“Is this any type of gun control that is going to infringe upon our Second Amendment rights?” Duncan Stewart said.
One individual seemed to think so.
“This moratorium is a rather strict and overbearing solution to a problem that I don’t think exists. It is already impossible to conceal carry a weapon in the state of California. It would be unconstitutional to further limit our right,” John Roberts** said.
After every person was heard, the forum concluded with the notion by a community member to put the matter to a vote. While no conclusive decisions were made, the City Council will take into account all matters discussed at the forum to formulate a decision.
There will be another forum to further express concerns regarding the moratorium on May 17 at Hiller Aviation Museum from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The City Council invites all community members to attend and voice their opinions,
*First name has been altered to respect anonymity.
** Speaker wished to have his entire name changed.
