ORDINANCE MAY CLOSE PART-TIME GUN DEALERS
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                              By Dan Reed
             Staff Writer West County Times - Richmond, CA.

                           10 September 1989


          RICHMOND -- Laws don't kill businesses, lawmakers do.

          That twist on the old National Rifle Association adage
     captures the frustrations of Larry Carmel, a part-time gun
     merchant who may be run out of business Monday night by the
     Richmond City Council.

          Carmel operates a part-time business out of his home,
     selling ammunition and about five or six guns a year --
     mainly to friends and acquaintances at the Richmond Rod and
     Gun Club.

          Under an ordinance the council will consider Monday
     night, Carmel would be barred from running the business form
     his Curry Street home.

          "If it passes, I'll just close her up," Carmel said.

          the proposed ordinance restricts the sale of
     concealable weapons to commercial areas, with an additional
     condition that forbids shops within 1,000 feet of another
     gun dealer, a massage parlor or adult entertainment
     establishment.  A grandfather clause exempts dealers already
     operating in those commercial settings.

          The ordinance applies to merchants selling more than
     three concealable weapons a year.  It also requires gun
     dealers to pay a $250 city permit fee, a $200 annual renewal
     fee, and to carry at least $500,000 in liability insurance.

          That prices Carmel out of the market.  At 59 and
     retired, Carmel said he just wanted a sideline, a small
     business that would bring in some extra money.  "I don't
     make enough to open up a shop," he said.  "And even then
     you'd have to worry about it being broken into."

          Carmel said he plans on telling the City Council about
     the effects of its proposed ordinance.

          The council will meet at 8 p.m. in council chambers,
     2600 Barrett Ave.

          City Councilwoman Rosemary Corbin is sure to argue the
     council's side.  In February, Corbin proposed the ordinance,
     the city's first regulating gun sales, saying that the
     proliferation of violence in neighborhoods convinced her
     that some local control was needed.

          "Anybody can sell guns anywhere," Corbin said then.

          Deputy City Attorney Jack Judkin, who drafted the
     ordinance, said he is unsure how many dealers operate out of
     their homes.

          "My suspicion is that there are many," he said.  "But I
     don't know that for a fact."

          Regardless of the number, Councilman Jim McMillan said
     the ordinance would move the city in the right direction.

          "What we are trying to do is prevent small dealers from
     selling guns in neighborhoods," McMillan said.  "If it will
     at all curtail the sale of weapons, I'm for it."

          The proposed ordinance is modeled after a law that took
     effect Jan. 12 in Palo Alto.  Judy Glaes, a Palo Alto
     ordinance compliance inspector, said that law sparked title
     opposition and has stopped gun sales in neighborhoods.