Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 4, 1992 TAG: 9203040265
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK LAYMAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
And soon there might be another, right across the highway from the schools.
The Roanoke County Planning Commission on Tuesday endorsed a rezoning that would allow Henry's Gun and Tackle Shop to move from Vinton to a 1-acre lot on Virginia 24 now used for recreational-vehicle sales.
Henry Morgan, the store's owner, said he would sell fishing equipment, hunting rifles, revolvers and semiautomatic handguns.
But the Planning Commission spent more time talking about the size of the store's signs and its parking requirements than about the appropriateness of selling guns so close to schools.
The county Police Department apparently has no concerns about it, either. The police have "no comments" on the rezoning request, according to a planning staff report.
Barbara "Bootie" Chewning, a county School Board member who lives in Vinton, told a reporter that "while I am not opposed to people having businesses, I do think that could pose quite a concern that close to a school."
"Especially with the problems schools are having with guns around them . . . I think that's kind of a ticklish subject at this particular time," said Chewning, who did not attend the Planning Commission meeting.
Chewning said she had received calls from about a half-dozen people who were concerned about a gun shop locating so close to the schools, but she did not get the impression that there was any organized opposition. The School Board has not discussed the matter, she said.
The Planning Commission staff report said legislation being considered by the General Assembly might have an impact on Morgan's plans to open the shop near the schools. However, the legislation is not as strict as the staff report suggested.
Both houses of the legislature have passed a bill making it a felony to fire or brandish a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school. That already is a misdemeanor under state law, and the stiffer penalty might not apply to counties outside Northern Virginia.
The bill passed the Senate and the House of Delegates in slightly different forms. The differences must be settled in a conference committee before the bill is sent to the governor for his signature.
The relocated Henry's Gun and Tackle Shop would be within 1,000 feet of the schools, and the Bedford County gun store might be, too.
"The law is the law, and we'll abide by it," Morgan said.
The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to consider the rezoning request March 24.
by CNB