A historic California gunshop located steps away from an elementary school has been bought out by the city to ensure its doors stay closed for good.
The Culver City City Council approved a more than $6 million purchase of Martin B. Retting, Inc. after over six decades of being located in Los Angeles County, according to KTLA.
Various members of the Retting family owned the store, but the shop’s current owners announced on its website in July that they planned to sell the decades-old gunshop — instead closing in early September.
“Despite having overcome and flourished after everything the firearms industry could throw at us, it turns out that the one thing we can’t defeat is the inevitable march of time,” Martin B. Retting, Inc. management wrote in a note on its website.
The Vice Mayor of Culver, Yasmine Imani-McMorrin, said the city made the purchase when public safety concerns were raised by local families about the possibility of a new shop gun shop popping up in its place.
Culver 878, a gun safety group that spearheaded the effort to ensure another gun shop did not sprout in its place, said it’s relieved the city acquired the shop.
“Ending gun sales in our school zones will have an impact on our children and families that will be felt for generations,” said mother and Culver 878 member Melody Hanson during a Sept. 11 city meeting to hear from community members, according to the outlet.
Many attending the meeting stressed that they wanted council members to vote to approve buying the property.
Since 2005, Culver City has banned new gun shops from opening within 1,000 feet of a school.
Martin B. Retting, Inc. — which has been family-owned since 1958 — sits a mere 800 feet from La Ballona Elementary but, given its long tenure at its location, had been grandfathered into keeping its doors open since the restriction was enacted.
The California Department of Justice reported in 2022 that a number of firearms used in crimes and suspected crimes around the state were purchased from the shop.
Though the city has followed through with the purchase, not all in the community are pleased.
“I am not a Second Amendment proponent by any stretch of the imagination, however, I am a proponent of good government,” said Gary Zeiss during the meeting by phone, according to the outlet.
Zeiss argued that the city had bought this building without a proper plan for what to do with the land.
“There’s no evidence that the value of the property is in any way proportional to the value of other properties in the area,” Zeiss said.
Mayor Albert Vera confirmed the city had no immediate plan for the property but hopes the building eventually will serve as a space for the whole Culver community to enjoy.
“The City’s decision to purchase the building is in large part from listening to the community and its desire to have a different use for that location. It will be an involved process with the community on the next steps for that building and what it ultimately will become,” the statement given to KTLA reads.