cuchulainn
November 14, 2003, 09:42 AM
from the Plain Dealer
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1068806259245052.xmlGun shop is 'last thing' E. Cleveland needs, chief says
11/14/03
Thomas Ott
Plain Dealer Reporter
East Cleveland- Opening a gun shop in East Cleveland would be like tossing a lighted match into a box of explosives, as far as Police Chief Patricia Lane is concerned.
Lane wants City Council to ban firearms sales in East Cleveland as a pre-emptive strike against a man who recently asked about operating a gun shop at Euclid Avenue and Noble Road.
"The last thing we need in this city is another gun dealer - legal or illegal," Lane told council members Wednesday.
Gun stores have operated in East Cleveland before, but they have closed.
Lane said a gun shop would bring added worry for an undermanned Police Department kept scrambling by violence.
Police have investigated more than 80 gun-related incidents this year, including seven murders.
Officers have seized 99 guns from a city that covers just three square miles.
Lane declined to identify the man who asked about opening a shop, but she said he told her he was from South Euclid and sold guns from his home.
South Euclid prohibits selling any goods in a residential neighborhood, the city's police chief, Matt Capadona, said.
East Cleveland's laws allow gun shops in commercial areas like Euclid and Noble, Lane said. Dealers need a federal license, approval from the city's Board of Zoning Appeals and the police chief's permission. Lane said she could deny the request but would prefer an all-encompassing ban.
Lane told the man she could not give him an application because the city, which has not dealt with such a request for years, no longer had the necessary forms.
Four of the five City Council members agreed to sponsor legislation outlawing gun stores. The holdout, Councilman O. Mays, said he was not certain a ban was necessary.
He questioned whether a gun shop would cause crime to increase and suggested that background checks required for gun buyers already provide protection.
Mays was shot in the hand in May. He said he was driving slowly on Woodworth Avenue in Cleveland when another man jumped into the car and the two wrestled for the attacker's gun, which went off. The man escaped.
Mays also said he was reluctant to discourage any business from moving into the struggling city. He used the same argument two years ago when a council majority opposed a liquor store that eventually opened at Euclid Avenue and Lee Road.
Lane said that when it comes to new business, the city "can find something better than a gun dealer."
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
tott@plaind.com, 1-800-275-5253
© 2003 The Plain Dealer.
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1068806259245052.xmlGun shop is 'last thing' E. Cleveland needs, chief says
11/14/03
Thomas Ott
Plain Dealer Reporter
East Cleveland- Opening a gun shop in East Cleveland would be like tossing a lighted match into a box of explosives, as far as Police Chief Patricia Lane is concerned.
Lane wants City Council to ban firearms sales in East Cleveland as a pre-emptive strike against a man who recently asked about operating a gun shop at Euclid Avenue and Noble Road.
"The last thing we need in this city is another gun dealer - legal or illegal," Lane told council members Wednesday.
Gun stores have operated in East Cleveland before, but they have closed.
Lane said a gun shop would bring added worry for an undermanned Police Department kept scrambling by violence.
Police have investigated more than 80 gun-related incidents this year, including seven murders.
Officers have seized 99 guns from a city that covers just three square miles.
Lane declined to identify the man who asked about opening a shop, but she said he told her he was from South Euclid and sold guns from his home.
South Euclid prohibits selling any goods in a residential neighborhood, the city's police chief, Matt Capadona, said.
East Cleveland's laws allow gun shops in commercial areas like Euclid and Noble, Lane said. Dealers need a federal license, approval from the city's Board of Zoning Appeals and the police chief's permission. Lane said she could deny the request but would prefer an all-encompassing ban.
Lane told the man she could not give him an application because the city, which has not dealt with such a request for years, no longer had the necessary forms.
Four of the five City Council members agreed to sponsor legislation outlawing gun stores. The holdout, Councilman O. Mays, said he was not certain a ban was necessary.
He questioned whether a gun shop would cause crime to increase and suggested that background checks required for gun buyers already provide protection.
Mays was shot in the hand in May. He said he was driving slowly on Woodworth Avenue in Cleveland when another man jumped into the car and the two wrestled for the attacker's gun, which went off. The man escaped.
Mays also said he was reluctant to discourage any business from moving into the struggling city. He used the same argument two years ago when a council majority opposed a liquor store that eventually opened at Euclid Avenue and Lee Road.
Lane said that when it comes to new business, the city "can find something better than a gun dealer."
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
tott@plaind.com, 1-800-275-5253
© 2003 The Plain Dealer.