Gun sales from private home: A loaded issue

A proposal to market firearms from a private residence in Stillwater was holstered last week after several neighbors objected.

Chris and Jennifer Hocuk, in their city application for a special-use permit, said they intended an Internet-based business with most sales being made at gun shows. Customers would come to the house by appointment to retrieve any firearm ordered online or from a mail-order catalog because "they need it shipped to a licensed dealer in the area," the Hocuks' application explained.

"There's nothing illegal about what he was applying for," said Doug Menikheim, the City Council member who represents that portion of Stillwater. "I think the whole crux of the matter came down to compatibility."

After a Planning Commission hearing on the proposal last week, the Hocuks withdrew their application, Menikheim said. City planners had reviewed the plan and concluded "that the use is similar to other home occupations," such as beauticians, attorneys and massage therapists, and wouldn't hurt the neighborhood, according to city records.

"There was a great deal of very civil back-and-forth discussion," Menikheim said of the 25 or more residents who attended the hearing. "They questioned his decision about opening that kind of business in the neighborhood."

Across Minnesota, firearms dealers at any location face numerous public safety challenges because of the threat of robberies and of fires related to ammunition storage, said Dennis Flaherty, executive director of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association.

"The licensed firearms dealers who do this for a living are extremely cautious about the security of their products," he said. "Typically they're pretty responsible people."

In St. Paul, nobody has inquired about starting a home firearms business for at least 10 years, said Angie Wiese, a spokeswoman for the city's Department of Safety and Inspections. Zoning regulations don't allow sales from private homes in the city anyway, whether "powdered doughnuts or guns," she said.

In Woodbury, Washington County's largest city, most firearms "transfers" happen at sporting goods stores, said Lee Vague, the city's public safety director. He said he wasn't aware of any licensed dealers who work from home -- or any problems in Woodbury related to buying and selling firearms.

The Hocuks couldn't be reached for comment Friday, but according to their business description submitted to the city, they didn't want to worry people living around them. "I expect to operate this business in a professional and courteous way and respect my city and fellow neighbors," Chris Hocuk wrote.

He also said he would be obtaining a federal firearms license.

But several neighbors wrote city planning officials to state their objections to the proposed River Valley Arms home business. Concerns ranged from "the possibility of a criminal element interacting with neighbors" to how the Hocuks would protect firearms from theft.

"It's a highly regulated process with safety being of ultimate concern," Menikheim said of weapons licensing. "Under circumstances of a quiet neighborhood filled with kids it's probably as safe as it can be."