Gun store opening next door to Franklin Sherman Elementary in Mclean

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There was a comment up-thread that maybe deserves more attention. Are the store and/ or landlord actually hoping to get everyone upset, setting the stage for someone to buy them out? I imagine the store owner walked away with some money after his cherrydale lease was broken by the landlord - easy money by triggering public outrage, part II?

Could be. There is very little parking, which is less of an issue when you are taking family pictures by appointment (the old Lubin studio) than when you are operating a retail firearms store.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:McLean resident here with 3 young kids. The gun store is not welcome here. I don't want to have to explain to my kids that with enough money, anyone with a license can walk in to the store to buy a weapon to kill someone else.

Then, explain to your kids that people can walk into a store and buy a weapon to protect their kids from the criminals in the event they have a robbery.
Easy peasy. They can understand this.

Yet I would feel obliged to explain to him that it's much more likely that someone in our own household would be killed as the result of gun possession than it is that we'd use it to defend against a criminal. I think he'd understand that too. I guess this would be a great time to open the conversation about self-inflicted gun wounds and depression and domestic violence. By all means, keep telling yourself that guns are mostly used and discharged defending against criminals, but I'll go ahead and spare my child that fairy tale.

You mean suicide, right? We need to say the word. It's actually a significant problem among teens, especially boys. But a gun is only one way. Boys are more likely to succeed, whatever method they use. Depression is an even bigger issue that a shocking percentage of high school students face, and it's getting worse. How kids deal with it varies. Much depends on the specifics of the family dysfunction. Certainly no home with questionable mental health issues should have a gun.

My thought is to know your children. Know your spouse. It's a process and demands much time, day in and day out. Few parents are making it a top priority. Our children require our time so much more than the junk our money can ever buy. Heard of the book, "Can't Buy My Love"? Our kids need us every single day, not the endless stuff busy parents throw at them. Of course we love our kids, but they need to *feel* loved. If they don't, they'll be prey to whatever comes their way. Check out Saturday Night in the Burbs at Langley or McLean. Good to see what's around the corner for the kids, all of them. It'll motivate you to spend every possible moment with your family. Children who feel loved are less likely to become angry teens and angry young adults.

Btw PP, since you mentioned the suicide issue, did you know September was Suicide Prevention Month?

"Break the Silence"

This post deserves a big shout out. I hate the gun stores insinuating themselves in family friendly neighborhoods, but the need to be very vocal and aware when it comes to suicide prevention is even more important. I didn't know September was Suicide Prevention Month. Keep spreading the word.

Thank you, PP. I truly appreciate it. The fact that we both deeply care about children and their optimal development and safety, means we both ultimately have the same goals for them, no?

I'm haunted by every single news story of one kid accidentally shooting another kid (sibling, friend, whatever,) and what might have *realistically* prevented such a tragedy. (Sure, should not have been there.) But I find myself keep coming back to education. Perhaps like fire. It can kill you in a flash, but it can also save you. Should we teach kids to fear fire? Would that really be the best thing? What if they want to go camping in the winter some day? What if they're lost and cold? What if they're hungry? What if they get Papa Bear coming towards them?

I didn't grow up ever seeing a real gun, much less a gun shop. But I decided I didn't want to be afraid of them either. So one day I bit the bullet (pardon the pun!) and walked into a gun store. Guess what? No one pointed a gun at me. Then I picked up a free gun safety handbook and walked out. Here's what it said:

Rule #1. Handle ALL firearms as if they were loaded.
Never forget that a gun has the potential to produce serious injury or death in a single instant of carelessness. Make safe gun handling a habit to be followed at ALL times. After you determine that a gun is unloaded, continue to handle it as though it were loaded.

Rule #2. ALWAYS keep the firearm pointed in a safe direction.
You should NEVER point a gun, loaded or unloaded, at another person or at yourself.

Yada, Rule #10 NEVER use firearms while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Handling and using a firearm requires your full and continuous attention, alertness, and unimpaired judgment. Avoid handling firearms while taking prescription medicines which may make you drowsy, slow your reflexes, and impair your normal senses or judgement.


I don't know. If someone had the interest in the responsible instruction of gun safety to these kids, my gut tells me they would not have so carelessly pointed it at another person. Sure, intentional raging behavior/mental illness is a another issue.

Seems like we should approach our kids' driving a car with this kind of methodical preparation and respect. Maybe fewer crashes than we have with the grab-n-go, just hurry up and get out of my way, routine. I don't know, but I'm never going to stop trying to learn more.

Just noticed the last posts. Can we please tone down the hate? Do we want the kids battling like this tomorrow morning in school? That would be the ultimate irony. Peace lovers clobber the others. Let's model some civility.

But hey, I stand with one foot on both sides of the aisle on this. I want us all to be safe and secure, especially the children. They mean the world to me.

Me again. You all know your children are in school this morning, behaving just as some of their hateful, vicious parents.

Is that what you want? Where's the compassion?

[Anonymous]

I am not sure what the PP is suggesting other than that we suck up and welcome a gun dealer next to an elementary school because it would somehow be civil.

Well, no. We want this store to move as soon as possible. It is not OK and if we need to get laws changed or invoked to do so, we will advocate for aggressively. No children were massacred because a soccer mom had easy access to a bullhorn.

[Anonymous]

Civility would be better than compassion, as compassion may still be a bit much for some of you.

Perhaps model some civil discussion and debate, so the children can see appropriate adult behavior. What their parents show them, is what they'll do. Think about it, my friends. You may be on the receiving end of this sort of hatefulness from your own children before you know it.
Do you really want that?

If you want to change the zoning law, show the kids how you do it. Allow them the opportunity to learn something useful rather than your hysterical recklessness.
-10:12

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean gun owner here. I really don't see the issue with the gunshop there. Since no one has listed any actual concerns, such as safety, it seems the concerns are at best superficial. Reaction from the local liberal politicians are not surprising.

If the owner does break the lease due to public bullying, it will be a shameful day for McLean that a legal business agreement between two private parties was broken due to mob witch-hunt mentality.

NOVA Firearms, hang in there, I will buy my next gun from you, I promise. There are plenty of others like me.

I don't understand why no one has voiced an actual concern.

PP here, thanks for confirming that your fears are irrational and that you feel the need to have your irrational fears impose on basic rights and liberties of others. I'll address your points one by one.

Anonymous wrote:
I'll start: I don't want a gun shop near my kid's school because I don't want my kid seeing people go into a gun shop to buy a gun. I don't want him to think that it is a good idea for people to buy guns like candy. I don't want him to know that regular Joe Moron can buy and carry a gun just like his father, who is an FBI agent. I don't want him to be scared at night thinking of people with guns.

Your fears are irrational because people are very discreet about guns in public in general. Most gun owners do not want to attract attention because they know there are easily-shocked people out there who do not understand federal and VA gun laws, and would call 911 at the first sight of a gun, make exaggerated claims (look in the mirror), and cause a lot of undue hassle for him self, the store, and the police officer that responds to the call. So when they buy a gun from a store, they don't run out with it, waving it around and yelling "look at me, look at what I just bought, isn't this cool?" Park yourself in front of any gun shop, grab some coffee at a cafe nearby and see the people going in and out. Guns are carried in cases. Sometimes, you'll see someone open carrying a handgun in a holster, which is no different from a police officer open carrying their service weapons. Therefore, unless someone points it out to a kid and makes a big deal about it (again, look in the mirror), kids would no sooner get over exposed to guns by seeing people going in and out of a gun shop than they would to alcohol seeing people walking in and out of a liquor store.

Your hyperbole about buying guns like candy, and juvenile name calling seriously weakens your position. If you are seriously concerned about how easy it is to obtain a gun in Virginia, walk into a gun shop and ask them what the process is like. Petition your politicians to change the law if you don't like it. Making false representations about a process you know very little about - worse still, indoctrinating the same in your kids, is not something an educated grown adult should do.

I also find it extremely disturbing, that you think somehow being an FBI agent endows one with more rights to own a firearm than a regular citizen. The foundation for the second amendment has been well researched and argued. I won't re-hash it here. Again, if you feel that only law enforcement should be able to own guns, and regular "Joe Moron" should not, petition your politician to change the law.

Anonymous wrote:
I don't want a gun shop near a school because it does attract unsavory people as well as those who have legitimate reasons to frequent a shop selling firearms. I don't want a gun shop near my kid's school because heaven forbid if my son was identified at the school as his father's child, and his father had arrested a person who had recently been released, I don't want there to be even the slightest possible way for someone to make a bad decision over a split second to procure a firearm and shoot it at an innocent child, most especially my kid (the son of the guy who put the criminal away). There would be practically no barrier of time between bad decision A (visiting the gun shop) and bad decision B (shooting a kid). There are thousands of people who would salivate over killing the child of a federal law enforcement officer. I have no interest in helping them with that fantasy, and the proximity of the gun shop to a school would only streamline the unthinkable.

Do you know how idiotic your logic sounds? You think someone who has been arrested before can buy a gun in VA without a waiting period? Really? And you think that a criminal is going to buy a gun to commit a crime by going to a gun shop and provide two forms of ID? The only one here with a fantasy is you. It's sick that you think that by preventing a gun store from operating near a school, that the kids of law enforcement officers are somehow magically safer because a criminal then won't be able to buy guns "like candy". Again, go read the Federal and VA laws, talk to a gun store owner about the process and voice your concerns. Even if you reveal your attitude towards guns, I am sure he will take the time to explain the process to you because an informed anti-gun person is better for everyone than a misinformed one.

Anonymous wrote:
I don't want a gun shop near a school because I don't want people to buy a firearm and then accidentally shoot it. If it is accidentally discharged, I would not want that accidental discharge to be anywhere near a school or school grounds.

Well, sure, I guess theoretically it could happen. To make your concern rational, however, you should research how often accidental discharges occur, especially in/around gun shops. Next, research how many kids are hurt by cars at cross-walks near schools, and wonder whether your time wouldn't be better spent protecting the children by preventing usage of automobiles near schools during starting/ending hours, if you are truly concerned about the safety of the children.

Anonymous wrote:
I think I could keep going, but those are the things I worry about. I get it - we're in VA now, and people in VA seem to love their damn guns for reasons I find preposterous. I'm so glad we don't send our kid to this school.

Yea, you can keep going on with your irrational fears that is stereotypical of a misinformed anti-gun person. It wouldn't be very convincing, however. Education is the key here. Learn about the things that concern or frighten you, knowledge will prepare you to better deal with these types of things.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, 10:27. Reasonable debate is exactly what we need more of here.
Hopefully others will respond accordingly, whatever their thoughts are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bringing us full circle to one of the original posts: it's Cherrydale all over again. Some of the pro-gun store supporters were fantasizing about the opponents being the victims of home invasions etc. really gross stuff.

Yes, the pro-gun crowd is very ugly and exceedingly uncivil. We saw that in Cherrydale and we are seeing it all over again in McLean.

You would have to conclude that many of them feel threatened by women generally, particularly those of us who want to keep guns out of our communities, and view guns as a proxy for their own sense of diminished masculinity. The fact that we have husbands who are successful, love their families, and don't need to own weapons to be happy seems to bother them even more. They hold themselves out as patriots defending the Constitution, but few have any real understanding of how the Constitution has been understood or interpreted. Relatively few live in the communities they want to tear apart.

Wow, painting with pretty broad brushes there. I'm successful, I live in McLean, advanced degrees, love my family, and I own three guns and hundreds of rounds of ammo. No I don't need to own guns to be happy, but I am also happy owning them. Yes, I have a friend who just shakes his head at dinner parties at my house when the gun owning guests gather around and look over my pieces. To each their own, differences in opinions is what creates a balanced atmosphere. With regards to tearing apart the community, my neighbors are more concerned about the height of my grass in the summer than whether I own guns.

If you feel that your interpretation and understanding of the constitution is better than the justices who sit on the supreme court, I think the DC government would very much appreciate your help in reinstating their ban on handguns. Don't delay, they are waiting for your call.

[Anonymous]

are there studies that show any difference

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Arlington and hadn't heard about this issue until a birthday party this weekend with some McLean parents. Does FFX County have any sort of ordinance limiting the distance between a gun and an elementary school? I believe some jurisdictions state that you can't have a firearm within a 1,000 feet of a school. Penalties for drug possession and sales increase if they are found inside that radius as well, in many places.

I am a McLean gun owner. I know about the laws regulating personal ownership of a gun but not a business. I believe NOVA Firearms likely knows the law regulating their business as a gun store, since it is a such heavily regulated industry.

Federal law does prohibit gun possession within a radius of a school, but it does not apply to private residences and businesses that are not on school grounds or property.

[Anonymous]

Can someone describe the location aside from its proximity to a school? With Cherrydale, it was on the edge of a residential neighborhood. Is that also the case here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does NOVA Firearms want to move from their Elm Street location?

I found out they moved because their business was booming at the Elm Street site and they needed a larger space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone describe the location aside from its proximity to a school? With Cherrydale, it was on the edge of a residential neighborhood. Is that also the case here?

Main street of McLean. The school is in a residential neighborhood, so the store backs to that neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bringing us full circle to one of the original posts: it's Cherrydale all over again. Some of the pro-gun store supporters were fantasizing about the opponents being the victims of home invasions etc. really gross stuff.

Yes, the pro-gun crowd is very ugly and exceedingly uncivil. We saw that in Cherrydale and we are seeing it all over again in McLean.

You would have to conclude that many of them feel threatened by women generally, particularly those of us who want to keep guns out of our communities, and view guns as a proxy for their own sense of diminished masculinity. The fact that we have husbands who are successful, love their families, and don't need to own weapons to be happy seems to bother them even more. They hold themselves out as patriots defending the Constitution, but few have any real understanding of how the Constitution has been understood or interpreted. Relatively few live in the communities they want to tear apart.

Wow, painting with pretty broad brushes there. I'm successful, I live in McLean, advanced degrees, love my family, and I own three guns and hundreds of rounds of ammo. No I don't need to own guns to be happy, but I am also happy owning them. Yes, I have a friend who just shakes his head at dinner parties at my house when the gun owning guests gather around and look over my pieces. To each their own, differences in opinions is what creates a balanced atmosphere. With regards to tearing apart the community, my neighbors are more concerned about the height of my grass in the summer than whether I own guns.

If you feel that your interpretation and understanding of the constitution is better than the justices who sit on the supreme court, I think the DC government would very much appreciate your help in reinstating their ban on handguns. Don't delay, they are waiting for your call.

Well said, PP. I was almost going to ignore Ms Cherrydale, aka Ms Vicky obviously. Her photos, address, phone numbers, and 9 bathrooms are plastered all over that other website now. Apparently she believed that threatening the business and property owners would have no consequences. Moreover, she encouraged people to harass these law-abiding citizens at their homes. She ignored the fact that business concerns go to your business, not where you have a right to expect peace and safety, after a long day's work of serving the McLean community. McLean Auto Service is one of the most outstanding business models in McLean. They've earned the top-notch reputation they have. I don't believe anyone can dispute that fact. Of course anyone is free to shop where they want. Anyone.

It appears Ms Vicky has cooked her goose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone describe the location aside from its proximity to a school? With Cherrydale, it was on the edge of a residential neighborhood. Is that also the case here?

Google street view is great for this sort of thing:

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.9353734,-77.1760482,3a,75y,115.34h,85.54t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sDISbm5csUfis3EXjpwgskQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

It's on one of the main roads through the center of McLean.

[Anonymous]

It is very sad that the landlord lives just a couple of blocks away from where one of those "responsible" Republican gun owners murdered his son and then turned the gun on himself a few years ago. We need fewer guns and fewer gun stores in this country, not gun stores next to elementary schools.