Chicago Alderman Waylays Plans For Opening Of City’s First Gun Store

posted on January 22, 2016

Former Border Patrol Agent Christopher O’Conner had planned to open the Firearms Defense Training Center, which would have been Chicago’s first gun shop, in a River West warehouse. The center was to include a full-service gun range and shop in a 25,000-square-foot facility modeled after the Apple store. But now, after previously giving O’Conner the go-ahead, Alderman Walter Burnett Jr. has now said he won’t permit the business to open in his ward. 

Burnett said last week he was in favor of giving gun owners a safe venue for learning to shoot, but now says he was unaware the proposal included a gun store. Citing concerns about illegal gun sales, he told DNAinfo Chicago, “If that trend is going to start, it’s not going to be in my ward. I don’t feel comfortable with that.”

O’Conner, who claims the range couldn’t survive or attract new customers without the store, is now looking for an alternate location.

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