Protesters in McLean Va say a newly relocated gun store is too close to an elementary school

Safety & Security

Residents protest McLean, Va., gun shop next to elementary (with Video)

Oct. 7, 2015

State law allows gun store at the site, but residents say it jeopardizes schoolchildren's safety

Community resistance is growing in McLean, Va., to the presence of a gun store opened next door to an elementary school.

Fox5 DC reports that the NOVA Gun Shop is adjacent to Franklin Sherman Elementary School in the Fairfax County district. Some parents are upset because they say the store puts students at an unnecessary risk; an online petition advocating closure of the store has more than 2,200 signatures.

But store owners say that they are complying with the law. Under Virginia statutes, the county does not have a right to deny the shop a permit to be in the area.

A county official concedes that there is no legal basis for forcing the store to move--federal legislation that creates gun free zones near schools provides for many exceptions--but says the store owners used poor judgment in choosing a site so close to a school.

Video from Fox5 DC: