Kent gun distributor gets green lights for residential operations

A West Main Street resident will now be allowed to distribute firearms from her home after the Kent Planning Commission granted her a conditional zoning certificate. 

West Arms FFL will operate out of Jessica West’s duplex dwelling, where she will act as a middleman between online gun dealers and their customers. West is also seeking a Federal Firearms License to carry out this business. 

As part of this business, customers buy guns online and choose to have them shipped to West instead of to a gun store. West would then conduct a background check on each customer before handing them the gun and charging them for the transaction. The background checks are done through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives database. If the customer does not pass the background check, the gun stays in West’s safe and she returns it to the store. 

“A lot of people don’t want to go to a big gun store in the public and buy a firearm,” West said during the meeting. “There’s a lot of reasons they might want to pay a smaller price and go somewhere very private. Sometimes it’s because they are city officials, judges, or maybe they are being harassed. There’s a lot of reasons people just don’t want to go to a big gun store. It’s cheaper and a lot more private.” 

West said her business is not focused on firearm sales but rather on background checks. She views her license as a way to make gun ownership safer for Ohioans. West was not seeking a permit to sell firearms, she was seeking a permit to do background checks from her home.

“I don’t know if a lot of people know this, but face-to-face firearm sales is actually legal in Ohio, privately, without a background check,” West said before the meeting. “If you’re for background checks and gun control, then you should be supporting this, because that’s what I’m doing. Otherwise, you don’t need a permit for private gun sales.” 

The motion passed 3-2 after a lengthy conversation by the commission. Throughout the discussion, they made an effort not to discuss the issue of gun ownership generally, but to instead discuss whether the request met the six standards required by law for a conditional zoning certificate. 

According to the code, the request needs to be in accordance with the general objective of the city’s land use, it needs to be designed and maintained to be in accordance with the general area, it cannot be hazardous or disturbing to future or current neighboring uses, it should not be detrimental to property in the immediate vicinity, it should be served adequately by public facilities and roads and vehicle approaches cannot interfere with traffic.

One requirement stipulates that the business must be conducted inside the place of residence, and some members of the board were concerned about people with disabilities requiring the transaction to be conducted at their cars. Others were not convinced this was an issue. 

“We would not be having this discussion if we were talking about Tupperware,” commission member Amanda Edwards said. “If there was someone who wasn’t accessible to go into the house, she would be very kind to walk the Tupperware out to the car, but being that this is a firearm in the box, I think the argument is different. I think we have building officials that will make the proper call there if this business needs any improvements.” 

In the end, commission members Jeffrey Clapper and Christopher Clevenger-Morris voted no, while Edwards and Michael Bruder voted yes. The decision came down to Peter Paino, who chuckled and, after a few seconds of deliberation, voted yes. 

West projects that she will distribute five to 15 guns a week to start. Twenty-five distributions would be the most she could see herself being able to do in a week. 

Based on the FFL guidelines, there is no cap on the number of firearms that could be in the home at a given time, and there is no timeline in which customers would have to come pick up their firearms. 

The planning commission received 83 written public comments ahead of the meeting that were not in favor of the conditional zoning certificate being granted. Some individuals sent multiple pieces of correspondence and some pieces had multiple names on them, meaning that 83 is not the exact number of people who voiced concerns. Of the concerns, there were 17 concerns about parking, 13 concerns about security, one concern about bike lanes, 26 concerns about the proximity to a school, 46 concerns about public safety in general, 68 concerns that stated opposition to firearm business in residential areas, 16 concerns about property value and 10 concerns about the type of clientele that might come into the neighborhood.  

“It is not appropriate for anyone to sell firearms in residential neighborhoods,” wrote Regina Heimann, a retired Kent City Schools teacher. “I would be worried about our neighborhood Davey Elementary School children and families.” 

Another comment, from Patrick Madonio, expressed concern that the distribution of guns from the residence would have a negative financial impact on the property he bought in the neighborhood. 

“When we purchased 773 W. Main St. in 2012 out of foreclosure and spent a considerable amount of time and money renovating the property. One of the big draws was that it was in a residential neighborhood,” Madonio wrote. “Our fear is that allowing a commercial use directly across the street will not only disrupt the tranquility of the neighborhood, but also lead to an increase in traffic of cars coming and going from across the street. We’re also very concerned that allowing such a business would have a negative financial impact on a property that we have invested so much of our own money and me to fix up for the overall betterment of the neighborhood.”

West also received these comments. When she spoke during the meeting, she attempted to address every concern. 

 “There is actually a lot of confusion from the community about this,” West said during the meeting. “And I would like to clarify before it’s voted on. First of all, the community seems to think I want to open a gun store and that’s not the case. The verbage that’s being communicated to the community that’s incorrect and misleading and I think that’s caused a lot of the letters who are opposed to this.”

During the meeting, West talked about what differentiates her business from a gun shop, stating that it does operate just like a gun shop but without all the bulk inventory and traffic, making it safer and more discrete. 

Her business would be by appointment only, Monday through Friday from 5 p.m. through 9 p.m., with maybe one or two appointments on the weekends. The only parking would be in the back of her home, with no parking in the streets or the bike lanes. 

“They will park in the back, I have two unstacked parking spaces that are my own personal visitor parking places,” West said. “So they come in my back door and they sit in the kitchen and I run the background check. And if they pass, I retrieve the gun out of my safe and I give it to them.” 

West will not sell ammunition. 

Fourteen people made public comments during the meeting, including two Kent city councilmen, the mayor and two high school students from the area. Some said their questions had already been answered either by the commission or by West herself, but many were still concerned with the idea of guns being distributed near them. 

“I think it comes down to the question about the essential character of the neighborhood and the question of “Is it detrimental to the community?” are two of the lines that I heard read,” said Eric Asp of 845 Bryce Road. “And I think, as a homeowner in the area, my guess is a lot of the emotional response, the letters you’ve gotten, it just kind of feels scary. It feels less controlled. It feels more likely to be people who would try to fly under the radar. So it feels like the kind of thing I don’t want in my neighborhood.” 

Thomas Melucchi of 774 West Main St. said his father had built the duplexes that are being discussed.

“I’m sure it wasn’t his intent to sell firearms,” Melucchi said. “I’m really familiar with that property because I’ve been mowing that lawn every since the ‘60s. Parking has always been an issue. We’ve tried to designate two parking spaces per rental. Any added traffic is just more wear and tear on what’s going on down there.” 

West plans to use her future FFL license as a way for her to put her knowledge and her passion about safe gun ownership to use. West is a concealed carry permit holder, and guns have been a hobby in her family. 

“We’re very knowledgeable about it and we’re very passionate about responsible gun possession,” West said before the meeting. “And with the industry being up 300 percent, it’s kind of a good time to use our knowledge to make some extra income.”