A local gun store, Nova Armory, located in Arlington, Virginia, is fighting back against protestors that want to shut the store down.
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The store opened up in a strip mall in Northern Virginia, where it became the closest licensed gun dealer to the Washington D.C area. In reaction to the grand opening, six state lawmakers have made efforts to shut down the business by writing letters to the company to cancel the lease on the store. The letter claimed that the business would be a “magnet for robbery” and it would produce a “black market” where guns would be sold for drugs and money.
Mark Levine, a local Democratic delegate in Virginia, made a direct statement on Facebook to Nova Armory by telling them “Are you ready to pay for all the funerals of all the people that your guns murder? And provide reimbursement for all wrongful deaths you cause? If not, then please, we beg you, leave Arlington.”
After multiple complaints about the store, Broadstone Security, the owner of Nova Armory, filed a civil suit against 64 individuals and claimed that these individuals conspired to bring down the company.
After the company made their contact information public, such as addresses and phone numbers, the store reports that they have received harassing emails, calls and letters that all call for the business to be closed. In an extremist effort, these complaints even went as far as sending a letter to Nova Armory’s business manager threatening the life of his daughter.
Nova says the protestors were “stalking the store with signs, parking cars covered with documents referring to horrible deaths, and attempting to coerce and intimidate tenants of the same facility.”
Nova is looking to win $2 million in damages and lost revenue due to these 64 individuals impeding in the store’s ability to run their business.
Nova asserts that the legislators overstepped their boundaries and abused their legislative power by interfering in the business. Nova attorney Daniel L. Hawes says, “That’s considered malfeasance in office which is a common law crime.”
Nova has created a petition that so far has received 2,000 signatures to fight against “the intolerant bullying by those members of the community who, for the second time, intend to interfere with lawful commerce and impede the exercise of Constitutional Rights of others.”
Do you think that these 64 individuals overstepped their boundaries when trying to protest the gun shop, Nova Armory? Let us know in the comments below!
