After Lewiston Shooting, Sudbury Gun Shop Ban Debate Renewed

SUDBURY, MA — The debate over a potential zoning bylaw outlawing gun shops and firing ranges in Sudbury is being pushed back into the fore in the wake of the massing shooting in Lewiston, Maine, that left 18 people dead last week.

On Monday, the Sudbury Democratic Town Committee reiterated its support for the bylaw. The committee had voted at its September meeting to support the bylaw, but restated its position in a news release this week.

The proposal to ban gun shops was first sent to Town Meeting in the spring following a citizen petition. Resident Frank Riepe sought the ban due to the discovery of a sort-of shopping mall for guns in a Littleton mill. Town Meeting members voted the measure down, sending it to the Select Board for further deliberation.

The Select Board last discussed the bylaw at the Sept. 26 meeting, where members reviewed a draft of a proposed zoning bylaw. The members also talked about holding a public forum on the gun bylaw in November, but ultimately did not set a date.

The Sudbury Democratic Town Committee voted to back the zoning bylaw on Sept. 13 while citing the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision in the Second Amendment case Teixeira v. County of Alameda. John Texeira wanted to open a gun store in the California county, but ran into trouble due to a local law banning gun stores within 500 feet of residential zones, schools and daycare centers. The court held in a 2017 that the law wasn't necessarily unconstitutional because there were plenty of gun stores around for would-be buyers.

Sudbury Democrats argue that towns like Framingham, Natick and Hudson all provide plenty of outlets to buy or shoot guns.

"The Sudbury Democratic Town Committee believes that the town has and should exercise its right to ban gun shops and firearm facilities altogether in town. Under the language of Teixeira, such an action would not “meaningfully constrain” the rights of gun buyers or gun owners since there are gun shops in at least four adjacent cities and towns and there is a firing range in neighboring Maynard," the committee said in a statement this week.

Although the Sudbury Democratic Town Committee did not mention Lewiston in its statement, the mass shooting has renewed calls for strengthening gun laws. Shooter Robert Card had a history of mental health problems, and his peers in the Army and family members warned police they feared he might snap and go on a shooting spree. Card already had access to a cache of guns, according to reports.

Before Lewiston, the state Legislature began debate on a new gun law. The bill would ban guns in places like schools and government buildings, make it illegal to carry a gun while intoxicated and would attempt to reign-in the use of "ghost guns."