Baltimore County church members, parents protest new gun shop near preschool and daycare

BALTIMORE -- Church members and parents protested on Tuesday a new gun shop that opened across the street from a preschool and daycare in Baltimore County.

The protesters shared their anger with the owners of "Bmore Tacticle," on Old Eastern Avenue, in Essex.

"There are laws on the books for how close a liquor store can be to a school but clearly there's no law for how close a gun store can be to a school or a church, and that's very alarming to me," said Christopher Burnett, pastor of Historic St. Stephens AME Church. 

Those associated with St. Stephens Creative Learning Center and Daycare, which school children through third grade, said they weren't given a warning about their new gun-selling neighbors.

"That led to a lot of questions from parents and teachers that were asking me, 'Do you know there's a gun store across the street?" and I said, 'No, I had no idea," Burnett said.

"It's a safety issue"

Parents said they don't like the idea of dropping their children off near a gun shop, especially with the amount of violence in the country.

"It's a safety issue, and the proximity, it's just too close to the school and they're children," said parent Damarys Burnett.  

But Nick Blitz, owner of "Bmore Tacticle," said their shop isn't promoting gun violence or selling guns illegally. He understands their concerns but said he went through a lengthy process with the state and ATF to get up and running.

The store has been open for three weeks.

"We understand their concerns but we're not illegally selling guns to people," Blitz said. "Everyone who comes in here has to get a background check. If they don't, they don't get access to a firearm."

Pastor: No chance to respond

Pastor Burnett said the church had no say in the decision. He said church leaders didn't find out that a gun store was opening nearby until a couple of weeks ago when they saw the banner that said, "We buy and sell firearms."

"Most parents are just concerned that my child is going to be across from a gun store, period," Burnett said. "We need to figure out some kind of resolve to this because it's going to hurt our business and our ability to service children in this area."  

Burnett said he thought there would have been a public hearing for the community to give input before a gun store could open that close to a school. That's how they prevented a liquor store from opening in the same lot several years ago.

"What I wanted to make sure of is that the business and the people who patronize it know that it's not a personal thing, it's just not the right location for a business of that stature," Burnett said.

Burnett said he reached out to Baltimore County officials and was told there are no zoning laws preventing the gun store from operating at that location.