Gun shop inside home at center of neighborhood dispute
By Karen Morfitt
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GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colorado (KCNC) — From the street, Jason Pratt’s home in the Orchard Hills neighborhood in Greenwood Village is like any other. Take a closer look, and you’ll find it is also his business — Tomcat Tactical Firearms & Training.
“This is a reputable business. I do background checks. I follow all of the federal state and local laws, and I do this reputably,” he said.
Still, the presence alone has prompted concerns from some of his neighbors.
Jackie Kirby who lives nearby and said she learned of the shop after receiving a flyer in the mail.
“Personally, I felt affronted and afraid,” Kirby said.
She joined a push to get it removed from the neighborhood and into a more commercial area.
“It’s about a feeling of being safe, and I feel like the city needs to protect that, and the HOA needs to protect that for the residents of this neighborhood and for the city of Greenwood Village,” Kirby said.
Both those in support and against the shop being able to operate in the neighborhood took their concerns to the city council on Monday night during the public comment portion.
“Do you believe it is morally right for a gun store to exist in your neighborhood?” one neighbor asked council members.
“I don’t agree with this tactic, and I can’t be complicit and stand by and let a neighbor be bullied,” another said.
Pratt used the opportunity to defend his business.
“There’s been a lot of misstatements, and I would like to alert people to the fact that no one has come to me to find out what I’m doing,” he said.
Pratt invited CBS4 into the shop as well.
“I maintain a minimal inventory. I don’t want to have to stockpile firearms,” he said when a CBS4 crew visited his business on Tuesday.
Pratt says part of his decision to work from home was to stay small and keep costs low. He says from his perspective, the impact to the neighborhood has been minimal.
“There’s more traffic here from a house for sale than my firearms business, and proof of that is that my neighbors didn’t even know it was here until it was on Google,” he said.
Kirby says for her the concern is bigger than just the homes on her street.
“We really want to make sure that we don’t become a safe haven because our rules are too relaxed,” she said.
Those concerned neighbors presented the council with a petition calling for a ban of residential gun sales, but the topic has not been put on any official agenda.
Pratt says he has hired a lawyer.
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