Owner of San Francisco's last gun shop threatens to shut down if forced to videotape all sales

The owner of the last remaining gun shop in San Francisco is threatening to close his doors for good if the Board of Supervisors passes new regulations on gun sales, the SFist is reporting.

High Bridge Arms has been doing business in Bernal Heights since the mid-1950s, but general manager Steven Alcairo says they may shut down if a proposal to tighten gun sales reporting by Supervisor Mark Farrell passes.

Under Farrell's proposed regulations all gun sales would have to be videotaped and would require that all gun and ammunition buyers’ names, birthdates, addresses and driver’s license numbers be turned over to the San Francisco Police Department.

While providing police with additional information on gun purchases might make it easier to track down criminals who use guns, the management at High Bridge think it will put off customers who object to providing the same information they would have to give when pawning items at a pawn shop.

"Should this pass, we'll probably close,” Alcairo said in an interview with KPIX. “What we don’t do is voluntarily give private information to the police department. We just don’t do that. People are very private about their information.”

An unidentified employee at the gun shop echoed Alcairo's comments, saying buyers would travel out of town to fulfill their gun needs.

"Why would you shop here if you could just go to Pacifica?” the employee said. “I wouldn’t shop here.”

According to Farrell, his proposal is similar to ones contemplated in other communities, shutting down loopholes that the federal and state government refuse to address.

“What we are doing is essentially closing what amounts to a loophole between federal and state law and making sure that San Francisco continues to stay at the forefront of gun control legislation in our country," he stated while adding that his intention is not to shut down retailers.

“One of my top concerns always has been and always will be public safety. To me, that trumps all else,” he said.