When the federal government shut down the notorious gun shop owned by James G. Colosimo in 2009, neighbors and anti-gun-violence advocates celebrated the closing of a public nuisance that for years was frequented by "straw buyers" who purchased weapons for felons who couldn't legally own a firearm.

However, a new version of the gun shop on Spring Garden Street may reopen unless residents in the West Poplar neighborhood can persuade the city Zoning Board of Adjustment to deny that use of the property. The target range behind Colosimo's was acquired by new owners who also want to sell weapons at their establishment, called the Gun Range.

The Gun Range's operators contend that there is little difference between a shooting range and a gun store. But Bryan Miller of the anti-gun-violence group Heeding God's Call sees it differently. Most important, the operators of a gun range can control how weapons are used there. That's not the case once a gun leaves the premises. Limiting where guns are legally sold could reduce the number that end up being used to commit crimes.

In fact, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence documented more than 400 crimes that it says were committed with guns purchased at Colosimo's over a seven-year period in the 2000s, including at least 10 homicides

http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20150819_Gun_shop_a_headache.html