The Culver City City Council approved the purchase of a decades-old gun business in an effort to prevent another gun shop from taking its spot.
The current owners of Martin B. Retting, Inc. on Washington Boulevard have decided to retire and sell the property, in which Culver City offered the highest bid.
“It was an opportunity that presented itself to us in after doing the analysis through it, talking with the community, having those conversations,” said Dustin Klemann, the city’s public information manager. “This is what we decided to move forward on as a community.”
In 2005, Culver City enacted a ban to prevent new gun shops from opening within 1,000 feet of a school. Retting sits 800 feet from La Ballona Elementary but was allowed to remain because it’s been in the same location under the same family ownership since 1958.
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The store could transfer those rights to a new owner so to prevent that, the city purchased the building to the tune of $6.5 million.
“We do have city staff who looked at it. They analyzed it,” Klemann said. “They did understand that it was more on the higher end but when it came to that opportunity being available to us, it was that was where the unanimous portion came in and we found that this was the right time.”
Culver 878, a gun safety group that helped spearhead the effort, said it’s relieved the city acquired the shop.
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“We know that this doesn't eliminate every risk of gun violence, but it does eliminate some of them have not having a store in a school zone,” said Megan Oddsen of Culver 878.
“There is the kind of psychological impact that I think it has on so many of our kids and families that walk past the store every day, especially in the wake of mass shootings,” said Megan Oddsen of Culver 878.
Most who attended the council meeting spoke in favor of the purchase, but some disagreed on certain parts of the plan.
“I work for the school district and safety is a top concern for me, but purchasing this property is not going to solve that problem,” one speaker said in the meeting.
Another speaker addressed the funds used to make the purchase.
“I do have to say that I do have concerns with the amount of money that would be spent to buy the gun store, especially if we don’t have any current plans for what we’re going to do with it,” they said.
The store has been a community staple — known for carrying rare firearms dating back to the Civil War era. Once the sale is final, Culver City residents will decide what to do with it.
“The great thing about City of Culver City is that its residents are outspoken, and they make their voice heard and they'll get to do it again,” Klemann said. “When it comes to making sure what this building turns into next.”
