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Firearms retailer proposes move to Pennsauken C-1 site; committee asks about security and training
Summary
Eugene Davis told the Pennsauken Township Committee he wants to relocate his firearms retail and training business to 6233 West Point Avenue, a property in the township's C-1 zoning district. Committee members raised questions about an indoor range, on-site safety training, and security measures; no zoning decision was made at the meeting.
Eugene Davis, owner of a Pennsauken firearms retail and training business, told the Township Committee on Nov. 6 that he seeks to relocate his shop to 6233 West Point Avenue, a property in the township’s C-1 commercial zone.
Davis said the business, which he said has operated for about five years at its current Browning Road location and serves roughly 250 members, sells firearms and ammunition and provides training, including concealed‑carry safety orientations. “We retail firearms and ammunition, but we also train. We do concealed carry safety orientations,” Davis said.
The committee and Davis discussed what the proposed new space would include and what would not. Committee members asked whether the new site would include an indoor shooting range; Davis replied that it would not. He said live-fire training would take place at external ranges and that on-site instruction would use inert training pistols. “So we use training pistols…they’re laser activated pistols with a two-stage trigger,” Davis said.
Committee members pressed on security and storage. Davis described a security package that he said includes multiple interior cameras, motion sensors, exterior cameras and floodlights, and nightly storage of firearms and ammunition in bolted vaults. “Everything is stored every night. Nothing is left out in the display case…Everything’s stored in the vaults, and those are bolted to the ground,” he said.
Mayor Roberts thanked Davis for operating in Pennsauken and said she had no objection to the owner presenting his plan to the committee; other committee members also offered cautious support while noting that zoning approval and any required permits would be needed. The committee did not vote on a zoning application or take formal action at the meeting.
The proposal was introduced as a C-1 zone relocation and will require the applicant to pursue formal zoning approval. Committee members asked staff to ensure the township’s zoning and public-safety review processes apply before any change of use is approved.
Davis also described community partnerships and outreach, saying the business has worked with Rutgers University’s School of Criminal Justice and local gun‑safety organizations on training and violence‑prevention efforts.
A follow-up application to the township planning or zoning board would be the next formal step; no date or board action was set during the Nov. 6 meeting.
