Efforts to open a gun shop in the city have once again been denied by the Eureka Springs City Council — this time with little discussion.

With two votes in favor and four votes against, Keeling Grubb’s appeal seeking a Conditional Use Permit to sell guns at Eureka Gun & Pawn was denied at the council’s regular meeting Monday, July 8, at The Auditorium.

The appeal was initiated after a short-handed city planning commission, with two vacant seats, voted 3-2 in favor of issuing Grubb the CUP on June 11. According to a section of city code, four votes are necessary to issue a permit.

Council members Terry McClung and Autumn Slane voted in favor issuing the permit while Harry Meyer, Steve Holifield, David Avanzino and Susane Gruning voted against.

Meyer, the only council member who voted against the appeal who took part in the discussion, pointed to the public being against guns sales in the city as the reason for his vote.

“I’ve got nothing against the people,” Meyer said in reference to Grubb. “It’s just that my constituents, nearly all of them, asked me not to vote for this. So, I’m going by the voters’ desires.”

The only other commissioners to speak on the topic were in favor of issuing the permit.

“Mr. Keeling has met every requirement as prescribed in the ordinance for the Conditional Use Permit and there’s no reason why we should not allow it, so I concur that we need to approve it,” McClung said.

“Based on the way the law is written, and that’s what we have to go on, that’s the way it’s prescribed for us to do. We don’t have the right to be arbitrary and base it on anything other than that. Yes, it’s true that we need to appreciate and respect what our community, our constituents say and their opinions, but if the law is not the way they want it to be, they need to change the law.”

McClung and planning commission member Tom Buford, who spoke during public comments, referred to the process for obtaining a CUP according to city code.

“Whether you approve it or not is based on does it apply under the CUP,” Buford told council members. “There are 20 items. The attorney went through each one of these items and explained why the gun shop met those requirements. The city council then voted [last year on Grubb’s first attempt to obtain a CUP] and nobody on city council discussed those 20 items.

“The whole discussion was ‘well, I don’t like guns or my constituents don’t like guns.’ … Whether you approve [the gun shop] or not should be based on the CUP application.”

Grubb’s re-application came after a May 16 hearing where Carroll County Circuit Judge Scott Jackson denied an appeal from Grubb after both the planning commission and city council voted against granting a CUP.

At the conclusion of a hearing that lasted nearly four hours in the courtroom of the Carroll County Western District Courthouse in Eureka Springs, Jackson granted defense attorney Sara Monoghan’s motion for a directed verdict, saying he would not overturn the decisions of the planning commission and city council.

The complaint filed in July 2023 by Whitfield Hyman, Grubb’s attorney, had asked the court to direct the city to issue a conditional use permit. The complaint also sought compensatory and punitive damages, attorney’s fees and costs.

The planning commission was deadlocked 3-3 on the issue last year before an appeal went to city council.

“We’re not asking for a pawn license in this,” Grubbs told commissioners at the June 11 meeting when asked what was different about his application than the one that was denied last year. “We’re asking for just a license, or a permission to transfer our federal firearms license to our other store, which is here in town, so we can sell firearms out of that store.”

Since Grubb’s gun and pawn shop permit was denied last year he has continued to sell gun-related items and outdoor goods in his store located at 3022 E. Van Buren. The permit requested last year included using the location as a pawn shop, but the new permit would just be for gun sales. A location outside of city limits does include gun sales and Grubb said he also frequently travels to gun shops.

Two people spoke against the gun shop during public comments at the July 8 meeting while three letters, also opposing the CUP request, were read into the record also in opposition. One of those letters was submitted by former council member Melissa Greene, who now lives in Berryville, and cast one of the votes against Grubb’s application last year.

“It really would adversely affect property values and gives the wrong impression to our tourists coming to this town,” resident Teri Wolfenbarger said during public comments. “They’re not coming for gun shops. They’re coming for the charm of this town.”

Another resident, Shawn Fouste, who told council members he was a veteran and a gun carrier, also was against a gun shop saying that while the Second Amendment grants citizens the right to own weapons, “it’s not the right to sell them.”

“I think of Eureka and how we didn’t accept a Sonic because it’s not our vibe, it’s not our people,” Fouste said. “I can understand their frustration, but it’s we the people and maybe this just isn’t the place.”

Slane, who said she has known Grubb for a number of years, echoed comments from McClung and Buford saying she felt that all requirements that were needed to be issued a CUP have been met.

“I know our community is upset by this,” she said. “I know our community is not wanting this type of business, but in my opinion, it feels like if our community is a dog community and we have a cat person wanting to open a cat store. How is it our opinion that they can’t open up their store and fly their flag, so to speak?

“I just think we all need to look at the facts and rely more on that than our personal or our community’s opinion.”

Moments later, Slane compared the issue to a recent controversy with the city advertising and promotion commission.

“At the CAPC, we just had a town meeting and we decided that our motto was going to be ‘Free to Be.’ And I think it’s unfortunate that we are even in this situation and having this conversation again. But, I truly believe that it is Free to Be. You’re free to be who you want here in Eureka, because that’s who we are as Eurekans.”

McClung made the motion to grant the appeal. Earlier in the meeting Meyer asked if McClung should recuse himself from the vote, saying that McClung’s brother owns the building where Grubb’s business is located.

“Mr. McClung’s brother owns that building,” Meyer said. “Shouldn’t he recuse from voting on this?”

McClung responded: “I don’t own it. I don’t make any money off of it. Nothing goes into my pocket. What does that have to do with it.”

“Nepotism,” Meyer replied.

There was only a little more than four minutes of discussion by the council on the topic, all from McClung, Slane and Meyer, before the vote.

GRUBB: ‘WE WEREN’T ALLOWED TO SPEAK’ Despite Grubb and his attorney speaking a year ago during the original appeal to the council, he said he wasn’t allowed to speak during the discussions at the July 8 council meeting.

“I find it odd that we weren’t allowed to speak on the matter,” Grubb said Tuesday, July 9. “I didn’t get to speak. I asked when they started to discuss it and was told by the mayor that it was council only,” Grubb said he was also concerned that “they really didn’t even discuss [the issue].”

“They spent more time discussing closing alleys than they did my gun shop and CUP,” he said. “My other concern is they didn’t discuss anything about the business license, the 20 points that I have to prove that Mr. Buford and Autumn Slane pointed out. None of that was discussed by any of the other council members.”

Grubb said he felt that Meyer, Avanzino and Holifield should have recused themselves from the vote.

“I would have thought that Mr. Meyer, Mr. Avanzino and Mr. Holifield would’ve recused themselves, because in the trial on May 16 they all, under oath, testified that there was nowhere in Eureka they would allow a gun shop to be.

“So, I would think they’re prejudiced against gun shops at this point.”

While he said he was surprised at the lack of time spent debating the issue, Grubb said he wasn’t surprised at the vote.

“No, not surprised,” he said. “As Mrs. Slane pointed out last night, the new city slogan is ‘Free to Be,’ but it’s not ‘Free to Be.’ It’s ‘Free to Be, But Not for Me’ is what we need to put as the new city slogan.

‘Unless you’re in with the right little clique, if you’re not part of their group, you’re not ‘Free to Be’ here in town.”