Eureka Springs, Arkansas is a speck of blue in a ruby-red state, so it's not that surprising that the liberal enclave would be barren of any gun stores. The last FFL to operate a brick-and-mortar location shut its doors more than a decade ago, and when a man named Keeling Grubb applied for a conditional use permit to start selling firearms at his pawn shop in the summer of 2023, his request was quickly shot down by the city council.
Grubb launched a lawsuit, but was told by a judge in 2024 that the denial wasn't "an absolute abuse," and his only option was to re-apply for a permit he knew he wouldn't receive.
After years of frustration his attorney says relief may finally be in sight, even though the Arkansas Supreme Court recently dismissed Grubb's request for relief.
W. Whitfield Hyman says the court's decision was based on technical grounds and was dismissed without prejudice, which means he can bring the case forward again in the future. Hyman also points to concurring opinions authored by two of the state Supreme Court justices that are clearly in Grubb's favor.
In a concurring opinion, [Justice Shawn] Womack wrote there were procedural errors by the circuit court, one of which was that it hadn't conducted a de novo review as required. De novo is Latin meaning, when there is a bench trial, "the court hears the evidence anew and independently decides whether the applicant is entitled to the conditional-use permit under the governing ordinance."
"The directed verdict was possible only because the circuit court erroneously gave deference to the City's prior decision," wrote Womack.
"I join Justice Womack's concurrence," [Justice Nicholas] Bronni wrote in his concurring opinion. "But I write separately to emphasize that -- applying that analysis -- on remand, there is nothing for the circuit court to do but grant Eureka Gun and Pawn and Keeling Grubb's application for a conditional use permit. As Justice Womack correctly explains, Eureka Gun and Grubb met their burden of showing they are entitled to a conditional use permit and that Eureka Springs' decision to the contrary violated Arkansas law. So on remand, the circuit court should immediately enter a final order granting Eureka Gun's application."
As I wrote back in 2024 when the Carrol County judge first rejected Grubb's request for relief, Arkansas preemption law clearly states that "A local unit of government shall not enact any ordinance or regulation pertaining to, or regulate in any other manner, the ownership, transfer, transportation, carrying, or possession of firearms, ammunition for firearms, or components of firearms, except as otherwise provided in state or federal law."
By denying Grubb's conditional use permit, the Eureka Springs City Council is squarely regulating the transfer of firearms within the city limits, and arguably the ownership of firearms as well. I suggested at the time that the state legislature could amend the firearms preemption law to explicitly forbid communities from disallowing gun stores and providing an avenue for gun owners to seek financial sanctions against local officials who violate the preemption statute, but so far the legislature hasn't taken those steps.
The right to keep and bear arms necessarily includes the right to acquire those arms, whether its building your own or purchasing one from someone else. Banning gun stores, then, is a clear violation of our Second Amendment rights. It doesn't matter if Eureka Springs residents can drive down the road a bit and hit up the gun shop that Grubb has opened up just outside the city limits. What if Carroll County decided to yeet his conditional use permit and refuse to issue any more?
We saw something similar play out in the Boston suburbs a couple of years ago when a gun store was set to open in the small downtown business district in Newton. Outraged Karens demanded the city revoke the permit, and other nearby towns quickly started enacting ordinances of their own limiting the location of gun shops. Officials had to explain to their anti-gun constituents that an outright ban would likely be thrown out by the courts, so instead these towns adopted restrictive zoning laws that forced FFLs to operate in a handful of locations, generally located as far away as possible from other retailers.
That was bad enough, but those officials were at least smart enough to realize that prohibiting any and all gun shops from operating, as Eureka Springs is doing, would be legally untenable.
I have no doubt that Keeling Grubb will eventually be able to open up his shop inside the Eureka Springs city limits, but it's ridiculous that it will have taken years of litigation and perhaps multiple trips to the Arkansas Supreme Court before it happens. I still think the Arkansas legislature should modify the state's firearm preemption law and expressly forbid localities from enacting any ordinances regulating gun stores and lawful gun sales in any manner... and honestly, every other state a pro-2A majority in the statehouse should do the same. Almost every red state has at least one liberal bastion, and those locales shouldn't be able to impose any kind of barrier between we the people and our right to keep and bear arms.
