Over the past few years, I've covered zoning fights over gun stores in liberal enclaves like Newton, Massachusetts, Imperial Beach, California, and Wayne, New Jersey, but this isn't just a blue-state phenomenon.
Deep in the heart of Texas, one couple learned this fact the hard way when they tried to open up a gun shop in the village of Salado, a community of about 2,000 people not far from Fort Hood. I wouldn't think that a small Texas town would put up any roadblocks to get in the way of exercising our Second Amendment rights, but I was just as surprised as Tawyna and William Dankert to learn about an ordinance that blocked them from moving forward with their plans.
"We've always had a passion for firearms… and we wanted to bring that to the community, so we just went for it," Tawyna said.
After signing the lease, the Dankerts discovered a local ordinance banning gun stores in the area.
"I had no idea we were blindsided for sure that there was some ordinance out there that we had no idea existed," Tawyna said.
According to KDH News, Salado put its ordinance in place in 2023, and it apparently flew under the radar of the media and many residents. It doesn't help that the online version of the village zoning ordinance didn't include the 2023 amendment, so the Dankerts would have had no way of knowing that the ordinance even existed.
KDH News reports that the Dankerts sought both a variance and an amendment to the ordinance, while local television station KXXV reported the couple learned of a state law that prohibits using zoning ordinances to bar gun shops from opening and operating. The village administrator says the law was adopted in 2018, so Salado's ordinance would have been invalid from the get-go.
that language is pretty clear, KXXV-TV reports that it took "weeks of meetings and public discussions" before village officials voted unanimously to bring its zoning ordinance in compliance with state law and allow the Dankerts to open up The Ammo Can in the near future.
"In full transparency, I almost started crying… it was complete excitement," Tawyna said.
With a certificate of occupancy in hand, the Dankerts say the community has rallied behind them, including other local business owners.
"Everyone knows everybody, and so everyone is wanting success for the other individuals, they want other people to shine, and I think that everyone rallying behind Will and Tanya is just showing that they're the people for it," Slade Luster, owner of McCain's Bakery & Cafe, said.
Oddly, none of the local news reports on the Dankerts' trials and tribulations offer any explanation about why Salado aldermen voted to prohibit gun shops in the historic downtown business district just a few years ago, even though some of the officials who voted to change the ordinance were also on the village board when the gun store ban was adopted.
Salado isn't the first town to run afoul of this state law either. Back in 2019, San Antonio officials proposed a ban on gun shops located within 1,000 feet of any school or church, as well as limiting new gun shops to only the areas zoned as high-density commercial areas.
In a letter to Attorney General Ken Paxton, State Senator Donna Campbell also noted that Galveston had an ordinance in place prohibiting all "gun shops" from operating within 200 feet from schools, public parks, or places of worship. She noted another ordinance that appeared to "prohibit the development of gun ranges-but only gun ranges,' based on noise limitations.
It's quite possible that there are other communities in Texas that still have ordinances in place that conflict with state law. As we discussed with Florida Carry's Sean Caranna on Bearing Arms Cam & Company this week, Florida's preemption law has been in place for decades, but the group still recently discovered 15 cities, towns, and counties with ordinances that violate the law.
If that's the case in Florida, these violations could just as easily be happening in Texas too.
Every state in the Union should have similar prohibitions on political subdivisions using zoning laws to block gun stores from opening and operating. I know that won't happen in Democrat-controlled cities unless a court orders it, but state-level 2A groups should take a close look at the preemption language where they're located and push to strengthen and amend the law if necessary. Our right to keep and bear arms includes the right to acquire them, and local laws that prevent gun shops from operating inside the city limits are an infringement on that fundamental right.
