After a lengthy discussion at its Monday night meeting, the Safety Harbor City Commission voted unanimously to approve a conditional use application for retail sales for Safety Harbor Firearms.
The company, which has been in business for more than 30 years, is mostly a manufacturer of firearm accessories, but does have a small retail operation selling those accesories and acting a transfer agent for the sale of fireams. City staff learned of the retail use of the business, located at 985 Harbor Lake Dr. in the city's industrial zone, by the Bureau of Alcohol Toboccao and Firearms.
Commissioners, notably Vice Mayor Andy Steingold, had concerns about the conditional use, but City Attorney Isabella Sobel told Commission that the firearms industry is heavily regulated by federal and state agencies and also heavily "pre-exempted" by the state Legislature, meaning cities have little room to regulate them differently from other retail establishments.
Photo credit - City of Safety Harbor City Commission agenda materials