{"id":212088,"date":"2026-06-06T01:28:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T01:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/212088\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T01:28:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T01:28:18","slug":"lower-merion-pa-restricts-gun-sales-in-township","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/212088\/","title":{"rendered":"Lower Merion, Pa. restricts gun sales in township"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Got a question about life in Philly\u2019s suburbs? Our suburban reporters want to hear from you! <a href=\"#Section1\">Ask us a question or send an idea for a story you think we should cover.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p>Lower Merion has passed a <a href=\"https:\/\/lowermerion.novusagenda.com\/Agendapublic\/CoverSheet.aspx?ItemID=6136&amp;MeetingID=1141\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">historic ordinance<\/a> that limits where guns can be sold in the township.\n<\/p>\n<p>The board of commissioners on Wednesday voted unanimously in favor of the ordinance \u2014 which many called a small step in the right direction to prevent gun violence \u2014 especially amid the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2023\/03\/29\/1166651590\/nashville-school-shootings-gun-violence-children-cause-death-2023\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">slew of school shootings<\/a> across the United States.\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing is being shut down or being precluded, it\u2019s just saying, \u2018This is the wrong location to do it,\u2019\u2019\u2019 said commissioner Dan Bernheim. If it \u201cmoves the needle ever so slightly \u2026 that\u2019s the right thing to do.\u201d\n  <\/p>\n<p>The township is using zoning code to restrict firearms sales. Starting now, firearms businesses cannot operate as home occupations and can only exist in four parts of the township, all commercial areas. They also cannot sit within 1,000 feet of public schools and must follow new safety regulations.\n<\/p>\n<p>Commissioner Sean Whalen likened the ordinance to hitting a single. \u201cSingles win ball games. If we start hitting singles and hitting a lot of them, maybe we can take a bite out of this.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>Community members waited hours to speak during public comment. All but one person supported the regulations. The meeting room erupted in applause after the commissioners voted.\n<\/p>\n<p>Bala Cynwyd resident Joe Oxman said it was \u201cdemocracy at work.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt just goes to show \u2026 that even at the municipal level, people have a voice,\u201d Oxman said.<br \/>\n<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-598616\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/04-19-2023-k-paynter-joe-oxman-public-comment-board-township-lower-merion-comissioners-meeting_-1024.jpeg\" alt=\"Joe Oxman speaks to the board of commissioners from a podium.\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\"  \/>Joe Oxman, who helped write the ordinance to limit the sale of firearms in Lower Merion Township, spoke to commissioners at their Board meeting on April 19, 2023. (Kimberly Paynter\/WHYY)\n<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mainlinemedianews.com\/2022\/07\/25\/new-gun-debate-takes-center-stage-at-lower-merion-boc-meeting\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">fight for sales regulation ignited<\/a> last year when a firearms business, Shot Tec, opened close to Oxman\u2019s home in Bala Cynwyd near multiple schools, including Cynwyd Elementary School and Bala Cynwyd Middle School. Residents <a href=\"https:\/\/www.change.org\/p\/stop-firearms-sales-in-bala-cynwyd?source_location=search\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">started a petition<\/a> requesting the township close the business, which gathered more than 3,000 signatures.\n        <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Got a question about life in Philly\u2019s suburbs? Our suburban reporters want to hear from you! Ask us&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212089,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[12472,93006,183,185,184,186,1798,200],"class_list":["post-212088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lower-merion","tag-gun-control","tag-gun-control-debate","tag-lower-merion","tag-lower-merion-headlines","tag-lower-merion-news","tag-lower-merion-township","tag-montco","tag-montgomery-county"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}