While we are all experiencing our own personal groundhog day with “shelter in place” orders from coast to coast, there's been huge movement when it comes to the gun industry being declared as an “essential business.”
Gun Owners of California (GOC) and Gun Owners of America (GOA) jumped into the fray immediately once gun stores were threatened with closure across the country, and made an official request of the Trump administration to clarify federal policy. Shortly after GOC and GOA sent a letter to the administration urging inclusion of the firearms industry as part of the Essential Critical Infrastructure, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) revised its guidelines.
The guidance now specifically includes “[w]orkers supporting the operation of firearm or ammunition product manufacturers, retailers, importers, distributors, and shooting ranges” as part of the Essential Critical Infrastructure.
As this federal designation supersedes mandates to close gun stores from individual states, GOC has sent a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom, noting CISA’s amended guidance that designates the firearms industry as essential. Newsom's executive order had left the authority to close gun stores to local law enforcement agencies and further indicated he would follow recommendations from CISA. READ the letter to Governor Newsom HERE.
