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Mounds View City Council February 26, 2018 Regular Meeting Page 3 and should not be squandered on a gun shop and gun range. She commented on how property values surrounding the gun range would decrease and noted how this would impact adjacent homeowners. For this reason, she recommended the Council not pursue the gun shop/gun range and suggested the City Council not bring a nationally divisive issue into this community. She recommended the Council not abandon their previous vision for this property. She believed that together the City could do better. Jerry Schwartz, 5079 Eastwood Road, stated he was a 1st and 2nd Amendment supporter. He commented if residents gave up their 2nd Amendment right, the 1st Amendment right would follow. He discussed a news article that was put out by Pat Kessler with WCCO stating 36% of Minnesotan’s own a gun. He reported in 2017, Ramsey County completed 683,544 background checks and gave out 473 permits to buy. He stated there were 94,382 hand guns sold and 125,000 long guns. He commented Minnesota now had 283,188 individuals with a permit to carry. He explained the proposed gun range would have self-defense classes and permit to carry classes. He was of the opinion that the signs being waived tonight were similar to protesters that did not know what they were doing. Laurel Halverson Bernard, 2504 Ridge Lane, stated she lived just a few blocks from the proposed development and noted she had four children. She explained one of her children was in college, one had a traumatic brain injury and two attended Edgewood Middle School. She stated she is opposed to having a gun shop and gun range in her neighborhood. She indicated she was not opposed to people owning guns or how to use a gun but did not want a gun range in her neighborhood. She explained she grew up near a gun range, out in the country, which was a very different situation. She feared how her neighborhood and her children would be impacted if a gun range were located on the Crossroad Pointe property. She encouraged the Council to remember why people live in Mounds View, because it was family friendly and had beautiful, safe schools. She stated she wanted her kids and her neighbor’s kids to remain safe. Russ Warren, 8044 Greenwood Drive, stated the Council was amending City Code in order to facilitate a gun range with a developer. He believed the Council was acting on behalf of the developer and not the citizens. He understood the developer was proposing a $40 million project and noted the net impact on him would be $3 per month. He stated he did not want Mounds View to be known simply as the City with The Mermaid or the gun club. He requested the Council deny the Ordinance amendment or table it to another time. Scott Schrader, 2566 Hillview, stated he and his wife came to Mounds View by accident and moved into the community because of its parks and friendliness. He explained the proposed location for the gun club/gun range was all wrong due to its close proximity to a school. In addition, he did not anticipate the retirees living at Bel Ray wanted to spend the rest of their days adjacent to a gun range. He encouraged the Council to not turn the community into “that place” where people did not want to live. He suggested another location be considered for the gun range, perhaps in a business or industrial park. He recommended Crossroad Pointe be considered for other development, such as apartments and retail, noting this was a prime location along the Mounds View Boulevard corridor.