Cary bans home gun sales and more
After a Cary resident decided he wanted to get a federal license to sell firearms via the Internet from his home, village officials decided to ban that, along with a slew of other potential home-based occupations.
The village board voted Tuesday night to modify its home-based business ordinance to prohibit specific occupations such as firearms sales, hospitals, shooting ranges, fitness facilities, tanning salons, banks, kennels, vehicle sales lots, pawn shops, restaurants and adult entertainment.
Resident Greg Karnauch, a real estate broker, said that to get a federal firearms license, one’s municipality must allow home gun sales. Karnauch said at first he got the green light, but then came the ordinance amendment.
Village staffers brought the proposed text amendment to the village board for consideration, said Jacob Rife, assistant to the village administrator.
“I feel that the village is overstepping its boundaries in dictating what people can and can’t do as a home-based occupation,” Karnauch said. “They brought up the security issue, but how many people have FOID (firearms owner’s identification) cards and guns in Cary?”
In Illinois, anyone with a FOID card can sell a gun to any other FOID card holder. With a federal license, one can purchase guns from out of state and have them shipped directly, he said.
Trustee Jeffery Kraus, who voted in favor of the amendment, said there are certain businesses that just don’t belong in a residential neighborhood. “I wouldn’t want to live next door to that. It wasn’t just about gun sales,” he said.
Mayor Tom Kierna, who cast the tiebreaking vote, did not respond to a request for comment.
Trustee Karen Lukasik, who voted against the measure, said the village is going too far in banning something that would be federally regulated. “I don’t think it’s fair we’re trying to stop someone from making some money and running a business out of their home. Fox River Grove has gun dealers, Crystal Lake has gun dealers, all out of their homes.”
Last month, Cary’s zoning, planning and appeals board unanimously struck down the proposed restrictions.
“We’ve lived with the ordinance for 20 years or whatever it was, and never had problems,” ZPA member Jim Graziano said. “What (Karnauch) presented to us is that he was basically running an Internet company. It’s not like he was going to have a glass window in the front of the house with automatic weapons for sale.”
The sale of firearms is allowed in Cary with a conditional use permit in a manufacturing — though not business — zoning district. Rife said he intends to reach out to Karnauch and see if the village can assist him with any such plans.
But Karnauch said that’s the last thing on his mind.
“I will never entertain any type of business in the village of Cary, nor will I ever spend another dime in the village of Cary,” he said.