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lkd wrote:My understanding (and I'm SURE Jim will correct me if I'm wrong ...

Actually, I don't know much about the rules. They have to have defined hours, but maybe they can have five minutes a week. They are not required to advertise.

At any rate, a lot of people operate that way, and BATFE allows them to continue.

Tamie wrote:He either has hours he's open for business or he doesn't. I don't have much sympathy if he's trying to have it both ways.

Your emotions are not part of the equation.

Consider an FFL in some sparsely populated area like Montana or Alaska -- even parts of West Texas. There might be one FFL in a 100-mile radius who has only a few customers per month. It would make no sense for him to set up a storefront and sit there for eight hours a day with no customers.

- Jim

Tamie wrote:He either has hours he's open for business or he doesn't. I don't have much sympathy if he's trying to have it both ways.

Whoa, let's not judge too hastily -- we're openly speculating some things, and Andrew himself isn't on this thread, so nobody is speaking _for_ him (or his operating hours).

I think the key point here is that it appears that an HOA has passed an "after the fact" rule that he can't be in business, and that this rule is a direct affront (IMHO) on gun ownership as well, because it implies that buying/selling a firearm is a naturally unsafe act. By the HOA's reasoning, it would imply that you can't sell a gun privately from your home either.

Tamie wrote:He either has hours he's open for business or he doesn't. I don't have much sympathy if he's trying to have it both ways.

Another possibility is that, while maintaining a business, the home sales are an adjunct.

It seems like this could end up being a test case for
HOAs' powers over their homeowners.

Since many people now have home-based businesses,
this could open up many more chances to have a home
business banned "after the fact" of the homeowner
agreeing to the original rules.

HOA's could ban a lingerie business (too racy), religious
book sales (we don't like THAT flavor of religion), military
books (we don't like violence-related books), or any number
of other things that could irk one of those HOA nazis.

SIA

lkd wrote:By the HOA's reasoning, it would imply that you can't sell a gun privately from your home either.

My home is fine. I intentionally avoided HOA infected neighborhoods.

tacticool wrote:

lkd wrote:By the HOA's reasoning, it would imply that you can't sell a gun privately from your home either.

My home is fine. I intentionally avoided HOA infected neighborhoods.

+1 You couldn't pay me to live in a HOA neighborhood.

HOAs are out of control.

One of the problems with HOA's is that reasonable people don't want to run for the board or spend the time, so you're left with the power-hungry busybodies to run the association.

It's a private-property issue. Everyone who buys into an HOA neighborhood voluntarily signs up for the whole enchilada.

I wouldn't do it. I would rather be able to have a barbecue in my front yard and paint my shutters purple, and I acknowledge my neighbors' right to do the same or whatever they want short of burning tires as a hobby.

- Jim

While I respect the right of people to choose, I value living in an HOA because it stabilizes property values. I've been on both sides of the HOA fence and I see the value to both. Living in an HOA is something of a small democracy (or dictatorship, depending on who you ask, and how the covenants affect them ). I knew the "rules" of the HOA when I came in, and I voluntarily agreed to abide by them.

I think we should keep this back on-topic: Namely an HOA has apparently tried to grandfather a rule that would restrict gun ownership rights to somebody running a legal business.

lkd wrote:I think we should keep this back on-topic: Namely an HOA has apparently tried to grandfather a rule that would restrict gun ownership rights to somebody running a legal business.

There's no grandfathering. It sounds like the rule applies to everyone with no favoritism for past conditions.

flb_78 wrote:

tacticool wrote:

lkd wrote:By the HOA's reasoning, it would imply that you can't sell a gun privately from your home either.

My home is fine. I intentionally avoided HOA infected neighborhoods.

+1 You couldn't pay me to live in a HOA neighborhood.

Me too.
NOBODY tells me what I can or cannot do on my property.
JL

It's unfortunate that it seems nigh impossible to avoid HOAs when buying in newer developments. I'm not really thrilled about joining one but we didn't have much choice considering what we were looking to buy.

SQLGeek wrote:It's unfortunate that it seems nigh impossible to avoid HOAs when buying in newer developments. I'm not really thrilled about joining one but we didn't have much choice considering what we were looking to buy.

I had the same issue.

tacticool wrote:

lkd wrote:I think we should keep this back on-topic: Namely an HOA has apparently tried to grandfather a rule that would restrict gun ownership rights to somebody running a legal business.

There's no grandfathering. It sounds like the rule applies to everyone with no favoritism for past conditions.

I believe the point is that the HOA passed the rule simply to stifle the resident's business, which was legal when established.