Anti-Gun Protest Shuts Down Arlington Heights Gun Store

Arlington Heights, IL—An anti-gun group with a goal of repealing the Second Amendment held a protest Friday in front of a Arlington Heights gun shop, forcing the business to close for the day.

The demonstration at Phil's Village Sports Center, 1731 E. Central Road, was part of the Merchants of Death protest tour by Peaceful Communities, an organization that wants to "make America safer by allowing the federal, state, and local governments to more effectively regulate who can own guns, what kind of guns they can own, and what restrictions can be placed on the use and possession of guns," according to its website.

RELATED: Anti-Gun Group Plans Protest at Sunset Foods Thursday

Several protesters arrived at the shop at around 1 p.m. Friday, June 10, and the business was open, according to an audio report of the demonstration posted on Peaceful Communities' Facebook page. 

"But when they saw there was a newspaper reporter and a TV camera there, they closed up shop, turned out the lights, but a closed sign in the window, locked the door and disappeared," the audio report stated.

Demonstrators held signs saying, "Renounce Violence, Reject Guns," the protest tour's motto, the Arlington Heights Post reports. An employee who answered the phone at Phil's would not comment on the protest, the report added. 

The store's website lists Friday business hours as noon to 7 p.m., but the Post reported that a sign on the store listed hours as noon to 5 p.m.

Friday's protest was the eighth demonstration Peaceful Communities has done around the area. In the past few months, the group has held protests at gun shops in Des Plaines, Libertyville and Zion. 

In January, the group also held a protest at Sunset Foods over that grocer's decision to allow customers with concealed carry permits to shop with their guns.   

More via the Arlington Heights Post

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