Faith-based Philadelphians campaign to close gun shop, 2009.

Philadelphia gun violence had increased sharply from 2000-2010, which caused many groups and organizations to take a stance for gun law reform. James Colosimo, 77 year old owner of a highly successful gun shop on Spring Garden Street called Colosimo’s, was criticized severely after the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) rated his store one of the five worst gun stores in the country, based on sales of  guns that were eventually used in crimes.  According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, between 1989-1996, Colosimo’s sold 425 guns recovered from 10 homicides, 85 assaults, 30 robberies, and 300 additional crimes.  Despite these records, Colosimo’s provided most of the police department’s guns and equipment for 40 years.  Their location was conveniently located a few blocks north of the Police Administration Building, and a few blocks east of the Fraternal order of Police Lodge.  

To start their campaign, Heeding God’s Call (HGC), a grassroots community advocacy group campaigning to prevent gun violence, introduced a code of conduct for firearms retailers in 2008 and 2009. Because fighting to change legislation proved difficult and unrewarding, HGC changed their group’s goal to pressuring retailers to prohibit “straw” handgun purchases. Straw purchasing refers to people buying guns and then passing them on to others, including those unable to purchase a gun on their own, sometimes because of their prior convictions.

The Code of Conduct included installing video cameras at the point of sale, computerized gun trace log and alert systems, employee background checks and training, and inventory checking.  In 17 January 2009, group members went to Colosimo to ask if he would accept the code, and he refused.  They continued to hold gatherings outside his store in protest.  This action took place amidst a five day national gathering of peace gathering leading up to Martin Luther King weekend.  During this time, HGC campaigned for gun violence prevention and against Colosimo’s. During two days of civil disobedience, police arrested two people during a rally of nearly 100 people demanding that Colosimo’s accept the code. On 26 May 2009, 12 activists were arrested for trespassing and conspiracy charges during a protest in which they entered Colosimo’s and refused to leave until he accepted the Code of Conduct. When he kicked them out, they stood right outside the door.  The Philadelphia Police Department arrested them, and they spent a night in jail until arraignment. They were all found not guilty.

These accumulating events finally came together during a prayer vigil for those affected or killed by gun violence in front of Colosimo’s on 21 September 2009.  More than 300 people attended.  The following day, the US attorney for the Eastern district of Pennsylvania announced that the store’s owner, James Colosimo, had been charged in federal court for his illegal sales to straw purchasers. Colosimo’s illegal gun selling was brought to the attention of the US government when the first statistics came out, but was not pushed to the top of their “to-do” list until the campaign gained momentum. Colosimo faced maximum punishments of five years’ probation and up to $200,000 in fines.  He pleaded guilty willingly and accepted the charges.  Colosimo waived his right to a grand-jury hearing, and the charge was filed under a criminal information, meaning that the defendant planned to plead guilty. He was then barred from applying for another license to sell guns in the future, and his existing inventory was sold to other vendors.

Colosimo acknowledged his role in selling to straw buyers, but made it clear that he never meant to intentionally.  Colosimo’s attorney, Joe Canuso, as well as the U.S. District Judge Timothy Savage concluded that the criminal charge originated from bad record-keeping, and  the corporation of Colosimo’s was charged with making false statements and failing to properly maintain firearms-transaction records.  Colosimo himself was not charged, and the plea was made on behalf of the corporation. The court officially revoked his license on September 30th.  In May, after months of campaigning, Colosimo was acquitted of all charges, but the store was officially shut down.

“The campaign will be carried to other Delaware Valley gun shops and the eventual goal is to have all gun shops in the Commonwealth to adopt the Code of Conduct,” said Bryan Miller, a participant, and executive director of Ceasefire NJ.  The campaign proved an even bigger success than intended for originally. The group continued to target other stores, using this victory to motivate them.