Retired police officer seeks permit for gun store, shooting range
PATASKALA -- A sporting goods store specializing in firearms and firearm training could be coming to town.
A former Pataskala Police officer recently submitted plans for the store, The Bullet Ranch, to the city's zoning department.
Per the plans, the store would sell firearms, including pistols, shotguns and muzzle loaders, in addition to bows, ammunition, hunting and fishing licenses and firearm and bow accessories and gear.
The store also would have a classroom for firearm training and an indoor shooting range.
Steve Garavuso wants to build the store on the south side of Broad Street, on a vacant lot just east of Centennial Park Harley-Davidson.
The lot is zoned for general business, a category that allows stores selling firearms. However, Garavuso has asked the Pataskala Board of Zoning Appeals for a conditional use permit for the shooting range. The BZA intends to consider the request when it meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Without the conditional use permit, Garavuso does not intend to build the store. With the permit, he plans to move forward and employ six people.
"As business grows, I certainly plan and hope to hire some additional employees," he said.
Garavuso, who retired in 2009 after working for 14 years with the Pataskala Police Department, said he always dreamed of opening his own firearms store and training center in Pataskala.
"This is where I want to put it. I've got my family, my brother's family here. I'm very invested in the community," said Garavuso, who served as a firearms instructor with the police department.
The plans Garavuso submitted to the city call for the use of specific materials inside the range.
Heavy-duty 10-gauge steel bullet traps would prevent bullets from exiting the facility, and acoustic panels would silence the shooting.
Garavuso, meanwhile, said the store would offer a variety of training, including concealed-carry-permit classes and one-on-one training for particular firearms. Customers interested in trying out firearms before buying them also would have that opportunity, via firearm rentals.
"Everything someone buys in my store I'd want to make sure they know how to use it properly and securely," Garavuso said.
He added his store would fill a void in the area.
"There's nothing around Pataskala like this," Garavuso said. "There's (an indoor) range up in new Albany and (an indoor) range down in Lancaster.
Chad Klimack can be reached at (740) 927-3738 or cklimack@nncogannett.com.
Retired police officer seeks permit for gun store, shooting range
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