Harassment In Fort Worth
— Discount ammo retailer slapped with bogus “violation”

Gun Owners of America E-Mail/FAX Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408

http://www.gunowners.org

December 8, 1999

Dear Texas Friends of the Second Amendment,

The Second Amendment is under attack in Fort Worth.

The attack is not coming from Handgun Control, Inc. or Sen. Charles
Schumer. Amazingly, it is coming from Chief Paul Rider, the
Assistant Fire Marshal.

He is trying to shut down one of the country’s biggest discount ammo
and firearms accessories dealers, Cheaper Than Dirt, by abusing the
fire safety code.

He is claiming that the fire code prohibits the storage of more than
100,000 rounds of ammunition under one roof. Cheaper Than Dirt
ships 250,000 rounds– per day!

Chief Rider has chosen to ignore his own code in this outrageous
harassment of the company. The code contains a number of exceptions
to the section on explosives that Chief Rider is claiming as his
authority. Exception 4 reads: “The possession, transportation,
storage and use of small arms ammunition when packaged in accordance
with DOT packaging requirements.”

Chief Rider has apparently decided that only Cheaper Than Dirt
represents a fire hazard, but not, for example, the gun show housed
in a city owned facility December 4 and 5 that had about 500,000
rounds of ammunition under one roof.

Please find contact info for city officials below and register your
protest. Ask that Chief Rider be fired for so blatantly ignoring
the law about which he is supposed to be knowledgeable. Ask what is
going to be done about this outrage.

Then, please let Michael Tenney, the head of Cheaper Than Dirt, know
what you are hearing. His phone is 1-817-625-7557;
[email protected] is a general CTD e-mail address.

Why should city officials in Fort Worth pay attention to you if you
live elsewhere in Texas? Because any community greatly benefits
from money spent in their town by those who are travelling through.
Money that could just as easily be spent in another jurisdiction.
And many of you are Cheaper Than Dirt customers, helping to swell
the local tax coffers by contributing to their business success.

Please help a true pro-gun business fight this unfounded attack on
their lawful enterprise.

Sincerely,

Larry Pratt
Executive Director

P.S. Please get others to add their voices, too.

Fort Worth contact information:

Fire Chief Larry McMillen
City of Fort Worth Fire Department
1000 Throckmorton Street
Fort Worth, Tx 76102

Chief Paul H. Rider
Assistant Fire Marshal
City of Fort Worth Fire Department
1000 Throckmorton Street
Fort Worth, Tx 76102

Bob Terrell
City Manager
City of Fort Worth
1000 Throckmorton St.
Fort Worth, Tx 76102

Mayor Kenneth Barr, Email:
[email protected]

District 2 Mayor Pro tem Jim Lane, Email:
[email protected]

District 3 Councilmember Chuck Silcox, Email:
[email protected]

District 4 Councilmember Becky Haskin, Email:
[email protected]

District 5 Councilmember Frank Moss, Email:
[email protected]

District 6 Councilmember Clyde Picht, Email:
[email protected]

District 7 Councilmember Jeff Wentworth, Email:
[email protected]

District 8 Councilmember Ralph McCloud, Email:
District [email protected]

District 9 Councilmember Wendy Davis, Email:
[email protected]

City Hall of Fort Worth
1000 Throckmorton Street
Fort Worth, Texas 76102
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