Application to start gun business in north Phoenix neighborhood home causing controversy

PHOENIX (AZFamily)— Residents of a north Phoenix neighborhood are unhappy after one of their neighbors applied to run a gun and ammo business out of his home.

“It’s not the right place for it,” said neighbor Michael Shetlar.

John Shaw and Ryan Zillioux want to start King Tactical, LLC, at one of their homes near 34th Street and Utopia Road. “It’s primarily going to be an online business. There will be very little actual personal contact,” said Zillioux and Shaw in a phone interview with Arizona’s Family.

The business would sell guns, ammo, and tactical gear. “I think (the owner) is a good guy. This is nothing against him it’s not personal. This is a business. He wants to set up a business, a gun business in our neighborhood,” said Shetlar.

Shaw and Zillioux say everything with the business would be regulated. “All security and safety measures are being considered. Everything will be in compliance with the ATF,” they said.

Shetlar says it’s not just what the business would sell but also what it would turn the house into. “Just the rezoning on commercial in this neighborhood really doesn’t work,” he said.

Shaw and Zillioux say the vast majority of people would buy from them online, but they would then have to pass a background check and make an appointment to pick up what they bought.

The pair add that running the business out of a home is a starting point, and they hope to move to a larger facility in the future.

“I think it comes down to a lack of knowledge. I think they think it’s going to be something that it’s not,” said Shaw and Zillioux.

Arizona’s Family reached out to the city of Phoenix for an update on the application. A city spokesperson says:

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