In a dramatic Tuscaloosa City Council meeting on Tuesday, lawyers for the City of Tuscaloosa and officers from the Tuscaloosa Police Department asked the city council to revoke the business license of Guns and Ammo. City officials labeled the locally owned and operated gun shop "a public nuisance and dangerous to the public safety, health, and welfare."
Guns and Ammo lawyer Josh Swords and Josh Wakefield, the store’s owner, strenuously disputed that accusations. Wakefield has owned the store on Greensboro Avenue for the last 15 years. Swords is a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor. This was his first time appearing before the council.
Each side was allotted 30 minutes to present their cases, there were council questions throughout the presentations, and then before closing remarks from each side there was public comment all in full support of the shops owner and employees.
"I think the city attorney is bringing nothing but stories, and I'm excited to present Josh Wakefield to present the facts," Swords began.
Swords countered the cities description of the threat the store posed by describing the events that brought the business before the council during the course of an investigation into a felon who sold firearms to the store: "August 7, Investigator Curvin came in, not announcing I'm coming to your business."
"[It was] the third time he's come in in 12 days. And for some reason, Mr. Wakefield's employee, Rex, who's a Navy veteran with a PTSD dog, tried to call and trespass [the officers]."
While the accusations of someone calling the Tuscaloosa Police Department about their own officers sound serious, Swords pointed out, "I think y'all saw in the video, I think Kurt [the detective] even laughed. I think Rex laughed. I think it was almost comical," Swords said.
Swords then explained to the council that, as a lawyer, he knew what Rex had done was serious, but Rex didn't.
Despite Rex's initial hesitation about the officer’s visit, they remained for about 45 minutes with the shop employees, assisting them with their investigation.
After explaining the store's side of the situation that spiriled, Swords introduced Wakefield, who had a prepared presentation including video, photographs, and other detailed documentation to defend his business and his employees and shine light onto the possible true motive behind the revocation.
Wakefield began by telling the council about his business, "We've sold over 43,000 guns. In the 18 years I've been in business.”
“Our sales in Tuscaloosa, the last 12 years, have been $8,829,215. We paid the city and county of Tuscaloosa over $240,000 in sales tax."
In his closing argument, Swords addressed the city's claim that the store presented a threat, describing what happened during and after the police executed a search warrant at the store: "The Police Department went into his business unannounced, a gun business, unannounced, and stayed three hours in that business. going through every little thing. Records, cameras, and guns. And as you heard, the city attorney and police chief say, they had to use a lot of manpower with these guns, to look for stolen ones, and how many did they find?"
"Zero, zero," Swords stressed, adding, "manpower, hours, going through guns, looking for illegal guns."
Repeating himself again, Swords stressed that there were no stolen guns, "Zero," and said, "We can only hope a business in the city of Tuscaloosa that operates in the buying and selling of guns."
As if executing an unnecessary search warrant that found no evidence of what the city claimed, taking firearms that were't related to the warrant weren't bad enough the hearing revealed an almost unheard-of situation outside of Tuscaloosa: Wakefield and Rex were arrested, Rex being arrested twice in the same day, as a result of the search warrant and “investigation,” the charges were for alleged violations of Tuscaloosa's municipal codes.
Swords, whose experience is in criminal law, explained to the council, "I know what crime is. I know what happens in apartment complexes, and bars, and behind bars, and hookah lounges, and car lots, and things like that. I know what real crime is. This isn't real crime."
Following an almost two-hour-long presentation that included a video of police officers disabling cameras at the request of the police chief and multiple instances of store staff assisting law enforcement, the council rejected the City's request, voting 4-2 to allow the store to retain its business license.
The administrative charges for both Wakefield and his employee are still outstanding, with a court date of October 20.
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