STEFANIE DAZIO and DON THOMPSON
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — For the second time this week, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has ordered gun shops to close, a move that challenges the county legal counsel's finding that the stores are essential businesses that should remain open during the coronavirus crisis.
Los Angeles County, the nation's most populous with 10 million residents, enacted a stay-at-home order last week that required all nonessential businesses to close to slow the spread of the virus.
On Tuesday, Villanueva ordered the shops closed. Panic-buying that produced long lines at the shops was worrisome from a public safety standpoint, he said.
Soon after that, the county counsel and the health department said the shops are among those considered essenti
