livingston
20×102mm Vulcan
L.A.’s Arms Race of the Affluent
In Beverly Hills, even the purchase of a firearm comes with certain…expectations. The city’s only gun store, Beverly Hills Guns, is a “concierge service” by appointment only, for a largely affluent clientele. And business is booming.Since opening in July 2020, the store has seen upscale residents from Santa Monica to the Hollywood Hills increasingly in a panic following several high-profile smash-and-grab and violent home invasion robberies. The apparent siege has brought in a daily stream of anxious business owners and prominent actors, real estate moguls and film execs, says owner Russell Stuart. Most are arming themselves for the first time.
“This morning I sold six shotguns in about an hour to people that say, ‘I want a home defense shotgun,’” says Stuart, whose store is discreetly located in a Beverly Hills office building, with no sign on the doors, down the hall from a diamond dealer. “Everyone has a general sense of constant fear, which is very sad. We’re used to this being like Mayberry.”
On Nissel’s street in West L.A., a number of WhatsApp neighborhood watch groups have agreed to collaborate in the event of civil unrest. “They designate people to block the streets with private cars and surveil the streets,” Nissel says. Some of his most progressive colleagues are arming themselves, including many who “never held a weapon, never considered holding a weapon, but now feel like it would be irresponsible not to.”
