Goleta Daycare Blamed a Gun Shop. Enrollment Data Tells Another Story.
Heather Robbins, owner of Here We Grow Early Learning Center in Goleta, California, will close her daycare in December. She spent months trying to block her neighbor, Goodland Guns, from opening in a former 7-Eleven. Owner Dan Ashton moved the shop from his Old Town Goleta location in August. Robbins blames the store for her enrollment collapse. The numbers she is pointing to do not support that claim. In mid-September, the Goleta City Council voted unanimously to impose a temporary moratorium on new gun stores while it weighs buffer-zone rules.
Key Details
The timeline matters more than the rhetoric. Here We Grow opened in January. Goodland Guns did not relocate next door until about seven months later. Here is what the public record and local reporting show:
- Licensed capacity: 39 students.
- Peak enrollment: 14 students, reached before Goodland Guns arrived, according to Noozhawk.
- Current enrollment: seven students, per Robbins.
- Goodland Guns relocation: August, into a former 7-Eleven, after leaving the Old Town Goleta storefront.
- Council action: temporary moratorium on new gun stores, passed unanimously in mid-September.
- Closing date: December.
Robbins argued the shop posed a safety hazard and created an operational burden. She also launched a Change.org petition asking local authorities to deny a gun and ammo store next to a preschool. The petition claimed the psychological impact of proximity could distress children. Robbins now says, “We don’t really notice them at all,” and frames the problem as parents’ perceived sense of safety. Ashton installed a privacy fence between his parking lot and the daycare playground. His previous Old Town location also sat beside a preschool, and no problems surfaced there. Reports say the closing center’s staff will move to Robbins’ other daycare.
Background
Gun store zoning fights have grown more common as cities respond to shop relocations and new openings. Buffer-zone rules typically set minimum distances between firearms retailers and sensitive uses such as schools, daycares, and parks. Cities often adopt moratoria while they draft those rules, which buys time without a permanent ban. Goleta sits in Santa Barbara County, and its council is now doing exactly that.
The legal backdrop is the Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022). Bruen requires the government to justify firearm regulations by pointing to historical analogues. Courts have since been sorting through which local land-use rules count as firearm regulations and which count as ordinary zoning. Preschools were not common in the 18th or 19th century, so the historical analysis for sensitive-place restrictions has drawn litigation nationwide. Ordinary zoning, however, usually gets far more deference than rules aimed at the right to keep and bear arms.
Why It Matters for Gun Owners
If you run a gun shop, or plan to open one, this case shows how quickly local politics can move. A single petition, paired with organized parent complaints, got a unanimous council vote in weeks. Shops in California and other blue-state jurisdictions face the same playbook. Before signing a lease, pull the city’s zoning code and check every nearby daycare, school, church, and park. Ask the planning department whether any moratorium or buffer proposal is pending. Know your state’s preemption rules, because some states block cities from regulating firearms directly while others leave cities more room.
If you are a customer, watch the council agenda. Buffer-zone language often gets written quietly, then adopted in a single session. Show up. Submit written comments. Tie your objections to facts and zoning standards, not to vague feelings about proximity. Document every public comment and vote, because those records become evidence if the rule is challenged.
DownRange Analysis
The Goleta story is a warning about narratives that outrun the evidence. Robbins built a case on fear of the shop. Her own enrollment figures predate the shop by months, and the licensed capacity dwarfs what she ever enrolled. A council that adopts a moratorium on the strength of that record is making a policy decision that a court would have to examine closely under Bruen. A temporary pause on new permits looks more defensible than a permanent ban, but a buffer rule written to exclude firearm retailers from entire districts would face serious challenge. Shop owners should document their compliance now, because the next fight will start with a petition, not a hearing. Gun owners who care about this issue should track the Goleta buffer-zone draft and comment early.
