Goleta Daycare Closes in December After Fighting a Gun Store
Heather Robbins, owner of Here We Grow Early Learning Center in Goleta, California, says her preschool will close its doors in December. Enrollment fell from 14 children to seven in recent months. Robbins blames Goodland Guns, which moved in August from Old Town Goleta into a vacant former 7-Eleven next door. She and some parents protested the move. Robbins argued the city should never have approved owner Dan Ashton's relocation. The store opened anyway, and the daycare is the business that is leaving.
Key Details
The facts in the reporting are specific, and they cut against the narrative Robbins pushed in public.
- Location: Goodland Guns occupies a former 7-Eleven in Goleta, California.
- Move date: The store relocated in August from Old Town Goleta.
- Owner: Dan Ashton runs Goodland Guns.
- Enrollment: Here We Grow peaked at 14 children and fell to seven.
- Closing date: Robbins says the preschool shuts down in December.
- Licensed capacity: The facility is licensed for as many as 39 students.
- Daycare opening: Here We Grow opened in January, more than six months before the gun store relocated.
- Petition: Robbins started a Change.org petition urging local authorities to deny a gun and ammo store next to her preschool.
- Neighbor record: Ashton's previous store was located next to another preschool, and reporting found no problems there.
- Mitigation: Ashton built a privacy fence between his parking lot and the daycare playground.
Robbins told reporters the store is barely noticeable. She described the problem as the feeling of safety parents lacked, not any incident involving the shop. Noozhawk's enrollment figures, cited in the coverage, are the clearest measure of the business damage.
Background
Gun retail in California runs through two gates. The state Department of Justice licenses firearms dealers, and cities control where a business can operate through zoning and permit approvals. Goleta's council approved Ashton's move from Old Town to the vacant building. That approval is the decision Robbins fought, first through public protest and then through a petition aimed at local officials.
The Supreme Court's 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen set the modern test for arms regulations. Government must point to historical tradition to justify limits on protected conduct. That case addressed carry licensing, not commercial zoning of retail stores. Courts have not handed down a clear rule on whether a neighboring preschool can block a firearms store, so the fight in Goleta played out at the city level, not in federal court.
Why It Matters for Gun Owners
This story is a warning for anyone who wants to open a gun shop in a mixed-use commercial strip. Neighbors with a strong opinion and a petition can turn a routine permit into a public fight. Expect the same tactic in California, where local councils hold broad discretion over land use, and in other blue-leaning cities where zoning hearings draw organized opposition. Owners who plan a move should document their security measures, parking changes, and neighbor outreach before the first public comment period. Ashton's privacy fence and the record of his prior location are exactly the kind of evidence that helps at a hearing. Gun owners who live near a proposed shop should also know that zoning meetings are where these decisions get made, often with few people in the room. Showing up matters more than posting online.
DownRange Analysis
Robbins's closing does not prove the gun store cost her the business. The numbers show she was struggling to fill a facility licensed for 39 students months before Goodland Guns arrived. The petition and public protests likely accelerated the fallout, and the fear she promoted made the store a convenient explanation for a weak enrollment year. Bruen will not save a retailer from a neighbor's zoning objection. Courts apply the text-and-history test to restrictions on carrying and keeping arms, not to every local land-use vote. Gun owners who want protection should press for clear state preemption of local bans on lawful retail firearms sales. Until then, the practical move is simple: show up at council meetings, support lawful dealers who follow the rules, and call out officials who approve shops only after a fight. The store is still open. The daycare is not.
