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Trilby Sport Shop operates as the only dedicated firearms retailer left within Toledo city limits, following the closure of Tom's Guns and Shooting Supplies in late 1997. Owner Ned Plummer manages a business that has been systematically squeezed by decades of local gun control legislation.
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Trilby Sport Shop operates as the only dedicated firearms retailer left within Toledo city limits, following the closure of Tom's Guns and Shooting Supplies in late 1997. Owner Ned Plummer manages a business that has been systematically squeezed by decades of local gun control legislation.
What makes Trilby different from shops outside the city: Toledo requires all handgun buyers to obtain a Handgun Owner's Identification Card from the city Treasury Department. The process involves:
"I can't remember the last time a card came in under 14 days," Plummer notes.
The card system, passed unanimously in 1968 after the assassinations of MLK Jr. and Robert Kennedy, checks national and local records for felony convictions and other disqualifying factors. About 2% of applicants are rejected.
Starting in 1994, the Brady Act added a second federal background check layer through the National Crime Information Center, adding another 2-5 days to the process. This means Toledo buyers now navigate:
1. Local check – covers felonies, certain alcohol/drug-related disorderly conduct, multiple violence-related misdemeanors 2. Federal Brady check – criminal background verification
Sergeant Louis Beringer, who conducts the local research, admits: "Our check is essentially the same one Brady does."
The compounding regulations have devastated gun retail in Toledo:
Many Toledo gun show sales bypass both checks entirely—individual vendors at the Maumee Valley Gun Collectors events (now held in Maumee) aren't required to verify ID cards or conduct Brady checks.
Despite the regulatory gauntlet, Plummer continues operating with:
Proponents argue Toledo's system provides protection the Brady Act doesn't:
In the most recent 12-month period, Toledo issued about 580 new ID cards and renewed 1,200—suggesting roughly 5,500 residents legally own or use handguns, though police estimated 100,000 handguns in the city in 1968.