LYNN — Littleton gun dealer Cory Daigle withdrew his petition to open a gun shop and manufacturing facility in Lynn due to “local opposition.”
On Friday morning Daigle, a Federal Firearm Licensee (FFL) who owns Littleton gun shop Steelworks Defense Solutions, withdrew his petition to open a gun sale and manufacturing facility at 210-218 Blossom St through an email sent to various City Hall employees.
“(I am) requesting to pull back (a) variance request based on local opposition and pushback/hostility from local people,” Daigle wrote.
Daigle was going to present his request for variance to the Zoning Board of Appeals Tuesday, Feb. 21, but was hit with opposition from local officials due to the type of business he proposed and the fact that he currently faces federal firearm charges.
The FFL holder faces federal charges for possessing a machine gun and for allegedly knowingly selling firearms to a “straw buyer” who purchased Glock handguns for an underage individual.
The guns were found after the underage man, 20-year-old Gustavo Rodriguez, was involved in a Hyde Park shooting in November 2022 that injured three people. A federal investigation led to Daigle’s arrest for conspiracy to make false statements with respect to the acquisition of a firearm and possession of a machine gun on Jan. 19.
Daigle allegedly sold the guns to 21-year-old Shakim Grant of Boston knowing that they were intended for someone else, U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins said.
In an interview Friday afternoon, Daigle denied having any suspicion that Grant would give the firearms to an underage individual. He said that Grant had a license to carry a firearm, filled out paperwork dictating that the gun was for him, and passed a background check.
“At the end of the day, I did a legal transfer for a legal person who legally passed his background check, and he chose to do the wrong thing,” Daigle said.
A variety of community leaders and city government officials objected to Daigle’s petition. City Councilor and Stop the Violence Lynn founder Fred Hogan wrote a letter of objection to the Zoning Board and planned to speak in opposition at the meeting Tuesday.
Additionally, Mayor Jared Nicholson said Tuesday that the proposal did not align with Lynn’s vision for growth.
“The City of Lynn needs growth, but we need growth that is in line with our values,” Nicholson said. “This proposal does not fit that criteria and does not belong in our community.”
Executive Director of the city’s Economic Development and Industrial Corporation Jim Cowdell also wrote a letter of opposition, arguing that Daigle’s charges brought his character into question.
“With the recent arrest of the petitioner, we are opposed, as this brings the character into question,” Cowdell said Tuesday. “To sell guns, there can not be any issues surrounding the integrity of the person selling these weapons. Until these charges are cleared up, I don’t see how the city could ever consider granting the request.”
Daigle chalked the city’s opposition up to the fact that he applied for a variance to manufacture guns. He said that the city was prepared to issue him a retail license until he brought up manufacturing.
“I started this in January or late December and they said ‘You have to pay us our licensing fee to see what you currently have for zoning’” Daigle said. “I did that and they came back and said ‘Okay, you’re on the waterfront, and we’ll approve you for a retail location.’”
Zoning Board members could not be reached immediately to confirm or deny Daigle’s comments. However, the lot’s property manager, Ed Schatz, said that Daigle was deceptive about his intentions with the unit.
Schatz said that Daigle presented himself as a firearm repair man who, as a hobby, liked working with gun parts.
“We were misled by a longshot on what this person was planning to do there,” Schatz said. “He gave us the impression that he was dismantling firearms as a hobby. He didn’t say anything about selling them.”
Daigle commented that he does not want to create any problems in the community.
“I will gladly quietly move on,” Daigle said. “I’m not going to make an issue of it. I’m not going to start problems. I don’t want to start problems. I want to just do what I was doing as a legal person.”
Hogan said that he was pleased to hear about Daigle’s petition withdrawal. He said neither he nor his constituents wanted a gun shop in Ward 6, which he represents.
“Ward 6 was 100 percent against this,” Hogan said. “A lot of my constituents reached out to me. They didn’t want it in their ward, and, as a ward councilor, I didn’t want that either. It’s a win for the City of Lynn and a win for Ward 6.”
