San Francisco's last gun store to become cannabis club

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - The last gun store in San Francisco, High Bridge Arms, closed its doors last fall. Now it will likely reopen as a cannabis club.

It is located along busy Mission Street near Valencia in the Bernal Heights neighborhood.

The gun store was in business for more than six decades.
Now, it appears the store will open again, with the same name. But this time, it will be selling cannabis, not guns.

"It's cool. The space is fantastic," said Sean Killen, the director of the planned High Bridge Cannabis Club.

The store is nestled among bars and restaurants.

Inside, the 1,000 square foot space is under construction.

"Some lounge seating right there another retail in the corner right there," said Killen as he showed KTVU what the new store will look like inside.

The new operator of High Bridge has high hopes for the new cannabis club.

"It seems very San Francisco. It seems like one of those things that for us, it seems like it was one of those things that was supposed to happen the way it did, "said Killen.

The new High Bridge will replace the Bernal Heights Collective just up the street.

That club has been in business ten years but faces eviction next month.
"It's a neighborhood place. It will be a good addition to the community. It is a sign of the times, yeah," said Patricia Tumas who works in the area.

The former manager of High Bridge, the gun store, says it was forced to closed after 64 years, when regulations such as requiring the shop to videotape guns sales made it difficult to continue to operate.

One neighbor says the gun store is needed not a cannabis club.
　
"Take a shop that was good for the neighborhood for those of us who actually use guns and have guns. And now, we have to go all the way to San Mateo. It's just useless," said Jo Lein, who tells KTVU she's lived in the neighborhood all her life.

"There's high ceiling, plenty of ventilation," said Killen.

He said the new High Bridge will serve about 5,000 medical marijuana patients...and offer "clone" plants for those who want to cultivate their own.

"We really want it to be safe and affordable access for everybody here and hopefully it'll spread out to the rest of San Francisco," said Killen.

He says he hasn't gotten pushback from neighbors. He hopes to get city approval by next month and open in July.

If all goes as planned, the new High Bridge will have a home for at least five years, which is the length of the lease.