Enfield School Board Members to Open Firearms Store

Two members of the Enfield Board of Education have partnered with a third person in a soon-to-be-opened firearms store.

Tom Sirard and Kevin Fealy, along with partner Mike Brennan, hope to have A Call to Arms ready for a Memorial Day opening.

The shop, located at 90 Enfield Street in the former Picasso's Day Spa location, has been in the works for more than two years, and is intended to be an upscale store carrying firearms, ammunition and accessories. They plan on featuring an exclusive Made In America section.  

"The idea came up about two and a half years ago, and everyone who's heard about it is excited ," Fealy said.

The threesome comes together with a variety of backgrounds. Sirard is a U.S. Navy veteran who is director of DOS Concrete Service, Fealy has 30 years of retail experience and is a certified firearms instructor, and Brennan is a skilled gunsmith.

"With the perfect trio of Tom's business experience, my retail experience and Mike's gun expertise, it was a no-brainer," Fealy said.

Sirard admitted the timing appears a bit awkward, in light of the Newtown school shootings, the recent misfortunes of a nearby gun shop in East Windsor and the controversial decision by Enfield officials to place armed guards in each public school as part of a new school security plan.

"You can follow the rules and follow the laws and unlike a lot of our competition, we're in a good spot," Sirard said.

Both school board members said they anticipate some negative reaction from residents, but hope people will take the time to get properly informed about firearms and firearm safety.

"As elected officials, the image we portray is very important to us. We're fixing it up to have an inviting atmosphere," Fealy said. "Two ladies pulled up here one night, asked what was going in and they were like "whoa!". We invited them in and had a nice chat, and by the end they were happy with our concept and didn't have an objection anymore. I'm hoping those would-be detractors will come in; we'll show them around and show them a different face to what they may think they know. Truthfully, if they want to sit in on a firearms safety course or want their children to attend, I won't even charge for children because I think it's that important."

Sirard said the trio considered nowhere else but Enfield as the location for their new store.

"We are constantly talking about bringing more business to Enfield," he said. "We know there's a market for it and a demand for it, and we're investing in our community. We're bringing an upscale business to the town, which is what the town is constantly calling for, and as elected officials, I couldn't look myself in the mirror if I started this someplace else. I'm asking other businesses to do the same thing we're doing right now."

Fealy concurred, saying, "Our involvement in the town is why we put it in Enfield; we live here, we want our roots here, we want our business here. We communicated with both administration and public safety in the town, asking how they felt about this. We want to make sure we are model citizens for the community; as elected officials, there are a lot of ramifications out there."

"This isn't your grandpa's gun store; this isn't what people picture mentally when you say 'There's a gun shop'," Fealy concluded. "I care greatly about my reputation; when people see me in the street, I want them to hold me in regard, whether they want to own a firearm or not. I want them to say, this guy stands for it and does it well. We didn't want to be the "dirty window" shop."

The store's web site, still in progress, is www.acall2arms.net.