Littleton mill

The Littleton mill in 2022
The Littleton mill in 2023

The Littleton mill is a building located at 410 Great Road and 450 King street in Littleton, Massachusetts.[1] It is notable as having the highest concentration of federally-licensed firearms dealers[2] (between seventy-five[3] or eighty-three vendors[4]) in one building in the entire United States.

History

Sign on the building
'An historical sketch of the town of Littleton' published in 1890 references "At the Common Village are located the factory for manufacturing elastic webs and suspenders and the apple evaporator, both owned and operated by Conant & Houghton"

The original building on the site was called the Conant Houghton Co. Building[5] and was built in 1880, and was involved in the processing of apples,[1] and later textiles.[6][7]

Firearms

The building currently has 83 firearms dealers as tenants.[8] A Boston Globe article published this fact in late 2022[9] and as a result, many residents protested,[10] having previously been unaware of the existence of so many retailers in their town.[11][12] The retailers had not had a police inspection in years.[13]

In 2023, one dealer in the mill was federally charged after guns he had sold to a straw buyer were used in a shooting.[14][15][16]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Littleton mill.
  1. ^ a b "Littleton mill building sold to Lawrence developer for $5.3M". Worcester Business Journal.
  2. ^ "Firearms dealer from controversial Littleton gun shop cluster facing federal charges". CBS News. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  3. ^ Kim, Kyle; Wahid, Raeedah; Murray, Paul. "Small Gunmakers Find State Weapons Bans Offer a Lucrative Niche". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  4. ^ Ryler, Sarah L. (February 2, 2023). "Dozens of ATF inspectors descend on gun vendors at Littleton mill following dealer's arrest". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  5. ^ "Littleton Common: Then and Now". www.littletonhistoricalsociety.org. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  6. ^ "The Stubblebine Company represents M.I.R. Associates Realty Trust and 450 King Street LLC in $5.3 million sale". nerej.com. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  7. ^ "Littleton Common: Then and Now". www.littletonhistoricalsociety.org. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  8. ^ Ryley, Sarah L. (September 24, 2022). "Littleton is in an uproar at hosting at least 80 gun dealers inside old mill building". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  9. ^ Ryley, Sarah L. (September 10, 2022). "At an old mill in Littleton, gun dealers openly defy Maura Healey's assault weapon decrees". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  10. ^ "Littleton residents outraged by gun shop cluster in old mill". CBS News. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  11. ^ "'They're not hiding': Littleton mill businesses say they're unconcerned with gun retailers, safety". Lowell Sun. 2022-10-02. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  12. ^ Sánchez-Vallejo, María Antonia (2022-10-27). "A weapons bazaar in the heart of Democratic America". EL PAÍS English. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  13. ^ Ryley, Sarah L. (February 17, 2023). "Healey administration begins training police in how to inspect gun dealers amid concern laws aren't being enforced". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  14. ^ "District of Massachusetts | Federal Firearms Licensee and Boston Man Indicted for Firearm Trafficking and Straw Purchasing Conspiracy". United States Department of Justice. 2023-03-17. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  15. ^ "Littleton gun dealer charged with selling guns — later found at a crime scene — that he knew would go to an underage man". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  16. ^ "Massachusetts is not the gun-control beacon it once was". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2024-07-10.

42°32′48″N 71°28′28″W / 42.5468°N 71.47449°W / 42.5468; -71.47449

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