Inglewood Gun Club and Firing Range OKd : Zoning: Two council members oppose amendment to municipal code, saying it sends wrong message amid increasing violence.

Rejecting arguments that Inglewood’s high crime rate makes it unsuitable for such a business, the City Council has agreed to allow a firing range and gun club in the city.

On a 3-2 vote Tuesday, the council amended its zoning code, clearing the way for businessman Sam Kash to apply for a permit to open a firing range and gun club in a vacant building next to his Jet Car Wash on Manchester Boulevard, west of the San Diego (405) Freeway.

Until now, the zoning code prohibited firing ranges and gun clubs.

Kash said Wednesday he is already having architectural plans drawn and hopes to have the facility open by March or April. He said he plans to do approximately $200,000 in renovations to the building, which he owns. Kash has promised to allow Inglewood police officers to practice free at the range.

Opponents of the project had tried to keep the council from amending the code, saying the city should do everything in its power to discourage the use of firearms.

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Among the project’s opponents was City Councilman Curren Price, who in an emotional and strongly worded statement to the council last week cited figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control that list homicide as the leading cause of death among young black men.

Almost all the killings in Inglewood are committed with handguns, according to police, who said there have been 38 slayings this year as of Oct. 31, compared to 31 last year at the same date.

Councilwoman Judith Dunlap also voted against the gun facility. She said after the vote that allowing the project sends a mixed message about guns to the city’s young people. She said she would not vote for any measure that implied it was acceptable for young people to “carry guns through city streets.”

She said the vote to allow the gun club shows that the majority of the council is “out of touch” with the wishes of city residents.

Those supporting the firing range and gun club were Mayor Edward Vincent and council members Jose Fernandez and Garland Hardeman. Fernandez said the issue is safety. People who own guns, he said, need a place in the city where they can learn to use them.

Hardeman said Kash has promised to earmark a portion of the club’s membership fee to fund public education in gun safety. As part of that effort, he would like to see the club send a gun safety expert into the city schools and to block club gatherings.

Kash, however, indicated that safety instruction would be given at the club. He said he would staff the club with three or four employees.