A south suburban firearms store once described as “Chicago’s most notorious gun shop” has closed its doors.
At Chuck’s Gun Shop and Pistol Range in Riverdale, which for years was known as a leading local source of guns recovered at Chicago crime scenes, a sign taped to the window reads “going fishing forever.” A metal folding gate blocks the storefront that drew activists for “die-ins” as recently as 2022.
A bright orange sign advertising the store still hangs on the building’s roof, as well as a yellow billboard with the store’s phone number. The number leads to a “busy” signal when called. The store’s website and social media pages are still functional, and its Yelp page still lists hours.
People who worked down the block said the store has been shut down since the beginning of the year. The store’s owners, John and Patrice Riggio, did not return multiple phone and email requests for comment.
The shop has been the subject of numerous media reports from local and national outlets highlighting the high volume of guns recovered at crime scenes that came from the store, and has drawn protests since at least 2007, when the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. and the Rev. Michael Pfleger were arrested for trespassing while demonstrating outside.
A 2017 gun trace report by the city that tracked about 15,000 guns found at crime scenes back to the point of purchase found that about 1,000 of those recovered weapons had been purchased at Chuck’s. Of those firearms, the report found that 21% ended up at a crime scene within a year of sale and 39% were recovered at a scene within three years.
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