a two-fer because I’ve not been monitoring this newsfeed lately
Woah now, “mixed martial arts weapons”? That’s so wrong. 
Hampton Beach weapons sales hard to enforce
Controversy arises over town weapon ordinances
The 2nd Amendment Gifts & Military Souvenirs store on the Hampton Beach strip sells T-shirts, switchblades and air-soft guns.Raya Al-Hashmi photo
Nick B. Reid
By Nick B. Reid
nreid@seacoastonline.com
August 03, 2013 2:00 AM
HAMPTON BEACH — John Gebhart, who was shot in the back years ago by a blow dart while gardening on Ocean Boulevard, thought two ordinances adopted in 2011 were going to curb the sale of those sorts of weapons at Hampton Beach.
But now, Gebhart and his wife, Linda, are surprised to see what seem to be new stores with more violent faces than those that existed before, despite the law.
Linda said Mohab Sharabia, who runs most of the shops on the B Block, “is like an insidious cancer that’s getting his tentacles into all these stores” and most recently opened up what she deemed “an ice-cream/weapons store.”
The first change to the town ordinance adopted in 2011, defined “mixed martial arts weapons” as “throwing stars, throwing darts, nunchaku, blow guns (and) any other objects designed for use in martial arts that are capable of being used as lethal or dangerous weapons,” and it says their sale “shall be restricted to an area at the back of the store enclosed by a wall creating a separation from the rest of the store and kept in locked cases not accessible to the public.”
The other, a petitioned warrant article related to zoning, says that no business selling “deadly mixed martial arts weapons” shall be permitted within 2,000 feet of schools or parks, which includes the beach.
The Gebharts said they felt the intention of the voters, who accepted both articles by nearly a 5:1 margin, was clear: They don’t want their family beach being characterized by weapons.
So, what are they to think when they see new signs cropping up in the B Block, such as the “2nd Amendment Gifts and Souvenirs” store, which displays T-shirts out front, with slogans like “iPac” and the image of a pistol, and a veritable armory of knives and swords in the back. Or when what used to be an innocuous ice-cream shop is tied in with the stores around it, becoming “Maya’s Mini Mall,” which still sells ice cream and fried food in front, but also has airsoft guns, nunchaku and claymores just a few feet ****her back?
Sharabia, for his part, said he is complying with the town ordinance and even agrees with its ideology.
“I agree to it myself. I have kids. I have a family. I understand. We don’t have the items (in question) in the front of our stores,” he said, noting there are signs saying patrons must be over 18 to go into the back section.
Since he owned his stores before the ordinance change, Sharabia is grandfathered in.
“If you see that there’s items not suitable for your children, you don’t have to take them into this area or this room, and you only keep them in the jewelry and the T-shirts and the tattoos,” he said.
Sharabia said the 2nd Amendment store filled an untapped niche on Hampton Beach and many families with connections to the military like to buy related memorabilia.
“It’s not new stores; I have five stores on Hampton Beach,” Sharabia said. “Four of my locations we have martial arts.”
Those four stores are Mohab’s Jewelry, which he has owned since 2005; Hot Trendz, which he has owned since 2006 and is now the 2nd Amendment store; The Third Eye, since 2008; and Maya’s Accessories, which has now been connected to the adjacent ice-cream shop to create Maya’s Mini Mall.
The ice-cream shop leads back into a room with jewelry and weapons, which Sharabia said used to be part of Maya’s Accessories.
Now, “It’s one big store, (with walls removed) so you can shop across all the locations,” Sharabia said.
Sharabia has taken steps to comply with town ordinances, such as constructing an archway in Maya’s Mini Mall that separates the weapons from the jewelry section of the store, but it seems the ordinances may not have any value anyway, according to a discussion at the selectmen’s meeting Monday.
Town Manager Fred Welch said the ordinances may be “defective” and that the two articles may be “mutually exclusive” because one article “was petitioned and doesn’t have the technical qualifications that the other ordinance does.”
“Therefore, it’s very difficult to enforce. It may be impossible to enforce. We may have to go to Town Meeting to amend that one,” Welch said Monday.
Town Attorney Mark Gearreald, who couldn’t be reached for comment this week, is looking into the issue and is expected to report back to Welch and the selectmen. Welch said, if Gearreald determines there’s a problem, he would suggest that the selectmen work with the Planning Board to present a warrant article for the 2014 Town Meeting.
Linda Gebhart said she is hoping something will be done to maintain the family integrity of the beach.
“I’m trusting that somehow the process will work, that logic will prevail and somehow put a stop to this,” she said.
This one is random but local.
San Francisco police arrest nunchaku-wielding suspect
by Rob Nagle @SFEX_RobNagle
A man was arrested on weapons violations and resisting arrest after swinging around nunchaku in an area with children in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood on Tuesday, police said.
GETTY IMAGES FILE PHOTO | CLIP ART
A man was arrested on weapons violations and resisting arrest after swinging around nunchaku in an area with children in San Francisco's Bayview neighborhood on Tuesday, police said.
Move over Michelangelo, there’s a new nunchaku-wielding ninja on the block – and he was not afraid to come out of his shell this week.
However, the home-grown martial artist was arrested in the Bayview district Tuesday afternoon, police said, when he would not put down his homemade nunchaku at the request of police officers.
The suspect was reportedly twirling his weapon around in the first block of Cashmere Street about 4 p.m. in an area where children also were present, police said. Nunchaku are illegal to possess.
When officers arrived, they reportedly saw the suspect swinging his nunchaku around in front of a group of adults and children. As officers got closer, the crowd dispersed. The suspect refused to drop the weapon, which led to a scuffle. The man was eventually taken into custody. But nunchaku were not the only weapon in this ninja’s arsenal.
A search of the suspect also revealed several homemade shurikens in his pants. Shurikens are commonly known as throwing stars and can be used for throwing, stabbing or slashing. They can be made from everyday items such as nails or knives.
The suspect was booked at the Bayview Police Station on weapons violations and resisting arrest.
