Edmonton city council to vote on restricting sale of knives at convenience stores
Posted September 16, 2024 3:48 pm.
Last Updated September 16, 2024 7:39 pm.
Edmonton city council hearing an emotional plea from a former downtown convenience store owner to restrict the sale of knives, as council tackles limiting the sale of the weapons.
“If you don’t have the sales of the knives, and those other items that goes along with that, it’s very hard to survive just with a grocery store,” explained Nunu, a former convenience store owner.
Nunu — who did not want to use her last name with media Monday — told CityNews she used to run a grocery and convenience store here on 107 Avenue and 105 Street in central Edmonton.
Nunu was forced to close her doors this past July, explaining she didn’t want to sell knives, and couldn’t compete with the convenience stores that do. Believing the sale of the weapons have contributed to violent crime in the community.
“I’m a mother of three and for me, having a grocery store, safely with none of those sales. That’s the way I wanted to raise my kids.”
Nunu along with business and community leaders from central Edmonton neighbourhoods calling on council to pass restrictions on the sale of knives at corner stores Monday.
Earlier this summer, Edmonton city council made the move to restrict the sale of bear spray. Passing a bylaw that requires businesses that sell the spray to have a license — prohibiting the sale to anyone under the age of 18 — as well as requiring stores to ID and record sales of the spray.
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi says restricting knives is more of a challenge than bear spray.
“It’s easier to regulate bear spray because it’s a federally regulated product. Knives are not regulated by any federal or provincial regulation, so this is a new area that we are exploring after hearing from the community,” said Mayor Sohi.
While councillors spent Monday afternoon debating a bylaw to create a new business license class for convenience stores to prevent the sale of knives, no decision will be made until all city councillors vote on the amendments at a future meeting.
