Jensen's Arizona Sportsman, once known as the largest firearms store in Arizona, has closed one shop and may shut the other after years of financial troubles and new problems with its firearms dealer license.
Jensen's closed its North Side shop and indoor shooting range, 1280 W. Prince Road, earlier this month, and last week the building was leased to the Marksman Pistol Institute, 5051 E. 29th St., the only other indoor shooting range in town. It will reopen in a month or two as Marksman II after being remodeled, said Marksman owner Barbara O'Connell.
The original Midtown store at 5146 E. Pima St., opened by Bob Jensen more than 45 years ago, likely will close by the year's end, O'Connell said. Current owner C. Glenn Links could not be reached for comment.
"In its time, it was the largest shooting sports store in the Southwest. I mean, that place was an institution," said Rich Wells, owner of the nearby firearms dealer West of the Pecos, 5118 E. Pima St. His father, Frank Wells, worked at the store for more than 20 years, and Rich Wells practically grew up behind the counter, he said.
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Many Tucsonans have stories to tell about Jensen's. Mike Roda, shopping at Wells's store Tuesday, remembered getting "rich" as a teenager when he cleaned up all the lead at Tucson High School's rifle range and sold it for recasting to Jensen's.
"It's always sad to see an institution pass for any reason," Roda said.
The reasons for Jensen's apparent decline are somewhat unclear, but the company has had financial and legal troubles and has been losing customers.
The stores had been struggling financially since the mid-'90s and were sold to Arizona Sportsman Inc. while in bankruptcy about eight years ago.
Then on June 25, 2004, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives took action against both local stores, revoking their federal firearms dealer licenses. The bureau cited numerous record-keeping problems, including thousands of instances of incomplete entries in a required log book and several sales after incomplete or incorrect background checks, according to court records.
The bureau deemed the violations willful, but the company argued the record-keeping problems were mistakes and asked a judge to review the bureau's decision. The company can keep operating under its licenses until the judge makes a decision, said Robert Miskell, of the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Jensen's also had been losing customers of late.
Lawrence Trial, a manager at the Pima Pistol Club and a shooting enthusiast, said service at Jensen's has been iffy recently, and consumers now have the option of shopping at Sportsman's Warehouse, a chain store that opened at 3945 W. Costco Drive in October. Trial had done business with Jensen's, but Sportsman's Warehouse had a good selection and lower prices, he said.
Centerfire, a local store at 5110 E. Speedway, also has taken some customers from Jensen's, said owner Ron Stallings.
"But 35 years ago, Jensen's was the place to go to get a rifle or a handgun," he said. "When a business that established goes under, it's sad."
"35 years ago, Jensen's was the place to go to get a rifle or a handgun. When a business that established goes under, it's sad."
Ron Stallings
Owner of Centerfire