Chuck's Gun Shop in Riverdale closes after years of controversy

CHICAGO - A notorious gun shop in Chicago's south suburbs has shut down.

What we know:

Protesters and investigators have been all over Chuck's on South Indiana in Riverdale for years, with many anti-violence advocates saying it was the source of many guns used in Chicago crimes.

It's a welcome sight for many. The store, which had been open for decades, has closed, and people who work in the area say they haven't seen any activity there for months.

On the front door of the business, a taped sign says it all: "Gone fishing... forever."

The backstory:

Over the years, Chuck's Gun Shop and Pistol Range became linked to numerous Chicago crimes after guns recovered at crime scenes were found to have been sold at the Riverdale location.

The University of Chicago Crime Lab found in 2014 that more than 1,500 recovered guns traced to city crimes in the previous five years were from Chuck's. The Crime Lab stated that was more than any other local dealer.

Still, the owners were never charged with any crime, but they had to deal with protests and demonstrations calling for them to shut down over the years.

"This gun shop was always a target of the city regulators who wanted to stop the flow of guns into the city of Chicago," said Larry Yellen, former FOX32 reporter and now legal analyst.

His 1998 report shows people inside the Riverdale shop buying guns, then driving back to Chicago, violating the city’s strict gun laws at the time. 

Yellen said the shop was never caught outright breaking any laws, but buyers bent the rules to get their guns, for example, by using straw purchasers.

"And in our situation, there was a welfare recipient from Chicago, a woman who needed some cash. She agreed to go into the gun shop, purchase a weapon," he said.

Yellen added that a convicted felon was paying her to buy the gun. That transaction was all caught on camera.

What they're saying:

"It's a good day for Chicago. I mean, that was the easiest access, the closest gun shop to Chicago," said Fr. Michael Pfleger, of Saint Sabina Church.

He protested in front of the store numerous times and was arrested there twice during demonstrations, all while calling on the shop to shut down.  

Fr. Pfleger said now that Chuck's is closed, he hopes another gun store doesn't take its place.

"If you didn't have a conscience over all these years of being told that your guns are killing people in Chicago, and that didn't either get your business to tighten up, change it, be very on top of things, checking on these — if that didn't make you do it, then nothing's going to make you do it," Pfleger said.

The Gun Violence Prevention PAC of Illinois (G-PAC) praised Chuck's closure as "a moment of progress."

"We marched in protest against Chuck’s Gun Shop years ago, because the number of illegal guns that have flowed through the shop has been nothing short of a tragedy and resulted in the deaths of countless innocent people," Tom Vanden Berk, founder of G-PAC, said in a statement. "We channeled our efforts into the passage of the gun dealer certification law to demand that gun dealers like Chuck’s be held responsible for their role in fueling gun violence in our communities. Chuck’s closure is the result of our collective efforts together with elected officials and advocates to get guns out of the hands of criminals and people not legally able to purchase a weapon. This marks another moment of progress in our effort to reduce the availability of illegal weapons on the street and hold gun dealers accountable for putting profits before the lives of innocent people."

What's next:

There’s no indication why the business closed – only a sign on the door that reads "Going Fishing, Forever."

Fox 32 News has reached out to the store owners for comment but has not heard back.