After 30 years of operating Old Sarge’s Drop Zone in various locations throughout Chautauqua County, owner Jerry Speelberg decided it was time to close the doors for good Tuesday.

“I’m 70 years old and I have other things to do,” Speelberg said. “I have cattle; I have pigs; I have a campground and I’m just tired of it. I’ve been doing it for 30 years.”

Old Sarge’s moved to the city in 2009 when it took over the former Dunkirk City School Administration building on Lake Shore Drive. In 2010 the Central Avenue facility was opened in the former Ehlers Furniture Store.

Prior to moving into the city, Old Sarge’s was located in Fredonia and Westfield. The move to Dunkirk was necessitated by Speelberg’s need for a bigger store and a bigger location.

And while the doors on the brick and mortar location closed Tuesday, Old Sarge’s Drop Zone will still operate its website at www.oldsargesdropzone.com.

Another factor in Speelberg closing the doors is the effect the SAFE Act has had on his business.

“Times are tough no matter what Mr. Cuomo thinks,” he said. “The SAFE Act does make it hard to own a business such as ours. I have a relative that is doing very poorly because of the SAFE Act. We sold a lot of other stuff besides guns though.”

According to Speelberg, the biggest impact of the SAFE Act on his business was the gross income now, compared to before the SAFE Act.

“We did a lot of gun shows and we had shows where $20,000 to $30,000 was an average weekend,” he said. “Those have dropped to $5,000 to $6,000 after the SAFE Act. We do go out of state a lot because of that reason.”

Speelberg, who owns the building on the northeast corner of Central Avenue and Fourth Street in the city of Dunkirk, plans to sell the building, but no timetable for a sale has been provided.

Not mentioned by Speelberg, but another factor that may have played a role in his decision is the burglary that occurred in May 2014.

Brothers Matthew Buchanan-Ruiz, 22, and Ricardo Buchanan-Ruiz, 19, both of 44 W. Second St., in Dunkirk, were charged with third-degree burglary and third-degree grand larceny, both felony charges, for the incident that happened sometime around 3 a.m. on May 14 at Old Sarge’s.

That burglary was not the first attempt at Old Sarge’s. In May 2012, an apparent attempted entry into Old Sarge’s was foiled by Dunkirk Police after they responded to a report of a suspicious person.

“Dunkirk is a nice place, but it’s nowhere near what it used to be,” he said. “I will probably board the building up because I don’t want to pay for broken windows. I hate to do that because there isn’t a lot in downtown Dunkirk.”