One month after the new solicitation ordinance became law, people in Tombstone are still unsettled on what exactly the law means.

On the heels of an unsettling court case between Mike Carrafa of Six Gun City and the City of Tombstone, the City Council refined the solicitation ordinance this August. Carrafa alleged that the original ordinance violated his First Amendment rights.

According to the revised regulations, businesses can only solicit 15 feet to either side of their front door or campaign for customers within the confines of the Third and Sixth Street intersections with Allen Street.

“We’ve had fewer calls since the new ordinance has come about,” said Marshal Larry Talvy. “It has actually done a good job, as far as now, but we have found some issues with it.” Talvy said that if solicitors are limited to the Third and Sixth Street intersections, and the Fourth and Fifth Street intersections are not named in the ordinance, it is difficult to interpret if those intersections are off limits to the businesses and how to go about citing violators. Talvy admits that the few calls he has responded to have been triggered by solicitors on Fourth or Fifth Street.

Hal Cloughley, co-owner of the Cochise Trading Company, a jewelry and gift shop located on the southwest corner of Fifth Street and Allen Street, feels there are better ways to spend the time than ticketing solicitors.

“Everyone’s got a right to make a living. They’ve got to make a living, I’ve got to make a living,” Cloughley said. “That’s a public street out there. It’s not mine; I don’t own it. As long as no one disturbs people coming into my store or looking into my windows, I’m happy with that. Right now it’s working, but I don’t know if things will change,” he said.

According to Talvy, the solicitation ordinance that has been on the books since 1988 was originally written to prevent merchants from handing out fliers and standing in front of other businesses trying to promote their own.

This time, it appears that the amount of handbills distributed and the advertising tactics used have created another problem. The perception is that tourists have been hassled by solicitors.

“Do you see anybody chasing people around trying to give them handbills? It doesn’t happen,” said Carrafa. “I just want to be left alone and conduct my business the way it’s been conducted for 13 years.”

It’s no secret around town that Allen Street draws a majority of the revenue dollars to its boardwalk. Many citizens feel that restricting solicitation in this prized part of town diminishes the opportunity for visitors to discover the number of attractions located elsewhere throughout the historic district.

“We need the revenue. We need the business. Keep the tourist dollars in Tombstone. That’s my goal every single day,” said Shirley Dejournett, who owns the Good Enough Mine Tour along with her husband, Andree Dejournett, who served as the Tombstone mayor from 2004-2006.

The competition to attract customers through direct appeal has created somewhat of a rivalry between the businesses located off of Allen Street and those conveniently quartered there.

“It became violent,” said Talvy. “We’ve had some offenses. We’ve had people assaulted,” he said.

The ugliness has disturbed some locals.

“It takes away from the beauty of the town with all the infighting,” said Sylvia Prysant, innkeeper at the Tombstone Boarding House, located on Fourth Street at the bottom of the hill, two blocks north of Allen Street.

Prysant insists that there are a variety of creative ways to address the issue. There are ways to market products and interest a prospective customer in businesses without irritating tourists and infuriating competitors, she said.

“When we advertise, we’re dressed in western wear, adding to the ambiance of the visitor’s experience. If we’re never up there [on Allen Street], visitors wouldn’t know of the dozen attractions off the beaten path,” Prysant said. She recently reopened her boarding house and Lamplight Room Restaurant after nearly a month of it being closed due to the operating expenses.

Conversely, Dejournett believes it to be irrational for all the solicitors in town to be forced to gather together at the Third and Sixth Street intersections with Allen Street.

“The new ordinance I have a great deal of difficulty with,” said Dejournett. “For every action, there is a reaction, and I do not think that the people that scripted this really thought about the reaction.”

Dejournett says the new law could potentially disrupt and devastate the businesses on the corners of Third and Sixth Streets.

“Everyone would be attempting to talk over each other [on the intersections of Third and Sixth Street] and be clustered in front of a business. I am not going to take any business away from anyone, and that’s what the ordinance is doing,” she said. “They say it’s not a constitutional rights issue; however, when an ordinance is designed to take away a constitutional right, the constitutional rights become the issue.”

“Basically, the mayor has a very complex issue to resolve. He is doing his best to get some kind of a balance here. There is no easy answer to it, if there even is an answer to it,” she said. “I’m a solutions person, and I don’t see a clear solution in this. I really don’t.”