

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- An online petition to "Save our Sound Garden" is amassing hundreds of signatures since the owner said Wednesday he would have to close the Armory Square record store rather than comply with a local anti-theft law.

The petition surpassed its initial goal of 750 signatures just after 10:30 a.m. today, and organizers quickly set a new goal of 1,000.

The petition, addressed to Common Council President Van Robinson, says: "Let Councilor Robinson know that forcing Sound Garden to close robs the city of revenue and jobs and we will not stand for it!"

Supporters of The Sound Garden record store protest May 8 at Syracuse City Hall.

Most of the signatures are from Central New York, but some are from as far away as Brooklyn. The petition is on the MoveOn.org web site, but is not endorsed by the organization.

Store owner Bryan Burkert has been trying for months to get his store, and others like it, exempted from a local secondhand dealer law. The law requires stores to log used merchandise into a police database and to hold items seven days before reselling them.

Burkert has offered to work with police, but says complying with the letter of the law would be too costly and time-consuming for his business.

Wednesday, after the Syracuse Common Council offered an amendment that Burkert found unworkable, and declined to discuss an exemption, Burkert said he would have to close the Syracuse location.

UPDATE: 1,638 signatures as of 1:15 p.m. New goal, 2,000 signatures.

Contact Tim Knauss at tknauss@syracuse.com or 315-470-3023.