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'It Was A Mistake To Close Gyms' Says Owner Of Local Gym Defying State, County Stay-At-Home Orders

VICTORVILLE (CBSLA) — A local gym is defying stay-at-home orders as its owner has reopened its doors after claiming the business is essential.

The Gym HD at 14689 Valley Center Drive in Victorville reopened on Friday.

"I got here at 4 and I'm concerned that the county will close this down tomorrow," said Joe Kinnally, a patron. "They said three days, so I'll get here tomorrow early and get one more workout in."

Kinnally said gym-goers inside were social distancing with every other cardio machine turned off to allow for spacing.

"I went home and went through my inbox and found 100s of messages from vets with PTSD, single moms and young men and women trying to make their way into the military, team members and people that truly LIVE to go to The Gym," Jacob Lewis, the owner of the gym, shared on social media. "This woke me up so I looked into the rates on suicide, depression and domestic violence and found that they have increased since the shut down."

He went on to say:

"Gyms are essential and have a lower flow that Costco, Walmart, Target, etc. There is no reason gyms can't operate under the same protocol. It was a mistake to close gyms and a bigger mistake to keep them closed."

The city came by the gym on Friday and gave the gym three days to shut its doors.

If the gym is still open on Monday, the county can show up, do the same thing and possibly follow with a fine or even law enforcement action.

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