A new gun store in Herndon opened with a bang last week, but some residents are up in arms about its location.

When NOVA Armament, LLC, held its grand opening on Jan. 30, it drew a crowd that surpassed even its owners' expectations. Several dozen people, including Herndon Mayor Steve DeBenedittis and Town Councilman Dave Kirby, jammed into the small storefront at 795 Center St., formerly a vacant space below Tina's Hair Salon.

"I thought the snow would keep people away, but they really turned out," said Judy Rudek, a well-armed store employee who wears a Smith & Wesson Ladysmith .357 revolver in a leather hip holster while at the office.

"People came in and bought everything," she said. "We sold several guns and lots of ammo."

Rudek, a firearms aficionado, says she loathes pink guns for women.

"Guns shouldn't be cute," she said.

Rudek says one of NOVA Armament's more unique aspects is its "Fairer Sex Section," in which several handgun carrying options -- both open and concealed -- are available for women. "The one question I get asked the most by customers is, 'How can my wife carry a concealed weapon?'" she said.

The store offers women several "on-body" and "off-body" options, from waist and shoulder holsters to purses with easy-access gun compartments. Earrings and other jewelry carved from empty shell casings are also on display.

"We plan on offering women more options than just pink guns and pink purses," Rudek said.

According to Mike Stollenwerk of Fairfax-based OpenCarry.org, more than 200,000 concealed handgun permits are now active in Virginia. "There are more issued in the suburbs than in rural areas," he said. "And there are more in Fairfax County than any other county in the state."

Co-owner Wei Du, an Air Force veteran and former Pentagon chef, says that so far he is pleased with the store's location.

"This is our first store and we chose to come to Herndon because it has a nice, small-town feel, and the rent is right," Du said. "There is also not a lot of competition in the area."

Du said he and his partner, T.J. Parmele, conducted some market research before deciding on the Herndon location and says the town welcomed him with open arms.

"I'm pro-gun, so I think it is a great new addition to the town," Kirby said. "Besides, in this economy, any new business opening is a great thing."

But some Herndon residents are less enthused about a gun store opening downtown.

Du said that on the store's opening day, he received an e-mail from a Herndon man who said he hoped the store's sales would be "disastrous" because the town did not need such a business.

Others, such as Carol Bruce, a former mayor, question the particular location of the store and the image it portrays to those visiting downtown.

"I respect the constitutional right of all law-abiding citizens to bear arms," she said. "However, I question the appropriateness of the location, which is across from the library and in an area frequented by children. I also have serious reservations about the image that a gun store projects for our town."

Du says he is not deterred, and that the feedback has generally been positive.

"I am doing nothing illegal and my business is just as legitimate as any other in town," he said.