A new pawn and gun store will be North Suffolk’s first independent handgun retailer, says its co-owner, Joanna Erwin.

Suffolk Pawn and Gun plans a soft opening June 28 and hopes to formally open by the beginning of July, Erwin said.

Ronnie Hamilton Jr., who says he has more than 10 years of experience in the industry, will manage the pawn and gun store, in the Food Lion shopping center on Bridge Road.

He said he would buy or pawn “anything of value that we can resell.”

“We have got guns to sell, we have got jewelry to sell, musical instruments, tools, sporting goods. We’ve got a little bit of everything,” he said.

The store will be stocked with 30 different types of handguns when it opens, Erwin said, adding that in time the selection would expand, including into long guns.

Ammunition and gun accessories will also be sold, Hamilton said, “the whole nine yards.”

Erwin said that she and the store’s other owner share ownership in another pawn store in downtown Suffolk.

“The (other) store was doing so well we wanted to branch out into other areas of Suffolk, because there wasn’t really anything out in the north part of Suffolk,” she said.

Store hours will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Work a while in the pawn industry, and one soon learns a little about a lot, according to Hamilton.

“Over the years I have learned a lot of stuff and seen a lot of stuff come through the door,” he said.