Pawn Shop Filming Resumes After Livingston Restores Permit

Production on the Daily Wire film Pawn Shop resumed in Livingston, Montana, after the city commission unanimously reinstated its filming permit late October 5 following a hearing on whether the production had complied with permit requirements. The decision followed a temporary suspension and local complaints about the shoot’s effects on the community. The commission’s vote came after a nearly seven-hour meeting, according to the supplied reporting. The production agreed to maintain access to a local food pantry, shield the public from violent-scene filming and related noise, and address concerns about private security on nearby public streets. The reporting does not establish whether the production had violated specific permit terms before the suspension. Ben Shapiro, the film’s producer and a co-founder of the Daily Wire, said commissioners halted filming because of the movie’s political content and called the suspension a violation of his First Amendment rights. He argued that the production would have been allowed to continue if the film had been a romance rather than a story about immigration enforcement.