New Gunsmith Comes to Town

It seems like just yesterday that Kendall Hempen was a senior in high school getting ready to graduate. But as the old saying goes, time does fly. He graduated from NLHS in 2017. He has been on a journey since then that has resulted in a new business in New London — Hempen Gunworks LLC.

But not to get ahead of ourselves. After high school, Kendall spent two years at SCC to get his associate degree. He then transferred to the University of Iowa for engineering. Halfway through his first year there, COVID hit and he came to the realization that he wasn’t cut out for online classes or engineering in general.

Kendall had withdrawn from Iowa and was trying to decide his path in life when gunsmithing took center stage. He was made aware of the Gunsmithing Technologies program at Iowa Valley Community College in Grinnell, Iowa by his mom, Laurie Hempen. She told him about the program at Iowa Valley, and as they say, the rest is history.

The job needs some clarification … at least it did for me. Gunsmithing is the practice of repairing, modifying, or customizing a firearm. It can include replacing parts that are broken, fixing barrel threads, threading barrels for muzzle attachments, sight installation, cutting pistol slides for optics, as well as restoring and refinishing firearms.

Kendall says, “I’ve always been interested in firearms, mostly from learning about military history and the prevalent hunting culture in the Midwest.”

He wasted no time. He enrolled in August 2022, graduated in May 2024, and opened his business this month.

Kendall will only be doing gunsmithing for now. There will be no sale of firearms, but he can do firearm transfers. If someone buys something online, it can be shipped to Kendall as an FFL and then the owner can come and fill out the correct forms. Kendall can then run the NICS check.

He wants prospective customers to know that for the time being he can’t do much finishing work other than stockwork, but he plans on getting a bluing setup built in the future. Kendall also plans on expanding the capabilities of his business as well as his skills as a gunsmith to be able to help more people.

Gunsmiths are exceedingly rare. Kendall explains.

“Usually as those folks get older and decide to take a step back or completely retire, they aren’t replaced,” he said. “There are definitely people that do it as a hobby, but few and far between are full time gunsmiths or gunsmiths that will take work from the general public. I believe the closest is in Cedar Rapids.”

When asked how it was starting a business in New London, he admitted that it was easier than expected. But he realizes he’s caught a lucky break. He certainly has name recognition in these parts with his dad’s years of radio work and his mom’s baking abilities. As far as his location, it was going to be built regardless. The biggest “hiccup” for Kendall was dealing with the ATF for his licensing and finding a specialized insurance policy.

Hempen Gunworks LLC is located at 600 South Pine St. He is open Tuesday and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday and Friday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closed Sunday and Monday. The email is HempenGunworks@outlook.com and the phone number is 319-931-9266.

We certainly welcome Kendall, a New London native, back home and wish every success for him and his new unique business!