Posted on 08/01/2003 4:03:56 AM PDT by yonif
A West Milwaukee store tops a national gun control group's list of what it calls the nation's worst gun dealers.
But the owner of Badger Outdoors Inc., 2339 S. 43rd St., said his store goes out of its way to cooperate with law enforcement authorities.
"We run a straight, honest shop here," owner Mick Beatovic said. "If we break the law in this store, I go to prison."
Using U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives records regarding guns sold between December 1989 and January 1996, the Washington-based Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence listed the 10 dealers nationwide that sold the largest number of guns traced to crime. Badger Outdoors headed that list, with 554 such sales.
"The reason we highlighted these guys is that according to the BATF, 1.2 percent of all gun dealers account for 57 percent of all crime guns (sold). Most dealers have zero guns traced to crimes in a given year," said Eric Howard, a spokesman for the Brady Campaign.
"Traces" of guns are a common occurrence, Beatovic said, and the statistics can be misleading.
"The vast majority of guns that are traced are not crime guns," he said. "Any law enforcement officer in Wisconsin can trace any gun he wishes. Ninety-nine percent are traces to find ownership."
According to Beatovic, traces can include a traffic stop where the driver has a hunting rifle in the car, even if no gun-related crime is involved, as well as cases where guns were reported lost by owners or could not be found after fires.
"That's not to say there weren't crimes committed" with guns bought at Badger, Beatovic said. "We can't control that."
'Good citizen'
A Brady Campaign news release, which Beatovic said he had seen, stated that guns bought at Badger "were involved in at least 27 homicides, 101 assaults, nine robberies and 417 additional gun crimes."
Beatovic said that "more than 100 of those guns were (sold) with the knowledge of law enforcement," in efforts to crack down on straw buyers, who purchase weapons on behalf of convicted felons, underage persons or others who may not legally buy firearms.
"With ones that came out of this shop, we helped put (criminals) in jail," Beatovic said, calling straw buying the easiest way for a felon to get a gun. "Last month a gentleman wanted to sue me because I wouldn't sell him a gun," he said. "I thought he was a straw purchaser."
The Wisconsin gun dealer with the next largest number of traces, but still far short of the top 10, was a Racine store that had 61 guns traced in the 1989-'96 period, which Howard said was the most recent for which figures were available.
Beatovic said Badger would have a larger number of guns traced because it sells more guns than any other shop in the state. West Milwaukee Police Chief Eugene Oldenburg said he also believed Badger was the state's largest gun dealer.
"We sell 10 to 15 percent of all the guns in the state," Beatovic said.
The gun dealer said when a customer wants to buy five or more guns on a single visit, he alerts authorities.
"We have had 175 people taken out of this store in cuffs for outstanding arrests," Beatovic said.
When a buyer's background is checked, Beatovic said, the state alerts him if the buyer has outstanding warrants. Oldenburg said the state also informs West Milwaukee police.
"When the man comes in to pick up his gun, West Milwaukee picks him up," Beatovic said. "We're not required to do that, but we live in this city too and try to be good citizens."
Oldenburg said the department has had about 300 contacts with Badger over the past 10 years, virtually all initiated by store employees.
"Badger has always immediately contacted the Police Department whenever there's any suspicious activity," Oldenburg said. "We have an excellent working relationship with them."
Politically motivated
Howard and Beatovic agree that the Brady Campaign's release of the list is tied to the group's efforts to defeat a bill in Congress that would protect manufacturers and gun dealers from civil liability suits. The measure has passed the House of Representatives and is pending in the Senate.
"They are poised to immunize these guys from civil action," Howard said. "No other industry has this protection. They are telling the gun industry it's OK to be irresponsible. Why is Congress giving these guys special legal protection?"
Beatovic supports the immunity bill.
"It stops frivolous lawsuits," he said. "The 'Brady Bunch' has figured they can't go through Congress (for gun restrictions), so they're trying to go through the courts."
Howard said pro-gun congressmen have also added an amendment to an appropriation bill that would forbid BATF from releasing information on gun traces to the public in the future. He also objects to descriptions of lawsuits as frivolous.
"Victims deserve their day in court, and Congress shouldn't tell them it's frivolous," Howard said.
-Eric
-Eric
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