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Mayor, chief demand more ID checks at Badger Guns
Posted: Sept. 30, 2009
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/62764582.html
Milwaukee leaders raised the heat Tuesday on Badger Guns, demanding the owner immediately make changes to stem the flow of crime guns coming from the store.
Mayor Tom Barrett called on Badger immediately to begin scanning the identification of everyone coming into the store, like some bars do, and to look up anyone who wants to shoot on the range to make sure he isn't a felon.
Police Chief Edward Flynn suggested that anyone who comes into the store to buy a gun or shoot on the range sign a sworn affidavit saying he is not a criminal or committing a crime. Then store managers should allow police to inspect it, he said.
Barrett also slammed Adam Allan, owner of Badger in West Milwaukee, for posting a sign last week calling Milwaukee police racist for pulling over customers leaving his store during an undercover operation.
"That was an in-your-face sign to the Milwaukee police, the department that has numerous police officers shot by guns purchased in their store, and their reaction is to stick their fingers in the eyes of the police department," Barrett said. "That to me was deplorable."
Adam Allan took the sign down Sunday but said Tuesday he still thinks police are pulling over only his African-American customers. A Journal Sentinel reporter riding along with police last week saw four stops - two black men, a Hispanic couple and a white man.
Police said the stops were made because of evidence of possible gun crimes, not race.
"I probably wish I wouldn't have put 'racist' on the sign," Allan said. "That was strong, but I stand true to my word. It is not right what they are doing."
Flynn said he is fed up with Badger and dismissed Allan's accusations.
"It is late in the game for him to start complaining about his treatment," Flynn said. "I think the results speak for themselves at Badger. He has a business plan that counts on felonious purchases. We are saying, 'Change your business plan.' The burden is on you, sport. That is where you are making your money."
Since June, Milwaukee police have recovered a dozen illegal guns, found evidence of straw buying and discovered felons brazenly going into Badger, even shooting at the store's range.
Milwaukee police launched the operation days after two officers were shot in the head with a gun purchased at Badger one month earlier. Two other officers were shot in November 2007, also with a gun from Badger.
Badger Guns and its predecessor, Badger Outdoors, have accounted for one-third of crime guns recovered by Milwaukee police over the past four years, according to gun-trace data. The next closest Milwaukee-area gun shop accounted for less than 3% of crime guns in the same period. Badger Guns opened two years ago in the same location.
Badger Outdoors ranked among the largest sellers of crime guns in the nation for several years. Congress has forbidden the release of more current gun shop rankings.
Barrett said he is most troubled by the number of guns sold from Badger that quickly wind up in the hands of criminals. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives labels guns that are recovered by police within two years of sale as a "short-time-to-crime gun."
In the first eight months of this year, 143 such crime guns were traced back to Badger.
Responding to the demands of Barrett and Flynn, Allan said his staff is well-trained and that they turn down buyers who look like they are buying for someone else. He said he checks everyone's ID and doesn't allow anyone younger than 21 in the store. But he said it is impossible for him to look up everyone who uses the range - besides, that isn't required.
"There is no law that says you need to be checked in order to go on the range," he said.
Barrett and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm both said they invited Allan to a meeting last year but that he never showed. They said they had a good working relationship with the previous owner, but that isn't there with Allan.
"Overall, the cooperation Badger gave us was very promising, and it was headed in the right direction," Chisholm said, referring to the former owner. "They did some things for us. I am not seeing that now."
Allan denied ever being invited to a meeting and said he is willing to meet. He said he is willing to have police officers stationed in his store. Allan said his store's high number of crime guns is explained by his volume and proximity to Milwaukee.
"We have always had that reputation. The media paints a dirty picture of us," he said.
Chisholm said Allan's explanations don't explain the flow of crime guns. He compared Badger to a drug house that criminals know they can go to get what they are looking for.
"The culture for far too long has been you can get a gun from Badger and it's not too difficult," Chisholm said. "It is inexcusable. He is not doing everything he could do to prevent these sales. If he were, he would be preventing them."
