Meet the New Owner of Badger Guns

JSOnline reports how Mike Allan took over from his brother Adam when his license was revoked. Adam took over from dad, Wally, when he had to get out. These guys are a Milwaukee criminal's best friend, as we've mentioned before here and here.

Adam Allan previously told the Journal Sentinel he was going to go to work for his brother, essentially switching roles the pair have held in recent years at Badger Guns.

But Mike Allan said he decided he could not do that after talking to ATF about getting a license.

"He is not going to work here. It's probably best that he doesn't," Mike Allan said. "He is my brother. He's a good guy, and I would love to hire him, but it is kind of out of my hands."

Mike Allan said his father, Wally, co-owner of Badger Outdoors, also won't be working in the store anymore. But Wally Allan will continue to be part owner of the building and landlord to his other son's new business.

I'm sure the Allan family claim to be honest responsible gun owners and dealers. Same goes for the gun-rights bloggers who defend their every move. All irreproachably responsible, good guys, in other words.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

The Terrible Oppression of Badger Guns

Another law suit is coming against the Milwaukee criminal's best friend, Badger guns. Here we discussed the first one. At that time I thought nothing much would come of it, but now perhaps momentum is building against this notorious operation.

Two Milwaukee police officers, wounded with a gun sold by Badger Guns, are expected to sue the West Milwaukee gun dealer Monday, joining two other wounded officers who earlier filed suit against the store.

Bryan Norberg and Graham Kunisch, who both have life-long disabilities as a result of the June 2009 shooting, allege in the latest suit that Badger Guns and its owners were negligent when selling the gun used to shoot them, and that the store has become a public nuisance, according to a copy of the complaint provided to the Journal Sentinel.

Norberg and Kunisch are two of six Milwaukee police officers injured over a 20-month period with guns sold by Badger Guns or its predecessor, Badger Outdoors.

"Or its predecessor," did you get that?  Shabby only begins to describe it. 

What's your opinion? 

Cops Suing Badger Guns

We're very familiar with Badger Guns.  They make Realco look like Little Leaguers.

What do you think?  Is there any chance for victory in a law suit like this?  Is it all circumstantial evidence? Is there a point in which even circumstantial evidence becomes so convincing that legal sanctions can follow?

That's what we need here.

Please leave a comment.

More on Shawano Guns and Loan

JSOnline has another report on one of the shadiest gun shops around.

A judge has ruled that a Shawano gun dealer should lose its license for repeatedly failing to keep accurate records and for making suspected straw gun sales, supporting the action a federal agency took nearly three years ago.

Despite the ruling from U.S. District Judge William Griesbach in Green Bay this week, Shawano Gun and Loan continues to sell guns - and might be able to do so for months or even years depending on a possible appeal.

Griesbach issued an order that supported the revocation issued by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in October 2007.

The ATF took the rare step of revoking the Shawano store's license after repeatedly warning the owner about missing records and other violations.

The most amazing thing, as we saw so clearly in the comments the last time we discussed this story, is the strong support among gun owners. I really find it amazing that they, who continually claim to be responsible and law abiding, do not raise their voices above all others in denouncing gun shops like this.

The agency moved to revoke 64 licenses in fiscal year 2009 stemming from more than 11,000 inspections - the most recent figures available.

Now there's a small precentage for you. The first thing that comes to my mind is that crooked gun dealers can so easily conceal their criminal activity that the number of requested revocations was only 64. The second thing that comes to mind is that those 64 must really be bad. You'd think everybody would rejoice when those guys were put out of business, but I'm afraid it doesn't work like that.

Revoking a license can take years because of a law that allows a so-called "de novo review" by a federal judge - a fresh look at the matter that may result in a trial. In the Shawano case, Griesbach did not hold such a trial, yet the case still took 18 months to conclude as each side submitted hundreds of pages of documents.

When, after years of accumulating violations and evidence, the ATF finally succeeds in closing down this criminal enterprise, they'll just do what Badger Outdoors did.

That would be similar to a case in 2006, when ATF investigators recommended revoking the license of Badger Outdoors in West Milwaukee.

There was no revocation and the store remains open, operating as Badger Guns. Federal records show the license recommended for revocation was relinquished voluntarily, the players inside the operation took on new roles and a new license was issued to the son of a previous owner, creating what one federal official called a "clean slate," a Journal Sentinel investigation found earlier this year.

To me, one of the strongest indictments against gun owners in general is their, not only turning a blind eye to this nonsense, but actually supporting it by protecting criminal gun dealers. It not only taints them all with guilt, it undermines their attempts to be accepted as responsible citizens exercising their rights.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Shawano Gun and Loan

JS Online reports on the way legitimate gun shops and their supporters are nothing more than brazen criminals in disguise, and how they aid and abet the criminals who don't bother with any attempt at dissimulation.

From almost the time it opened in 1998, Shawano Gun and Loan has been in trouble with federal authorities.

After repeatedly warning the store about missing records and other violations, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives took the unusual step of revoking its license in 2007.

Nearly three years later, the case is tied up in federal court in Green Bay where an appeal could grind on for years.

And the store continues to sell guns - thousands of them each year - with the ATF's blessing.

What's more, the owner told the ATF that he might transfer the operation to his nephew. That could keep the store operating and erase the violations and revocation - similar to the scenario that unfolded in 2006 at the West Milwaukee store that has sold every gun used to wound six Milwaukee police officers in the past 2 ½ years.

The story goes on to describe the similarities between these guys and the Badger gang. What I can't understand is how truly legitimate gun owners can support this nonsense. Don't these guys give all of you a bad name? I, for one, keep saying so. Don't you think other people see it that way?

The delaying tactics, stretching out the court appearances so as to continue the illegal practices, are the tactics of criminals not legitimate businessmen. Blatantly violating rules and guidelines and simply relinquishing the licence so your nephew with a clean record can take over the business is the trick of a white-collar criminal.

When the misguided gun owners who defend and support these practices actually result in weaker and less effective laws, everyone suffers, everyone pays for that.

Straw buying is a crime - for the buyer and the clerk who knowingly makes the sale. It is a federal felony but remains a misdemeanor in Wisconsin after the Legislature failed to pass a law making it a felony this year.

Please leave a comment.

More Straw Purchases at Badger

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports on the latest allegations concerning the beleaguered Badger Guns. This is the gun shop whose owner, Adam Allan, took the offensive last week by posting a sign warning his customers that the cops were watching and would probably stop them as they left the store.

The handgun used to shoot a Milwaukee police officer last week has been traced to Badger Guns, making that store the sole supplier of all the guns used to wound six officers in two years, police said.

Nine of 10 straw buyers prosecuted since 2007 made their purchases at Badger Guns or its predecessor, Badger Outdoors, a review of court records shows. In the past five years, the store accounted for 21 of the 27 cases prosecuted.

Three miles away there's another gun shop, The Shooters Shop in West Allis. It accounted for 3% of the crime guns recovered by Milwaukee from 2006 to Sept. 1 of this year. Badger accounted for 30% of crime guns during the same time. Of course volume has something to do with it.

The Shooters Shop's owner, Kevin Nugent, disputed Badger's argument that its high numbers are explained by its sales volume and proximity to Milwaukee. Nugent said he prevents straw purchases by closely questioning everyone who comes in his business.

"It's called a conscience," Nugent said. "When you are selling a firearm, you have to take personal responsibility to know that you are selling an instrument that could be used for harmful purposes."

Now there's a quote for you, "It's called conscience." When the crime guns traced to a particular store are as many as this, one has to question the "conscience" of the owner. Nugent also said, "you have to take personal responsibility." I like this guy.

What's your opinion? Does the mounting evidence against Badger make you wonder about their practices? What can be done to prevent a gun shop owner from having the shoulder-shrugging, it's-not-my-fault attitude about straw purchases? Why do lawful gun owners get defensive about guys like this? If I were a clean and honest gun owner, I wouldn't touch a place like Badger guns with a ten foot pole. How about you?

Please leave a comment.