MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee state court jury ordered Badger Guns, one of the country’s most prominent firearm retailers, to pay $5.73 million after the suburban West Milwaukee store was found liable for negligence Tuesday in the 2009 shooting of Bryan Norberg and Graham Kunisch, two local law enforcement officers.
The landmark case, which held firearm retailers responsible for disregarding the potential harm of their sales, is only the second of its kind nationwide — and the first to rule against the gun store.
(The other case, concluded early this summer, exonerated an Alaskan gun store of wrongdoing.)
The defense attorney, James Vogts, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he intends to appeal. He argued at trial that Badger Guns owner Adam Allan couldn’t be held financially responsible for crimes connected to a weapon sold at the store.
A federal law passed in 2005 granted blanket civil immunity to gun manufacturers and dealers, but with several exceptions. Among these is “negligent entrustment” of a buyer with a firearm, for which the jury found Badger Guns liable.
The case against the store began with a problematic sale, the suit argued.
In May of 2009, Jacob Collins, a “straw purchaser,” arrived in Badger Guns with 18-year-old Julius Burton. Surveillance footage from inside the store shows Burton gesturing to his gun of choice: a Taurus PT140 Pro .40 caliber handgun.
“That’s the one I want,” he told Collins, an exchange the defendants said had not been seen by the store clerk who handled Collins’s purchase.
The following month, Norberg and Kunisch were on duty inside a squad car when they saw Burton riding his bicycle on the sidewalk. The officers directed Burton to move, as riding on the sidewalk goes against a Milwaukee ordinance. The 18-year-old ignored them and continued cycling.
The officers exited their car and started pursuing Burton, attempting to talk to him.
Then Burton pulled out a gun and started shooting. Both officers were hit, with Kunisch sustaining several severe injuries and Norberg wounded in the face.
Though Burton is serving 80 years for attempted murder, and Collins served two years for the illegal purchase, another wrongdoing haunted the officers and their families: At age 18, Burton couldn’t legally purchase a handgun by himself. Someone had to help him.
With their troubling businesses practices, the jury concluded, Badger Guns provided Burton with the opportunity to obtain a gun through Collins.
http://www.sfgate.com/nation/article/Jury-orders-gun-shop-to-pay-nearly-6-million-to-6571097.php