Badger Guns "Oblivious to the Obvious"

Early Saturday morning, I opened my e-mail to find a rather bizarre photo taken of a sign posted in the parking lot of a West Milwaukee gun store. The sign read, "Racist Milwaukee Police Dep. is pulling over African Americans leaving this store. Sorry for the inconvenience." My initial thought: this sign, posted in the parking lot of Badger Guns, is a bogus, Photo Shop spoof, similar to the Brett Favre Depends endorsement making its way around the Internet. Checking the local media sites, however, I observed that a report concerning this particular sign had aired on WTMJ Channel 4.

The current effort to checkout suspicious customers of Badger Guns stems, in a large part, from the shootings of two police officers in Walker's Point earlier this year. Jacob D. Collins purchased the firearm used in the crime, a 40-caliber Taurus semi-automatic pistol, from Badger Guns. Collins later provided the weapon to Julius Caesar Burton, age 18, the alleged gunmen (Burton was present in the store when Collins purchased the firearm).

Almost two years ago, two other Milwaukee police officers suffered gunshot wounds from a straw bought firearm purchased at Badger Guns. In that case, Jose Fernandez, 26, pled guilty to providing a gun purchased from Badger to Victor Velez, who was just 15 years of age at the time.



Prior to the shootings of these four police officers, Badger Guns developed a well-known reputation as the preferred destination for Wisconsin straw buyers. In 2008, federal authorities indicted Milwaukeeans Kizzie Lesure and Tabitha Lynch, both of whom, it is alleged, purchased firearms with the intent of providing them to a prohibited person. This duo bought at least seven firearms from Badger Guns.

While the management of Badger Guns changed in 2007, the current owner, Adam Allen, is, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "A longtime employee of Badger Outdoors" who "bought the store...and reopened it under a slightly different name." Some current and former law enforcement officers are of the opinion that the old saying, 'Meet the new boss, same as the old boss,' is applicable to the gun store.

"In some of the cases," said one law enforcement veteran, recalling investigations emanating from Badger Guns/Outdoor, "you'd have to oblivious to the obvious to think that something wasn't right. When a 23 year-old female strolls into a gun shop and plops down $1,200 for a ballistic vest and two semi-automatic pistols, of the same make and model, common sense dictates the transaction doesn't pass the smell test."

During another investigation stemming from Badger Guns, a 32 year-old woman admitted accepting Valium, marijuana, and hallucinogenic mushrooms as payment to purchase a Jennings 9mm pistol for convicted felon Thomas Stolpa, who was present in the parking lot of Badger when the sale went down inside.

But felons' interest with Badger extends beyond the checkout counter. The store also maintains an indoor shooting range. In the past, convicted felons and Latin King gang members Carmello 'Hitman' Pintor and Freddie Hernandez visited the shop to target practice. Federal authorities later indicted both men for possessing firearms.

The fact that felons use the confines of Badger's facility to fine tune their marksmanship skills is particularly disturbing. Many law enforcement officers are aware that employees of Badger Guns have access to computers, and could easily check the identification of individuals using the range against an online data base. After all, felons are not the only persons prohibited from possessing firearms. Offenders on probation for simple misdemeanors typically cannot possess weapons. If the management of Badger Guns is serious about turning prohibited persons away, the owner could easily implement a policy requiring a simple search of CCAP for range users.

The evidence that something is up at Badger Guns is certainly not new or coincidental. As far back as 1999, a headline in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel proclaimed, "Gun Shop Tied to 40 Homicide Weapons." Ten years ago, the federal government reported that almost half of all firearms used in crimes were linked to just one percent of licensed sellers. Near the top of the list was Badger Guns/Outdoor.

Instead of addressing the problem, the current ownership of Badger Guns appears intent with taking a cheap shot at the Milwaukee Police Department, accusing officers of being racists. The gun store's reaction to the warranted MPD crackdown leaves me to wonder: should straw buyers stay away, could Badger Guns remain a viable business?

Copyright Steven Spingola, Milwaukee, WI, 2009