Can gun stores who sell to criminals and the mentally ill be held accountable?
This will be an interesting case to watch. Two Milwaukee police officers who were shot in the line of duty are suing the gun store where the
criminal Julius Burton got his gun and used it in a confrontation with the officers:
In their lawsuit, the officers claim the weapon Burton used was "negligently and unlawfully sold by Badger Guns."
According to the charging document, in 2005, 537 guns recovered from crimes were traced back to Badger Guns, which "ranked as the number one crime gun dealer in America."
Burton was 18 years old at the time. The legal age to buy a gun in Wisconsin was 21. He allegedly paid a friend to buy the weapon for him. The officers claim the gun store knew the purchase was illegal and conspired with the friend "to change his answer [on a form] to claim falsely that he was the actual buyer of the gun."
Both men were
seriously and permanently injured in the shooting:
In court on Wednesday, Dunphy showed a computer image from a CT scan Officer Kunisch received. He was hit with five bullets. Two pierced the top of his skull, and he lost his eye.
Images of injuries to his partner, Officer Norberg, are too graphic to show on television.
The officers claim the man, who had a history of mental illness, should have never been allowed to purchase the gun:
In opening statements as this trial began, Dunphy showed the jury surveillance images of Burton entering Badger Guns a month before the shooting. He came with a friend, Jacob Collins -- paying him $40 to purchase the gun.
A federal form, Dunphy says, asks whether the buyer is purchasing the weapon for himself. At first, Collins said "no," and then changed his answer to "yes." He changed his address as well. Dunphy said the Badger Guns salesman should have asked questions.
The officers face an uphill battle in getting any kind of
civil justice:
"I wouldn't be shocked if there were a jury verdict in this case that favor the plaintiffs. But then the question would be, would that jury verdict hold up on appeal?" Bloomberg Businessweek's senior writer Paul Barrett said.
That law protecting the gun industry from civil suits was passed a decade ago with bipartisan support, reportedly after lobbying from the NRA.
Stay tuned.