By Dave Workman | Senior Editor
A Wisconsin jury has awarded $5.73 million to two Milwaukee police officers in their lawsuit against a local suburban gun store that they alleged had been negligent in the sale of a handgun to a so-called “straw buyer” that was used by a teen to shoot both of them about a month after the transaction.
The verdict against Badger Guns could have “national ramifications,” according to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. Anti-gunners could use the decision to campaign for repeal of the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), which was adopted to prevent what were considered harassment lawsuits against the firearms industry.
But according to Lawrence Keane, vice president and general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the Badger case actually demonstrated that the PLCAA works as intended. There are, he explained, exceptions to the law .
“The verdict shows that despite recent attacks by Hillary Clinton, including as recently as during last night’s debate, on the PLCAA, the law worked exactly as Congress intended,” Keane stated in an e-mail to TGM. “Where a dealer has violated a law or regulation pertaining to the sale of firearms, like allegedly knowingly selling to a straw purchaser as was alleged in the Badger case, they can be sued. What the PLCAA essentially does is to codify common law and say where a manufacturer or retailer lawfully sells a non-defective product they cannot be sued for the subsequent criminal misused of the product by a third party over whom the manufacture or retailer has no control.”
The jury found that Badger was liable for negligence when it allowed a man identified as Jacob Collins to purchase a handgun for then-18-year-old Julius Burton. About a month after the illicit purchase, Burton was involved in a confrontation with Milwaukee officers Bryan Norberg and Graham Kunisch for riding a bicycle on a sidewalk. Burton reportedly rode away with the officers in pursuit and when they scuffled, the teen drew the pistol and opened fire, hitting both officers in the head. Both survived and Burton was arrested, pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted homicide, and sentenced to 80 years in prison, Fox News reported.
Collins, the man who bought the gun, pleaded guilty to making a “straw purchase” for Burton, who could not legally buy the handgun. He was sentenced to two years behind bars for his role in the case, according to published reports.
According to an Associated Press story appearing on Fox News’ website, “Authorities have said more than 500 firearms recovered from crime scenes had been traced back to Badger Guns and Badger Outdoors, making it the ‘No. 1 crime gun dealer in America,’ according to a 2005 charging document from an unrelated case.”
By no small coincidence, the PLCAA became part of the Democratic presidential debate on CNN just hours after the verdict was handed down.
According to the transcript published by the Washington Post, Sanders explained his stand on the federal law protecting the gun industry from so-called “junk lawsuits.”
“This was a large and complicated bill,” the Vermont senator said, according to the WaPo transcript. “There were provisions in it that I think made sense. For example, do I think that a gun shop in the state of Vermont that sells legally a gun to somebody, and that somebody goes out and does something crazy, that that gun shop owner should be held responsible? I don’t. On the other hand, where you have manufacturers and where you have gun shops knowingly giving guns to criminals or aiding and abetting that, of course we should take action.”
Moderator Anderson Cooper than allowed Clinton to respond by asking her, “Is Bernie Sanders tough enough on guns?”
“No, not at all,” Clinton said. “I think that we have to look at the fact that we lose 90 people a day from gun violence. This has gone on too long and it’s time the entire country stood up against the NRA. The majority of our country supports background checks, and even the majority of gun owners do.”
She criticized Sanders for voting several times against the Brady Bill, asserting that since it became law in 1993, “more than 2 million prohibited purchases have been prevented.”
The Badger case will be appealed, according to the defense attorney, and it may be years before the case is finally settled.
Keane noted in his e-mail reacting to the Badger case verdict, “The PLCAA passed both Houses of Congress by overwhelming bipartisan majorities. Approximately 36 state legislatures passed similar state tort reform laws to block such lawsuits before Congress enacted the PLCAA.”
Anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun lobbying group circulated an e-mail capitalizing on the gun control discussion during the presidential debate.
“At last night’s debate, gun violence solutions were debated with intensity,” the message stated. “The candidates acknowledged the crisis, proposed ways to strengthen our laws, and even fought over who has the lowest grade from the NRA.. But it’s not enough for them to just talk about gun violence, we need to make sure they’ll act.”
