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Article in Milwaukee paper, we should respond

bigdaddy1

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Here is a copy of the letter from 09/29/09 editorial page.

Police are targeting people leaving Bager Gun shop in Milwaukee

Time to act
Felons should be banned from gun stores. But until a law is passed to do that, law-abiding gun owners should boycott shops such as Badger Guns.



Posted: Sept. 28, 2009

Lawmakers have not done enough to keep felons away from gun shops, and Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn has a right to be fed up. Passing a bill to ban felons from gun stores should be common sense. And probation agents should insist that felons stay away.

But as the Journal Sentinel's John Diedrich reported Sunday, felons are routinely showing up at Badger Guns in West Milwaukee. Milwaukee police staked out the store for several weeks and found numerous instances of felons entering. Some even took target practice.

New laws are needed, and probation agents need to get tougher. But until those things happen, sportsmen and other law-abiding gun owners should boycott shops such as Badger Guns that have a record of selling guns used in crimes.

Flynn's outrage is tied, in part, to the June shooting of Police Officers Graham Kunisch and Bryan Norberg, who suffered serious injuries when their accused shooter used a gun allegedly purchased by a straw buyer a month earlier at Badger. Badger and its predecessor, Badger Outdoors, accounted for roughly one-third of all crime guns traced by Milwaukee police in the past four years, Diedrich reported.

Badger says the reason for that is it sells a lot of guns and is located near Milwaukee. We're not buying it.

The store has received advice from police many times in the past, Flynn said, on how to avoid contact with felons and straw buyers - advice that apparently still has not been taken to heart.

Badger should at least check online court records of anyone who wants to use the store's shooting range. And if there is even the slightest indication that someone is purchasing a weapon for another person, the store has a duty to refuse the sale.

It's hard to understand why the same laws that apply to those who commit crimes against children don't apply to felons with guns. People who hurt children must stay 1,000 feet away from schools and anyplace children gather. Felons should face the same restrictions at gun stores. State Rep. Scott Gunderson (R-Union Grove) is crafting a bill that would make it a felony if a person purchases a gun for someone and that weapon is used in a crime. Another good idea.

We applaud the efforts by Milwaukee police, although the tactic they are using - staking out the store and then pulling over suspected targets on routine traffic stops - could easily veer into harassment if officers aren't careful. Flynn should insist that they are.

The crackdown at Badger Guns should not be portrayed as a question of gun rights. It is, rather, a question of responsibility. Badger Guns should show some.



I hope some of our artiqulate members will be sending in some responses.
 
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