It’s no secret that guns soldat Badger Outdoors have been linked to many crimes. But recently obtained federal data shows the West Milwaukee shop is by far the country’sNo. 1 provider of crime guns.
The data tracing guns used in crimes was contained in a legal filing by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It shows the vast majority (86 percent) of the nation’s gun dealers had no crime guns traced to them. Only 1 percent of dealers had 10-to-49 crime guns traced to them. But Badger Outdoors had a whopping 537 crime guns traced to it in 2005, leading the nation by nearly 100 guns (a store in California had 447).
Badger’s huge numbers may reflect both the Milwaukee Police Department’s aggressive policy of tracing every gun seized and the lack of local market competition. Badger is Milwaukee’s nearest major firearms dealer. In fact, the border between Milwaukee (which prohibits licensed gun sales) and West Milwaukee runs through Badger’s parking lot. Still, some law enforcement personnel remain suspicious of the store’s practices.
“We have never sold a gun without a background check,” insists Mick Beatovic, Badger’s co-owner, “but still they’re getting into the wrong hands.” The law requires licensed dealers to perform background checks on all buyers. But this safeguard doesn’t stop so-called “straw purchases”: customers with clean records buying firearms for those barred by law from owning a gun.
Beatovic says he sees obvious straw purchase attempts daily. “A guy drags his girl into the store; she’s bored out of her gourd. He’s looking at the guns, then it comes time to pay and it’s ‘No, it’s not for me, it’s for her.’ I hear that about three times a day.” Badger denies hundreds of suspicious customers every year. Police, tipped off by Beatovic, haul felons out of the store in cuffs several times a month.
It’s this cooperation with law enforcement that keeps Badger in business despite its shocking crime gun numbers, says District Attorney John Chisholm. “They have an open record policy and are not required to do that by federal law. I can give Mick a call and say, ‘I didn’t subpoena you, but I’ve got a trial tomorrow…’ He’ll say, ‘No problem, I’ll bring my books,’” says Chisholm. Beatovic voluntarily keeps a database of all gun sales and shares it with authorities upon request.
But Badger’s cooperation has angered members of the National Rifle Association, triggering threats and intimidation attempts. “Mayor Barrett and I set up a meeting to talk about illegal guns,” Beatovic says. “Before we even met, I got a call from a local NRA representative. He said, ‘You better not be saying what I think you’re saying, because I doubt very highly you’ll be in business in a year and a half if you continue this.’ Someone [in City Hall] was leaking.”
Beatovic met with the mayor as planned, discussing such solutions as banning cell phone use in the store to prevent felons from remotely relaying instructions to straw buyers. That cooperation earned Beatovic, an NRA member, more harassment from the group.
“Right after the meeting I got a call from the Midwestern representative for the NRA who was in Virginia,” Beatovic says. “Same thing. ‘You’ll be out of business. You’ll lose all your NRA support.’”
The NRA has a process called “Grass Fire,” Beatovic says, by which members alert others via phone of gun issues. “After the meeting I was getting calls from all over the place,” he says.
NRA director of public affairs Andrew Arulanandam says the group’s Wisconsin lobbyist did not contact Beatovic, but adds that the NRA doesn’t monitor action taken by its individual members.
Beatovic says the experience has shocked him. “I’ve paid my [NRA] dues my whole life, but after this, I understand why liberals see the NRA as whacked-out.”
