U.S. gun shop ordered to pay millions

A jury ordered a Wisconsin gun store on Tuesday to pay almost $6 million to two Milwaukee police officers who were shot and seriously wounded by a gun purchased at the store. The lawsuit alleged the shop allowed an illegal sale despite several warning signs that the gun was being sold to a “straw buyer”, or someone who was…

Milwaukee policemen Bryan Norberg and Graham Kunisch sued Badger Guns in 2010 in Milwaukee County court after they were shot by a suspect who obtained his weapon through a so-called straw purchase. Jurors awarded about $5 million in compensatory damages and another $1 million in punitive damages.

The issue gained national attention when Hillary Rodham Clinton recently said she supported repealing a George W. Bush-era gun law that lawyers said protected Badger Guns.

A bullet shattered eight of Norberg’s teeth, blew through his cheek and lodged into his right shoulder.

During the trial, the gun store’s lawyers and staff had maintained that Badger Guns had never intentionally sold weapons to criminals. Norberg has since returned to the force, but Kunisch’s injuries were severe enough that he was forced to retire.

His 18-year-old friend Julius Burton was too young to buy a gun himself, and told Burton he’d pay him $40 to get him one.

Burton pleaded guilty to two charges of first-degree attempted homicide in 2009 and is now serving an 80 year sentence.

According to the lawsuit, Badger Guns approved the sale despite a number of irregularities including the fact that the man filling out the form had noted that the gun was not for him.

During closing arguments, Patrick Dunphy, the officer’s attorney, said the store shares responsibility.

Such crimes included the shooting of several Milwaukee police officers, the newspaper reported, but secrecy laws protected the shop’s identity and a change of ownership within the same family and a tweak of its title to Badger Outdoors helped wipe out previous law violations. If jurors find the gun seller liable, it could set a controversial precedent. A former federal agent has also said the shop fails to take necessary precautions to prevent straw purchases.

“The last thing we want to do is put a gun in the hands of someone who is going to commit a crime”, sales clerk Donald Flora testified during the trial. Rather, they said Collins and Burton went out of their way to deceive the salesman.