2ND AMENDMENT: Trial in Wisconsin Tests Gun Store’s Judgment on Illegal Sales
MILWAUKEE — At 18, Julius Burton could not legally buy a gun. So he paid a 21-year-old acquaintance $40 to accompany him to Badger Guns, just outside the city limits here, and be the official buyer of a weapon.
Mr. Burton pointed to a Taurus semiautomatic pistol and said, “That’s the one I want,” according to surveillance video from that day in 2009 and trial testimony. Then he helped his friend, who was struggling to fill out a two-page form. A hovering store clerk helped as well, showing the friend how to correct mistakes and ensure he was listed as the buyer.A month later, on June 9, 2009, Mr. Burton shot two police officers with the Taurus. One lost an eye and was left with brain damage; the other was seriously wounded in the face.
It was a classic straw purchase, an important way guns enter the underground market, though an unusually well-documented one because of the video and the quick identification of the true buyer.
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The case is part of a new wave of lawsuits — at least 10 are percolating around the country — that focus on gun shops like Badger and accuse them of knowingly permitting illegal sales or of being grossly negligent.Lawsuits against gun sellers and makers were sharply restricted 10 years ago, when Congress passed a law giving the industry wide immunity from blame for the misuse of its products.
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