Should gun store dealers be responsible if a crime is committed using a weapon they legally sold to a buyer? A jury in Wisconsin thinks so, and legal analysts say the result could seriously affect the Second Amendment rights of all Americans.
According to a story on World Net Daily, Badger Guns was ordered to pay $6 million to two Milwaukee police officers who were shot by a man using a weapon sold by the store. The two officers were shot in the face after stopping a suspect from riding a bike on the sidewalk in 2009. the suspect, Julius Burton, has since been sentenced to 80 years in prison.
But upon further investigation, it was revealed that Burton bought the gun about a month before the shooting from another man named Jacob Collins. Collins, who has since served two years in prison, had purchased the firearm at Badger Guns, FOX News reported.
In the suit the officers alleged that Badger Guns failed to take necessary precautions in preventing straw purchases–which are purchases made by buyers who are legally permitted to own a gun on behalf of those who aren’t legally allowed to own or possess firearms.
Gun manufacturers are legally protected from lawsuits in cases where their weapons have been used to commit a crime. Why aren’t dealers provided the same protection? How are they supposed to predict how one of their guns will be used? How are they supposed to know a buyer’s intentions as far as reselling a weapon?
It was a jury of our peers this time, but we have members of Congress who want to require liability insurance to own a gun. We have Senators pushing to completely ban gun ownership while we have others who want to create a national gun registry. And we have Obama about to issue executive orders to make it impossible to even sell or gift a gun between family members.
From the president to our neighbors, the threat to our Second Amendment rights are very real, and we must be ever vigilant in protecting them.
David Leach is the owner and publisher of The Strident Conservative where he is proudly politically-incorrect and always “right,” and he is also a frequent contributor at RedState.com.
His political commentaries can be heard daily on KLZ560 AM at 3pm MST and on other Crawford Broadcasting stations throughout the day.
