What Are Shooting Range Users So Fearful Of In West Milwaukee?
One would think that users of a shooting range in West Milwaukee, the same ones who so love and devote themselves to the Second Amendment, might also be mindful of the needs of law enforcement.
If you thought that might be case you would be severely wrong.
For nearly three years, the owners at Brew City Shooters Supply — formerly known as Badger Guns — were turning over the names of everyone who used the shooting range to West Milwaukee police.
That was obviously a good thing, even though it might be viewed as something the business needed to do given its very checkered reputation in the state.
…since late 2009…more than 25,000 names of range users through his system. So far this year…more than 8,800 and come up with 47 people who required further investigation. A few of those were referred to prosecutors for illegal possession.
What has made this all rather newsworthy is that Nik Clark, president of Wisconsin Carry, Inc., a gun rights advocacy group, read about the former practice in a Journal Sentinel article late last month. He alerted members, and the issue became a hot topic.
Clark is concerned that the range customers might have been put through a national crime database!
Oh, no–say it is not so!
What in hell are these people afraid of by having their names entered into the database?
If they are in fact law-abiding, tax paying, felon free individuals with no outstanding warrants or medical reasons why they can not use a gun or shooting range, what have they to fear?
People who want to conduct themselves in the manner that so many of the ’2nd amendment crowd’ does, then has a duty to the rest of society to check in with the police and make sure all the nuts and screws are tightened.
After what we hear and read almost daily in the press about gun violence how can anyone argue against continued updates to the local police?
No, I still don’t think you grasp the situation. These are not people buying guns that are being investigated. We expect a background investigation when we do that. The store was never accused of selling to criminals, they were accused of selling to perfectly legal people that they might have thought were going to either give or resell guns to others. What they were shut down for was allowing customers to write WI on the forms instead of spelling out Wisconsin. Did you notice that anyone from the store was ever prosecuted?
That said, if they had made it plain that if you want to use our facilities you have to fill out this form which we are going to give to the police it would have been fine. They didn’t. They gave the forms to the police without the knowledge of their customers.
As for your statement of the good it did, that was full of what I call weasel words. Out of 8,800 customers 47 were not instantly identifiable as good citizens. Out of that 47 a “few” were referred to the prosecutors. How few? One, two? Did you notice how they said some were arrested? NO! Did they say that these few were even felons? NO. They could have been arrested in 1962 for possession of marijuana. All they did was pass them to the prosecutor to determine if he thinks a crime was committed. Did you notice that the police chief has been willing to come forward and clarify all this?
If you cannot see that giving your customers’ information to the police behind their backs is not how you gain their trust there isn’t much hope for this conversation. The police threatened to shut down the store unless the storeowner gave over his customers’ information and the storeowner did without letting his customers know.
Rob,
Sorry that the post was not clear enough. Let me try again, and make some more points for you. Let me be more precise. The reason for the info being sent to the police is this store has a long and sad reputation for selling guns that commit crimes, even injure policemen. I have asked the following question on this blog about this business. If there was raw sewage being thrown into the streets by this business steps would be taken to remedy the matter. Why not deal with their gun problem?
To help stem the problems that this business knew they were creating, and frankly ( I think) to stop the effort at being closed, they decided to work with the police. One way to assist was making info avaiable to the police. Let us recall what the MJS wrote… So far this year…more than 8,800 and come up with 47 people who required further investigation. A few of those were referred to prosecutors for illegal possession.
If we save one lady from domestic violence, one cop from being shot, one old person from being shot during a home invasion, than the backgroudn checks and notifications will have been made for a purpose, and the info helpful to the police.
Finally, if I had not inferred it strongly enough, let me state that I would have no problem with my health club passing off my info to HSS, as an example, to help determine better ways to stay healthy, etc.
I have nothing to hide, but those who harbor weapsons and use them need then to be more accountable so the rest of us are safer.
The question which I asked and you never answered was not about how many corpses were left at the funeral home by your health club. The questions were 1) what was the check supposed to accomplish and 2) how would you feel if unbeknownst to you your health club gave your information to the police department to run a background check on you? Perhaps as though your privacy had been invaded? Neither question did you answer.
Given the problems of this store with selling guns that were then used to shoot police, and also other crimes, along with the devastating violence gun owners shower down on society daily there is every reason to have this type of information known to the authorities. Meanwhile my health club workout never left a corpse at a funeral home to be buried.
Fear? Nothing. Feel betrayed? Yes. Everytime a person buys a gun through an FFL he has to pass a background check. If we get a CHL we have to get a background check. Apparently the shooters at the range we unaware that their information was being turned over to the police. I am sure that you have nothing to fear in a background check either but would you be thrilled to find out that your health club had given your information to the police? What purpose did these background checks supposedly fulfil?