Wisconsin’s Gun Stores Have Violated Federal Law

M1911 Pistol Gun. (Pixabay License).

When a neighborhood business puts public safety at risk, enabling yet another illegal firearm to poison our community, should that business be held accountable? Or should it be allowed to carry on without interruption – business as usual?

This is not a theoretical question. Brady’s Gun Store Transparency Project has data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that show from 2015 to 2018, nineteen gun dealers in Wisconsin were in violation of federal firearms regulations because ATF inspectors found them to be missing firearms they could not account for. Lost or stolen firearms put our friends’ and families’ lives at risk and are a serious breach of the legal duties required of federal firearms dealer licensees.

And yet, ATF data on guns missing from dealers reveal it is not uncommon for gun stores’ inventory controls to be lax. Tens of thousands of firearms are lost or stolen from gun stores nationally each year. In Wisconsin, between 2017 and 2023, there were 93 incidents of loss or theft from gun dealers, averaging over seven guns per incident and resulting in 694 missing firearms.

In one of the most outrageous cases during that time, Joseph Jakubowski broke into Armageddon Supplies in Janesville on April 4, 2017 and stole 18 firearms, including a machine gun, and two silencers, resulting in a school district-wide lockdown and a 10-day manhunt. It soon came to light that despite the store having been burglarized of several firearms in another incident less than a year prior, the owner had made no effort to ensure his inventory was stored securely.

Most of the time, the consequence for a gun dealer missing one or more firearms is nothing more than a slap on the wrist from federal regulators. Indeed, for thirteen of those nineteen Wisconsin dealers with missing firearms violations, the corrective action taken by ATF was merely to send a warning letter asking the dealer to please try to be better at keeping tabs on their inventory in the future. Only one Wisconsin gun dealer’s federal license was revoked for this failure during that time.

To improve accountability for gun dealers, the Biden administration implemented a “zero tolerance” policy that required a store’s license to be revoked for certain egregious or willful violations, including repeated instances of missing firearms. In a move that is nothing more than a blatant gift to the gun industry, the Trump administration has reversed that policy. Even worse, Trump’s ATF has encouraged former gun dealers with revoked licenses to apply for license renewal.

Contrast that to the action taken recently by the Milwaukee Common Council after an employee’s unsecured firearm was stolen off the counter of Third Street Quick Mart in Harambee. The Council issued a 10-day suspension of the store’s food dealer license to hold the store accountable for the loss of the gun. When voting on the suspension, Council members voiced legitimate concerns about public safety and the responsibilities of gun owners. As a result, the store owner now prohibits employees from carrying weapons and has promised to improve hiring practices and employee training.

The Common Council has it right. Businesses should act in the public’s interest if they want to keep their licenses and maintain the ability to operate. Unfortunately, our current federal government is only concerned about serving the interests of the gun industry – prioritizing the profits of gun company CEOs and their “guns everywhere” agenda over citizens’ lives.

Author Anneliese Dickman is Senior Manager of Combating Crime Guns Program – Brady: United Against Gun Violence.