A Milwaukee jury resumes deliberations in a rare case of two police officers who blame a gun store for their injuries.
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The lawsuit alleges the store was negligent and should’ve spotted clear warning signs that the gun was being sold to a “straw buyer”, or someone who was buying the gun for someone who couldn’t legally do so.
During the trial, the gun store’s lawyers and staff had maintained that Badger Guns had never intentionally sold weapons to criminals.
Milwaukee police officer Bryan Norberg and former officer Graham Kunisch were seriously wounded in 2009, when Julius Burton shot both of them in their faces as they were stopping him for riding his bike on the sidewalk. A struggle ensued and Burton pulled out a gun, shooting both officers in the face.
A bullet shattered eight of Norberg’s teeth, blew through his cheek and lodged into his right shoulder.
He remains on the force but argues that his wounds have made his work hard.
Mr Kunisch was shot several times, resulting in him losing an eye and part of the frontal lobe of his brain.
Jurors ordered the store to pay Officer Norberg $US1.5 million and Mr Kunisch $US3.6 million, in addition to $US730,000 in punitive damages.
Burton pleaded guilty to attempted first degree intentional homicide and is in prison.
Burton testified via videotape that he had a friend purchase the gun from Badger Guns in West Milwaukee because he was under age. Now, the ruling in this case could impact gun stores all over the country. Gun shops usually can not be held liable for crimes committed by their customers, under a law passed by Congress during the administration of President George W. Bush.
“Badger Guns did not do the job it was required to do when it made that sale”, Patrick Dunphy, the officers’ attorney, said during the trial.
Badger Guns was also previously called Badger Outdoors, and at times was the No. 1 seller of firearms used in crimes in the nation – moving 537 guns that were recovered from crime scenes in 2005 alone, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. She said it was nothing more than a routine transaction where a business is sold to a family member.
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Norberg and Kunisch cited that detail in their lawsuit, saying it showed a history of negligence. They said the salesman was duped by Collins and Burton, who went out of their way to deceive him.
