Milwaukee Jury Finds Gun Shop Negligent in Shooting of Two Police Officers After Straw Purchase

On a June evening in 2009, two Milwaukee police officers, Graham Kunisch and Bryan Norberg, stopped a man riding a bicycle on the sidewalk on the city's near south side. The man pulled a Taurus .40-caliber handgun and shot both officers in the face.

The injuries were serious. Kunisch was shot several times and lost an eye and part of his frontal lobe. He suffered a brain injury and retired from the force on a duty disability. One bullet hit Norberg in the cheek, shattered eight of his teeth and lodged in his shoulder. Norberg stayed on the job but has continued to struggle with the effects of the shooting.

The gunman could not legally buy a firearm. A month earlier, another man had bought the handgun for him at Badger Guns, a Milwaukee-area shop that was among the country's largest sources of guns traced to crimes. The officers sued the shop, arguing that its staff should have recognized the sale as a straw purchase, one made by a legal buyer on behalf of someone barred from owning a gun. Their lawyer was Patrick Dunphy.

The trial put the details of that sale in front of the jury. The man who was to pick up the gun had been in the store with the person who pointed out which one he wanted. On the federal form, the buyer first checked 'no' to the question of whether he was the actual purchaser, then changed it to 'yes.' He gave an incorrect address. He also did not have enough cash at first, so he left and came back with more. The case was only the second in the country to reach a jury against a gun dealer since Congress passed federal immunity protections for the industry in 2005.

On October 13, 2015, the Milwaukee County jury found Badger Guns negligent. It awarded Kunisch $3.6 million and Norberg $1.5 million in compensatory damages, plus $730,000 in punitive damages, for a total of about $5.83 million. After the verdict, Dunphy told reporters, 'One verdict in Milwaukee is a good step. Time will tell,' when asked whether the result would change how dealers handle straw purchases.

In December 2015, Badger Guns agreed to pay $1 million to settle, a deal that spared both sides a lengthy appeal. Badger Guns' attorney, James Vogts, announced it. Kunisch received $216,120 and Norberg received $74,427. The rest went to the city of Milwaukee, attorney fees and costs.