Wisconsin –(Ammoland.com)-Wisconsin Carry has learned of some concerning information that we would like to pass along to our membership and right-to-carry interested folks in southeast Wisconsin.
In a recently published Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article which you can read here
It was reported that the former Badger Guns (now Brew City Shooters Supply) has, since 2009, been reporting the names of every customer that comes in to use their firing range to the West Milwaukee Police Department.
In this time over 25,000 customer names were reported to West Milwaukee Police Chief Dennis Nasci who ran a background check on each through “his system”.
So far in 2012, it was reported more than 8,800 customer name records have been supplied to West Milwaukee Police by Brew City Shooters Supply to have a criminal background check run on them.
We do not know yet, how else West Milwaukee Police have been using these records they have been given by Brew City Shooters Supply, nor if they are storing those customer names for future reference. We also do not know what other purposes West Milwaukee Police might choose to use these customers’ name lists for in the future.
Having spoken with members of WCI who frequent Brew City Shooters Supply, though they were aware they signed a liability release to use the range, they were NOT aware in any way that their use of the range was being reported to the West Milwaukee Police Department.
Wisconsin Carry does not believe it is the government’s business if, when, or how often law-abiding citizens use a firing range. We also believe that if a business is going to report law-abiding activities of customers to local police departments so a background check can be run with no reason or justification, they should be explicitly informing customers of this tactic. Wisconsin Carry rejects the selective intrusion on customers’ privacy by any business with no reason or cause other than those customers patronage to participate in a legal activity.
Wisconsin Carry rejects the use of public resources to run background checks on law-abiding citizens with no probable cause or reasonable suspicion whether those citizens were using a firing range, attending church, going to the grocery store, or stopping in a corner tavern for a cocktail.
We do not know if Brew City Shooters Supply also provided the names of customers who came in to purchase ammunition to West Milwaukee Police.
Wisconsin Carry has made an open records request of the Village of West Milwaukee for any and all information and documents pertaining to this scheme of Brew City Shooters/Badger Guns providing lists of law-abiding customer names to Village of West Milwaukee Police. We will send out updates as more information becomes available as to the extent of the use of that information, whether the rights of law-abiding customers were violated by Brew City Shooters Supply or Village of West Milwaukee Police, and any other details that we believe would be of interest to the law-abiding gun owners of Southeast Wisconsin.
Carry On,
Nik Clark Chairman – Wisconsin Carry, Inc.P.O. Box 270403
Milwaukee, WI 53227
nik@wisconsincarry.org
About Wisconsin Carry, Inc.
Wisconsin Carry, Inc. is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the preservation and reclamation of the rights of law-abiding Wisconsin residents to carry in the manner of their choosing. We believe that “open carry” and “concealed carry” are choices to be made by law-abiding citizens based on their situation and preference. Wisconsin Carry, like many gun-rights organizations in Wisconsin, is investing a great deal of resources to get Wisconsin law changed to allow concealed carry this next legislative session by proposing Constitutional Carry. Wisconsin Carry, Inc. will continue to use legal recourse to deter unlawful treatment of law-abiding Wisconsin residents who currently exercise their right to open carry, and soon will exercise their right to concealed carry in Wisconsin. Visit: www.wisconsincarry.org
