Monkeyleg
June 12, 2003, 06:29 PM
Buttrum's was a small gun shop in a northern suburb of Milwaukee. The owner admittedly screwed up several times. But the quote in boldface sums up the attitude of the "holier-than-thou" north shore types.
Glendale couple want to run gun shop from home
Operation would be Web-based, owners say
By MARIE ROHDE
mrohde@journalsentinel.com
Last Updated: June 8, 2003
Glendale - The North Shore's only gun store has closed its commercial operation on Port Washington Road, but its owners are asking the Glendale Common Council for permission to operate an Internet gun sales operation out of their home.
The request is likely to meet stiff resistance from the council. The request of Christopher and Jennifer Buttrum to operate the business from their home at 5955 N. Sidney Place will be considered by the Common Council tonight.
"Our home will not be open to walk-in customers," Jennifer Buttrum says in a letter to the council. "Buttrums will only sell firearms via the Internet and at gun shows."
The Buttrums could not be reached for comment. The only telephone number listed on the city license application form has been disconnected. On a form filed with federal officials, the Buttrums say the home business would be operated from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, and from 6 to 8 p.m. on Fridays.
In a report to the council, Glendale Police Chief Thomas Czarnyszka noted that the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has begun an action to revoke the Buttrums' license to sell firearms and the U.S. attorney is considering federal action. However, that action will not occur before the council acts, Czarnyszka says in a letter to the council.
Business searched
The Buttrums' troubles with federal authorities date to Nov. 2, 2002, when ATF agents executed a search warrant on the store, then at 5464 N. Port Washington Road, and seized 44 guns. The weapons had not been properly logged as required by federal licensing guidelines.
"Based on my understanding of these circumstances, I believe that the issuance of a license to the applicant may present a risk or threat to the public health, welfare and safety," Czarnyszka wrote.
City officials have never been happy about having a gun store in the community but said they were hamstrung by a 1995 state law that prohibits municipalities from enacting ordinances more stringent than state law. That's irked a number of municipal leaders around the state. Milwaukee and Madison enacted gun sales ordinances that were overturned in state court.
The Buttrums have maintained that a federal license is all that they need, but, if Czarnyszka is correct, they may not have that license for long.
"This information seems to indicate that Buttrums' Sporting Goods Inc. has not been in compliance with the provisions of the Federal Firearms License," the chief wrote. "Until they can prove, through strict adherence to federal regulations, that they are not transferring firearms in violation of that code, I cannot recommend approval of their request for a license to sell guns in Glendale."
The recent problems with the ATF are not new.
When the Buttrums' license was on the council's agenda for renewal last year, some city officials expected an ATF representative to attend the meeting and discuss a March 2002 inspection of the store that found 15 violations of federal regulations.
Although the federal agency wrote that those violations were "significant and of great concern to the agency," the council reluctantly agreed to grant a renewal of the license after no ATF official showed up at the hearing.
The Buttrums have two other hurdles to obtain Glendale's permission to operate the business out of their home: They owe the city $440.68 in back taxes and the city attorney maintains that moving the business to their home constitutes a new business and thus a new license, not a transfer of the old license.
In a memo to the Common Council, City Administrator Richard Masolowski asked: "Is this the type of home occupation the city wants or desires in our residential areas? Would this promote the city as being 'family friendly?' "
The Port Washington Road store opened in 1998, and Gary Buttrum, Christopher's father, who began the business, had been federally licensed and sold guns from his store for a number of years.
From the June 9, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Glendale couple want to run gun shop from home
Operation would be Web-based, owners say
By MARIE ROHDE
mrohde@journalsentinel.com
Last Updated: June 8, 2003
Glendale - The North Shore's only gun store has closed its commercial operation on Port Washington Road, but its owners are asking the Glendale Common Council for permission to operate an Internet gun sales operation out of their home.
The request is likely to meet stiff resistance from the council. The request of Christopher and Jennifer Buttrum to operate the business from their home at 5955 N. Sidney Place will be considered by the Common Council tonight.
"Our home will not be open to walk-in customers," Jennifer Buttrum says in a letter to the council. "Buttrums will only sell firearms via the Internet and at gun shows."
The Buttrums could not be reached for comment. The only telephone number listed on the city license application form has been disconnected. On a form filed with federal officials, the Buttrums say the home business would be operated from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, and from 6 to 8 p.m. on Fridays.
In a report to the council, Glendale Police Chief Thomas Czarnyszka noted that the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has begun an action to revoke the Buttrums' license to sell firearms and the U.S. attorney is considering federal action. However, that action will not occur before the council acts, Czarnyszka says in a letter to the council.
Business searched
The Buttrums' troubles with federal authorities date to Nov. 2, 2002, when ATF agents executed a search warrant on the store, then at 5464 N. Port Washington Road, and seized 44 guns. The weapons had not been properly logged as required by federal licensing guidelines.
"Based on my understanding of these circumstances, I believe that the issuance of a license to the applicant may present a risk or threat to the public health, welfare and safety," Czarnyszka wrote.
City officials have never been happy about having a gun store in the community but said they were hamstrung by a 1995 state law that prohibits municipalities from enacting ordinances more stringent than state law. That's irked a number of municipal leaders around the state. Milwaukee and Madison enacted gun sales ordinances that were overturned in state court.
The Buttrums have maintained that a federal license is all that they need, but, if Czarnyszka is correct, they may not have that license for long.
"This information seems to indicate that Buttrums' Sporting Goods Inc. has not been in compliance with the provisions of the Federal Firearms License," the chief wrote. "Until they can prove, through strict adherence to federal regulations, that they are not transferring firearms in violation of that code, I cannot recommend approval of their request for a license to sell guns in Glendale."
The recent problems with the ATF are not new.
When the Buttrums' license was on the council's agenda for renewal last year, some city officials expected an ATF representative to attend the meeting and discuss a March 2002 inspection of the store that found 15 violations of federal regulations.
Although the federal agency wrote that those violations were "significant and of great concern to the agency," the council reluctantly agreed to grant a renewal of the license after no ATF official showed up at the hearing.
The Buttrums have two other hurdles to obtain Glendale's permission to operate the business out of their home: They owe the city $440.68 in back taxes and the city attorney maintains that moving the business to their home constitutes a new business and thus a new license, not a transfer of the old license.
In a memo to the Common Council, City Administrator Richard Masolowski asked: "Is this the type of home occupation the city wants or desires in our residential areas? Would this promote the city as being 'family friendly?' "
The Port Washington Road store opened in 1998, and Gary Buttrum, Christopher's father, who began the business, had been federally licensed and sold guns from his store for a number of years.
From the June 9, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel