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Judge denies San Leandro gun dealer's appeal
Jason B. Johnson, Chronicle Staff Writer
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/25/BAGDCJ26E518.DTL
A judge denied a San Leandro gun store owner's appeal today to keep the federal government from revoking his license to sell firearms, effectively driving one of Northern California's biggest gun retailers out of business.
The case of Trader Sports has drawn attention from beyond the Bay Area because the East 14th Street store is one of the state's biggest gun dealers, selling more than 3,500 weapons a year. Store owner Tony Cucchiara argued that federal agents had overreached in revoking his license because of problems including his inability to account for more than 1,700 guns.
Cucchiara sued, claiming that the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was illegally trying to intimidate gun buyers by driving him out of business for minor and inadvertent violation of gun laws. But at the end of a nearly two-hour hearing Thursday in a San Francisco courtroom, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker denied Cucchiara's request for an injunction to keep the license revocation from taking effect June 1.
"We're disappointed," said Cucchiara's attorney, Malcolm Segal. "I fear that the business will be forced to close."
Trader Sports has been in business for more than 35 years. Gun-control advocates have long pointed to it as an example of why firearms sales need to be more tightly regulated.
The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence recently issued a report identifying the store as the nation's second-largest supplier of guns used in crimes. In 2005, 447 weapons used in crimes were traced to the shop, the group said.
"It seems that Trader Sports will be shut down. And it should be shut down," said Griffin Dix, president of the California Chapters of the Million Mom March organization. "Enough is enough."
Dix said the ruling sets a strong precedent that the federal government has the right to crack down on gun stores that fail to keep proper sales records and whose inventory repeatedly turn up at crime scenes. He said that 1 percent of gun dealers account for 57 percent of all guns used in crimes nationwide.
"It's a very small number of dealers that account for most of these sales, and they're the ones that break the law," Dix said.
During the hearing, Segal argued that shutting down Trader Sports would harm hunters and law enforcement personnel who buy their guns and ammunition from the store. He also accused federal investigators of staging more inspections of his client's operations in a single year than is allowed by law. Finally, he said, yanking the license would amount to a death sentence for the business.
But Walker said the arguments were not strong enough to warrant a preliminary injunction reversing the license revocation.
"Traders argues it will suffer numerous hardships," Walker said in handing down his ruling. "The court agrees it will face damages. (But) the motion for preliminary injunction will be denied."
Segal said he would talk with his client before deciding whether to appeal the decision. A hearing on the lawsuit itself is pending.
E-mail Jason B. Johnson at [email protected].
Jason B. Johnson, Chronicle Staff Writer
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/25/BAGDCJ26E518.DTL
A judge denied a San Leandro gun store owner's appeal today to keep the federal government from revoking his license to sell firearms, effectively driving one of Northern California's biggest gun retailers out of business.
The case of Trader Sports has drawn attention from beyond the Bay Area because the East 14th Street store is one of the state's biggest gun dealers, selling more than 3,500 weapons a year. Store owner Tony Cucchiara argued that federal agents had overreached in revoking his license because of problems including his inability to account for more than 1,700 guns.
Cucchiara sued, claiming that the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was illegally trying to intimidate gun buyers by driving him out of business for minor and inadvertent violation of gun laws. But at the end of a nearly two-hour hearing Thursday in a San Francisco courtroom, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker denied Cucchiara's request for an injunction to keep the license revocation from taking effect June 1.
"We're disappointed," said Cucchiara's attorney, Malcolm Segal. "I fear that the business will be forced to close."
Trader Sports has been in business for more than 35 years. Gun-control advocates have long pointed to it as an example of why firearms sales need to be more tightly regulated.
The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence recently issued a report identifying the store as the nation's second-largest supplier of guns used in crimes. In 2005, 447 weapons used in crimes were traced to the shop, the group said.
"It seems that Trader Sports will be shut down. And it should be shut down," said Griffin Dix, president of the California Chapters of the Million Mom March organization. "Enough is enough."
Dix said the ruling sets a strong precedent that the federal government has the right to crack down on gun stores that fail to keep proper sales records and whose inventory repeatedly turn up at crime scenes. He said that 1 percent of gun dealers account for 57 percent of all guns used in crimes nationwide.
"It's a very small number of dealers that account for most of these sales, and they're the ones that break the law," Dix said.
During the hearing, Segal argued that shutting down Trader Sports would harm hunters and law enforcement personnel who buy their guns and ammunition from the store. He also accused federal investigators of staging more inspections of his client's operations in a single year than is allowed by law. Finally, he said, yanking the license would amount to a death sentence for the business.
But Walker said the arguments were not strong enough to warrant a preliminary injunction reversing the license revocation.
"Traders argues it will suffer numerous hardships," Walker said in handing down his ruling. "The court agrees it will face damages. (But) the motion for preliminary injunction will be denied."
Segal said he would talk with his client before deciding whether to appeal the decision. A hearing on the lawsuit itself is pending.
E-mail Jason B. Johnson at [email protected].
Still, you'd think the disappearance of more than 2 guns in a year, let alone around 47 a year, would result in an internal audit.
