January 13, 2004
Dayton Daily News

Six Ohio gun dealers named to national list

Six Ohio gun dealers made it onto a list of the nation's top 120 stores who sold guns later used in a crime, according to a study released Monday by Americans for Gun Safety.

Two of the six were two in the Cleveland area, two in Columbus, one in Akron and one in Gallipolis. At least two of them are no longer in business, or no longer sell guns.

Using data from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, Americans for Gun Safety counted guns traced from crime scenes from 1996 to 2000 back to their original retailers. The study found 15 percent of the guns came from the 120 stores that had at least 200 such traces.

There are more than 80,000 licensed gun dealers in the United States.

A Riverdale, Ill., store had the highest number of traces: 2,370. The lowest of the 120 was in Alberquerque, N.M., which had 200. The highest Ohio number, sold from Atlantic Gun & Tackle in Bedford Heights, was 909, the eighth highest in the nation.

"Once a customer buys a gun and leaves the store, there's absolutely nothing we can do," said an employee of Atlantic Gun & Tackle, who declined to give his name. He likened the situation to tracing cars used in drunken-driving cases back to the auto dealership. "Would there be a connection there? I don't think so."

Commentary by Chad D. Baus: