Our national right to keep and bear arms is not a second-class civil right subject to local rules, opinions or interpretations. That is one of the key issues for the defense in the state case against Walter Wentz, owner of Gator’s Custom Guns, Inc., which has been operating in southwest Washington State for more than 14 years.
Wentz employs a staff of four including his youngest son who is the store’s manager. The gun shop started out small with about 900 square feet of space, but four years ago they expanded into a much bigger building.
The State’s Complaint
According to the state’s complaint, in March 2022, Washington passed SB 5078, which banned the sale, importation, distribution and manufacture of “large capacity magazines or LCMs,” which can accept more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
“The threat posed by LCMs is not merely theoretical. Since 1980, LCMs have been involved in at least 85 mass shootings nationwide, resulting in 791 fatalities and more than 1,100 injuries,” the lawsuit claims. “Unfortunately, mass shootings continue, as does the use of weapons equipped with LCMs to reign terror upon our communities, including three this year alone – Monterey Park, Nashville, and Allen. Washington State is no stranger to these terrible events, as evidenced by mass shootings in recent years in Mukilteo and Burlington.”
The suit accuses Wentz and Gators of violating the state’s Consumer Protection Act when it sold standard capacity magazines to two state “investigators” on two occasions.
“In fact, one of those sales was made by Wentz himself: two magazines with capacity four times greater than the maximum allowed under the law,” a 2023 press release by Attorney General Bob Ferguson claims.
Ferguson, it should be pointed out, generated national news coverage because of his staunch anti-gun actions, and is set to become Washington State’s 24th governor on January 15th.
Wentz countersued in superior court with the help of the Silent Majority Foundation, a unique law firm which is located in Pasco, Washington. Wentz won his case, but within minutes the state appealed and got a stay. Now, in one week the two sides will battle it out again in Washington State’s Supreme Court. If he loses, Wentz said he will go to the United States Supreme Court.
“Our stay only lasted 88 minutes,” Wentz said Saturday. “We appealed that, and on 14 January we will be at the (state) Supreme Court.”
The Cost of Bad Laws
Washington State’s anti-gun laws, which ban the sale of “assault rifles” and standard-capacity magazines have taken a terrific toll on Wentz’s business.
“It was a 40-percent kick in the nuts to my retail volume,” he said, quickly adding that he did not have to fire any of his employees. “With the help of the Silent Majority Foundation, we’ve been in litigation for more than a year now.”
Wentz is not sure how much the litigation has cost him.
“The NRA ponied out $75,000,” he said. “We chewed that up.”
His reason for fighting Washington State is simple: “There were two other entities (gun shops) that had their own cases and they both settled. Somebody has to fight, or they’ll think they can do this with the rest of our Constitutional rights. If I lose on 14 January, we are going to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. If someone doesn’t put their foot down, we’re going to lose the entire Second Amendment.”
National Implications
Wentz knows his case could have national impact.
“When we win, it’s going to be a national precedence-setting event,” he said. “There are seven to 10 states that still want to reinterpret the Constitution, who will be on their heels. We really believe a win in this category will set things in motion, and keep those who would want to change the Constitution in check for a period of time until the Constitution goes to sleep again.”
The case has already taken a personal toll.
“I’m balancing a staff of four’s livelihood on a 40-percent reduction in volume. That’s my job one,” he said. “Keeping those four guys’ families fed. It’s stressful. It would be very easy to fall into the trap. We’re in the red bastion of Washington State. The majority here are very conservative and fiscally responsible. You can smell it and taste it. Now, it’s stressful knowing I’ve got to go sit in front of people who don’t think the way we do.”
Wentz knows he must first exhaust all of his potential state remedies before going to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“We can’t go to the national level without doing this first,” he said. “That’s why other cases in other states have failed. I don’t understand why they don’t understand. It’s the reason our justice system works.”
Wentz’s wife has noticed the toll the legal battle has taken on him, especially since two other gun shops have already conceded.
“She has to live through all of this, too,” he said. “A lot of women wouldn’t have stuck around. She understands how strongly I feel about the Constitution. It’s a win-or-die for me. We can’t look at it any other way. They, the state, assumed I’d become number three.”
Wentz said his customers think he’s “awesome.”
“They put money in a bucket every week,” he said. “I wouldn’t have started this if I was going to quit. I certainly wouldn’t have taken their money. Our community has been very supportive. It’s the red bastion of the state on the west side that wants us to win. We can’t go to the national level without doing this. That’s where the other cases in other states have failed.”
Click here to support Wentz’s case and the Silent Majority Foundation.
This story is courtesy of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project.
And why don’t the gun/ammo makers stand up and do something about it? Fight against these states, Show the Gov’t that the 2nd companies DO have power. Boycott These gov’t agencies. See how tight their asses get when THEY can’t get ammo, parts or guns for LEO’s!
“And why don’t the gun/ammo makers stand up and do something about it?”
For starters, the “gun/ammo makers” stand to lose more than any general collection of closed gun shops do. Business is the business of business; making money. Large corporations can have more vulnerabilities against govt, than individuals; more ways for govt to entangle a corp.
As for business considerations, so far the anti-2A cabals are seen as a greater source of continued business than all the “red” states and localities combined (not sure how that is calculated, but the evidence is there). Maybe the guns/ammo makers consider the FUDDS to be a much more lucrative line of businness.
And maybe there are the “don’t rock the boat”, and “I don’t have to out run the tiger, I just need to outrun you” principles at work.
The end goal for states like Washington is to eliminate civilian ownership of firearms. it’s a very least they want to limit it to bolt action rifles and shotguns.
Sure, Washington is just one state, but you’ve got at least a third of the country working out of the same Soros-backed playbook. If that were to come to pass, how many of these companies that aren’t Glock or Smith & Wesson are still going to be around?
Playing the”I’m just a businessman, I don’t get involved in politics” game is counterproductive when politicians are trying to destroy your business. It’s worth the temporary pain today for the industry to send a message that if you screw with them, they’re going to blacklist your state.
This is another example of the state throwing their financial weight around. The average mom and pop enterprise cannot stand against the state without financial help to further their case. The state knows this and believes that even a fundamental Constitutional right is fair game to their whims because they know that only they have the resources, SCOTUS be damned.
Maybe it wasn’t my comment but my screen name?
Moderation is only for sober alcholicss
It’s only twenty-seven words long for a reason.
BREAKING: WE HAVE THE NATIONAL CARRY BILL & It Is SO MUCH Better That We THOUGHT!!!
h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YASWmNz0n3k
BREAKING! National Concealed Carry Bill DROPPING & INCLUDES CONSTITUTIONAL CARRY FOR ALL 50 STATES!
h ttps://www.secondpress.co/videos/breaking-national-concealed-carry-bill-dropping-includes-constitutional-carry-for-all-50-states/apcOwl8nTkg
Note for above: for “INCLUDES CONSTITUTIONAL CARRY FOR ALL 50 STATES!”
Braden was a little, well, overly enthusiastic. Its not ‘constitutional carry’ per se’. Its making permits valid in any state valid in all 50 states.
This in some ways screws people in permit-less carry states, permit-less carry is actually ‘constitutional carry’. If the law in your state allows permit-less carry for non-prohibited people, technically you do have a permit in that the law in your state permits you to carry without being actually issued a ‘document’ type permit. If you can legally carry permit-less in your home state and do so and do not have a ‘document’ type permit, if for some reason you need to travel to a state that requires a ‘document’ type permit then you will need to get a ‘document’ type permit in your home permit-less carry state to be able to carry in the state you travel to that requires a ‘document’ type permit.
In this way, this bill screws people in permit-less carry states (if they need to travel to a state that requires a ‘document’ type permit). Or in other words, for people who carry permit-less legally in their home state to travel in the United States outside their home permit-less carry state you will still not have ‘constitutional carry’ unless you travel only to or through states that allow you to permit-less carry which means to do other wise you will need to basically forfeit your true permit-less ‘constitutional carry’ by submitting to the other states ‘document type permit’ requirement to have a permit which means you will need to get a permit in your home state.
So basically this bill, indirectly and directly, re-enforces the ‘document type permit’ states ability to ‘infringe’ by still requiring a ‘permission slip’ to exercise a constitutional right.
In other words, ‘national reciprocity’ simply maintains the ability for ‘document type permit’ states to ‘infringe’ by still requiring a ‘permission slip’ to exercise a constitutional right.
Welcome To The Party! LGBTQ & Liberals Taking Up Arms!
h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpiFE3T6XJU
Awesome – the crazies are on the loose. Any degenerate (or Hollyweird/MSM prog) that actually is “concerned” about being “rounded up” is insane and to be kept away from sharp objects.
From 2016:
“Why US liberals are now buying guns too”
h ttps://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-38297345
Seung-Hui Cho simply carried multiple magazines for two pistols. Stopping to reload is not stopping murderers. He was able to kill 32 innocent people because they were unarmed.