Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison recently announced that sporting goods retailer Fleet Farm had agreed to a sweeping consent judgement with the State of Minnesota, resolving a lawsuit that accused the retailer of negligently selling firearms to straw purchasers despite repeated warning signs. The settlement, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, requires Fleet Farm to pay $1 million and implement significant reforms to its firearm sales practices across its Minnesota stores.
The settlement marks a new milestone in efforts to secure the gun industry’s supply chain and prevent gun trafficking.
The Lawsuit’s Allegations
Attorney General Ellison first filed suit against Fleet Farm in October 2022 for “negligently selling firearms to straw purchasers” — people who illegally buy guns for others, often those who are prohibited from owning them — “aiding and abetting these criminals, and contributing to gun trafficking in Minnesota by allowing guns to get into the wrong hands.”
According to the attorney general’s office, Fleet Farm sold at least 37 firearms to two straw purchasers in just 16 months and “disregarded well known and blatant warning signs of straw purchasing,” including multiple purchases of similar handguns and buying sprees over short periods of time.
One of the straw purchasers allegedly bought 24 guns from Fleet Farm locations, including eight in the span of a week.1Memorandum Opinion and Order on Motions to Exclude and Motions for Summary Judgment, State of Minnesota v. Fleet Farm, Case No. 0:2022cv02694, 7, https://cases.justia.com/federal/district-courts/minnesota/mndce/0:2022cv02694/203921/249/0.pdf?ts=1759409871. As shown in the timeline below, most of the guns were 9mm pistols,2Complaint, State of Minnesota v. Fleet Farm, 14, https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2022/docs/FleetFarm_Complaint.pdf. including a Mossberg MC2c pistol that was later used in a mass shooting at the Truck Park bar in St. Paul, Minnesota, in which one person was killed and 14 others were wounded. A Star Tribune investigation found that the pistol Fleet Farm sold changed hands several times before it was used in the shooting.
To help the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) disrupt trafficking rings, licensed gun dealers must submit a report to the agency whenever a customer purchases two or more handguns within five business days. But when a straw purchaser bought three handguns from Fleet Farm over two days in July 2021, employees did not report the transactions until October of that year.3Memorandum Opinion and Order on Motions to Exclude and Motions for Summary Judgment, State of Minnesota v. Fleet Farm, 7.
Surveillance footage also showed the trafficker “using the camera feature on his [phone] to either take photographs or video” of a Glock 26 while buying it — “a common indication of straw purchasing, as the straw purchaser wants to show available firearms to the third party intended recipient of the firearm without the intended recipient having to appear on surveillance cameras.”4Complaint, State of Minnesota v. Fleet Farm, 15.
A Fleet Farm manager allegedly notified one of the store’s firearm compliance officers about the straw purchaser, but never heard back from them.5Memorandum Opinion and Order on Motions to Exclude and Motions for Summary Judgment, State of Minnesota v. Fleet Farm, 8.
Several of the straw-purchased firearms were recovered from individuals prohibited from possessing them as well as those without carry permits. One firearm was discovered by a six-year-old in the front yard of his home in Minneapolis where it was likely discarded by suspects fleeing a neighborhood shooting.6Ibid, 8.
fleet farm’s New Measures
In addition to paying $1 million to the State of Minnesota, Fleet Farm agreed to, among other things:
- Maintain and update formal straw purchasing policies;
- Train new and current employees to detect straw purchases;
- Conduct regular, unannounced compliance checks;
- Implement point-of-sale software that tracks each customer’s previous Fleet Farm gun purchases and flags any BOLO or straw purchasing alerts, prior sales linked to crime gun trace requests, and multiple handgun sales reports submitted to the ATF;
- Require “heightened screening” and compliance employee approval if warning signs appear;
- Display the ATF’s anti-straw-purchasing materials in stores; and
- Discipline employees who fail to follow the company’s new policies.
PROTECTING MINNESOTANS
The case, State of Minnesota v. Fleet Farm, was headed to trial after the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota largely denied Fleet Farm’s motion for summary judgement last October. In 2023, the court also rejected Fleet Farm’s attempt to invoke the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) as a shield from liability.
In announcing the settlement, Attorney General Ellison said that the criminal justice system can “hold corporations like Fleet Farm accountable under civil law when they sell firearms to people they should suspect will re-sell those guns to dangerous individuals. This outcome should serve as a clear warning to any other gun dealers or retailers who would put their profit ahead of Minnesotans’ safety.”