Sep. 12—The Washington attorney general is suing a Cowlitz County gun shop for allegedly breaking state law in offering thousands of high-capacity magazines for sale.
Gators Custom Guns in Kelso, Washington, has reportedly continued to sell illegal assault rifle magazines to the public, despite a state law passed in 2022 that banned the distribution of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson on Tuesday filed a 12-page consumer protection complaint against Gators and shop owner Walter Wentz in Cowlitz County Superior Court. The court document details a lengthy sweep by the state of nearly 90 gun shops across Washington to check that retailers were complying with the high-capacity magazine ban. The "vast majority" of stores appeared to comply with the ban, the complaint says.
Gators, on the other hand, showed a "brazen, defiant and egregious violation of laws" with their inventory of more than 11,000 high-capacity magazines, the state alleges.
When state investigators stopped in at Gators, they reportedly saw several barrels containing hundreds of high-capacity magazines for sale, the largest collection they'd encountered since the ban took effect.
In May, Gators sold a total of five illegal high-capacity magazines to investigators on two occasions, the complaint alleges, including magazines with the capacity to hold 40 rounds, compatible with both handguns and assault-style weapons such as the AR-15.
"Gators owner Wentz himself transacted the second sale," reads the legal complaint.
The court document also contain photos investigators took inside the gun store depicting rows of barrels and boxes full of high-capacity magazines for sale.
The sign on one barrel reads:
"AK-47 MAGAZINES
30RD
12.99 +TAX."
Wentz declined to comment on the lawsuit Tuesday, adding that he might comment on the case in the future. Wentz deferred to the litigation team at Silent Majority Foundation, a nonprofit with a self-described mission of protecting "our God given constitutional rights."
Silent Majority Foundation director Rob Waltz told The Spokesman-Review that his organization had yet to decide whether it will represent Gators in the lawsuit filed Monday, but that the organization worked with Wentz on an "unrelated" case that Waltz declined to provide information on.
Gators opened its doors in 2010. Wentz, of Castle Rock, is the only registered owner of the store.
The Gators case is the second lawsuit filed by the government agency since the 2022 ban of high-capacity magazines.