Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced Tuesday the state has filed a consumer protection lawsuit against a Kelso gun shop for allegedly breaking a 2022 state law by selling high-capacity magazines to the general public.
The lawsuit alleges that gun store Gator’s Custom Guns, located at 301 North 1st St. in Kelso, Cowlitz County, plus its owner Walter, or Wally, Wentz, has been selling high-capacity magazines after the distribution, sale, importation and manufacture of such equipment was banned in the state in July 2022.
Wentz’s son Benjamin Wentz told The Daily News they didn’t know about the lawsuit until Tuesday, but declined to talk further.
The Attorney General’s Office asks that Gator’s Custom Guns destroy or return any remaining inventory of the prohibited items, and no longer stock, sell or advertise high-capacity magazines, describing the store as “among the state’s largest and most persistent purchasers of high-capacity magazines from out-of-state distributors.”
Walter Wentz could face a fine of at least $7,500 for every time the shop sold or offered to sell high-capacity magazines, as determined by a judge, said Communications Director Brionna Aho for the Washington State Attorney General Office.
Investigation
Gator’s Custom Guns is the second lawsuit brought forth by the Washington Attorney General’s Office in regard to illegal sales of large capacity magazines, with the capability to contain more than 10 rounds of ammo, according to a department news release.
As mentioned in the lawsuit, the Attorney General’s office conducted a sweep of drop-in visits by investigators in August of 2022 of brick-and-mortar shops across the state. Investigators attempted to buy large capacity magazines at 25 stores, but only two retailers sold or offered to sell the prohibited item.
The Attorney General’s Office then conducted a second round of drop-ins in March and May, visiting nearly 90 gun stores, with a vast majority of gun retailers adhering to the law. However, at Gator’s Custom Guns, the suit says the shop “openly displayed hundreds of (large capacity magazines) for public sale in their retail store.”
In May, investigators say they purchased from the store three high-capacity magazines: a 33-round magazine for a Glock, a 27-round magazine for a rifle, and a 40-round magazine, also for a rifle.
Walter Wentz himself allegedly sold prohibited items during the investigators’ second visit to the Kelso shop.
The suit alleges that Gator’s Custom Guns was a persistent purchaser of large capacity magazines and that the store “purchased and (with) caused to be delivered into Washington” at least 11,408 large capacity magazines since the passage of the law.
“Our sweep continues to show that an overwhelming majority of gun retailers in Washington are doing the right thing and complying with the law,” Ferguson said in the news release. “In contrast, Gator’s Custom Guns intentionally built a retail stockpile that exceeds anything my office has seen since the ban went into effect.”
During the pandemic, Gator’s Custom Guns was also reported to be operating even though it wasn’t considered an essential business under outgoing Gov. Jay Inslee’s stay-at-home orders, as previously reported by The Daily News. Walter Wentz told the outlet at the time he received legal advise stating his business was essential.
Other alleged violators
Ferguson filed a similar consumer protection lawsuit against Federal Way Discount Guns and its owner for selling high-capacity magazines. Ferguson was able to get a county court judge to order an injunction halting the store from selling high-capacity magazines in December.
The Attorney General’s Office also fined a Lakewood, Washington gun seller, WSG Guns, $15,000 for intentionally violating the high-capacity magazine ban, after the company allegedly sold the prohibited items two months after the law barring their sale went into effect.
According to the lawsuit, large-capacity magazines were used in 10 of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history since 2009. Multiple high-capacity magazines were found in the hotel room of Stephen Paddock, the man alleged to have killed 61 people in the 2017 Las Vegas shooting.
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