Gun Dealer Will Lose License Over Sniper Case

SEATTLE —  Federal regulators said Wednesday they are revoking the license of a gun dealer whose store was the source of the rifle used in the Washington, D.C.-area sniper shootings.

The revocation takes effect July 25, Martha Tebbenkamp, special operations inspector at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said.

Meanwhile, Bull’s Eye Shooter Supply in Tacoma remains open.

C. James Frush, the attorney representing the store owner, Brian Borgelt, said he will appeal the revocation in federal court. He said Wednesday that his client will sell the establishment to a friend, Chris Kindschuh, if the ATF grants Kindschuh a license.

Borgelt, 38, a former Army Ranger and military sniper instructor, did not immediately return calls for comment.

A .223-caliber Bushmaster AR-15 carbine, found with sniper defendants Lee Boyd Malvo and John Allen Muhammad when they were arrested in October, was traced to the store and linked to the killings.

It was one of dozens of weapons that went missing from Bull’s Eye, said Kelvin Crenshaw, agent in charge of the ATF office in Seattle.

“We feel what we’ve done is reasonable and within the bounds of the law to protect the public,” Crenshaw said.