I want to walk you through something important that just came out about firearms sales and crime in California. According to reporting by The Trace in partnership with CalMatters Housing, a new state Department of Justice report has revealed some significant patterns about where crime guns are coming from in our biggest cities.
Turner's Outdoorsman, a chain with over thirty locations across California, keeps showing up in law enforcement investigations as a major source of firearms recovered at crime scenes. The numbers are pretty striking. In Bakersfield specifically, law enforcement traced eighty-three guns sold by Turner's to crime scenes between 2023 and 2025, which was the highest number for any active firearms dealer in any of the state's ten most populous cities. When you add in guns from the previous business at that same location, the total climbs to one hundred eighty-three weapons, which is actually higher than the combined totals from the top five dealers in Los Angeles, Oakland, or San Diego combined.
Here's what's getting attention from law enforcement and community groups. The state data shows that not only does Turner's move a huge volume of guns, but the firearms sold there end up at crime scenes faster than guns from other dealers. More than a third of the time, these weapons make it to crime scenes in less than a year after purchase, which regulators consider a red flag for trafficking. Statewide, Turner's accounted for over eighty-five hundred crime gun traces between 2023 and 2025, even though the chain only represents about twenty-two percent of all firearms sales in that period.
The company has faced criticism from gun safety advocates and elected officials. Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn called for an investigation, and experts point out that other large retailers like Bass Pro Shops and Sportsman's Warehouse don't see these same patterns with their sales. State inspectors have also documented violations at some Turner's locations, including a possible straw purchase violation at the San Bernardino store, which had the highest crime gun trace count of any dealer in the state. Turner's has responded by saying they maintain strong regulatory compliance, though they haven't directly addressed these new findings.
What I'm seeing locally with my clients and colleagues in the East Bay and Fremont is that this kind of data makes people take a hard look at where guns are coming from and what responsibility retailers have in their communities. Whether you're buying or selling property near any of these locations, it's worth understanding the environment you're in and what local law enforcement and community groups are working on to address public safety.
