I want to walk you through some concerning data that recently came out about firearm sales and crime in California's biggest cities. According to reporting by The Trace in collaboration with CalMatters Housing, a new California Department of Justice report has added important details to what we've been seeing about where crime guns are coming from.
The Turner's Outdoorsman chain, which operates over thirty locations across California, is showing up in crime investigations far more often than other major firearm retailers. In Bakersfield alone, law enforcement traced eighty-three crime guns back to the Mohawk Street location between 2023 and 2025, which was the highest number for any active gun dealer in California's ten largest cities. What makes this really striking is that Turner's sold over sixteen thousand firearms at that single location in just three years.
Looking at the numbers statewide, law enforcement traced more than eight thousand five hundred crime guns back to Turner's locations during that same three-year period. While Turner's represents about twenty-one percent of all firearm sales in California during this time, the chain accounts for nearly twenty-six percent of all crime guns recovered by law enforcement. That's a meaningful gap that's gotten the attention of community violence intervention workers, local officials, and safety experts.
The situation is particularly severe in Southern California, where Turner's locations occupied the top eight spots in crime gun tracing. According to the reporting, community leaders in Bakersfield and Sacramento are calling for investigations into whether there are gaps in background check procedures and sales practices. Other major retailers like Bass Pro Shops and Sportsman's Warehouse don't show the same pattern, which raises questions about what might be different at Turner's.
What I'm seeing locally here in the Bay Area is that these patterns matter for all of us, including in the East Bay and throughout the region. When a retailer consistently appears in crime gun traces at rates higher than competitors, it signals either a sales or compliance issue that law enforcement needs to understand. For buyers and sellers in Fremont and our broader market, this kind of data helps inform conversations about community safety and the responsibility that comes with firearm sales in our neighborhoods. It's part of the larger picture of what's happening on our streets.
