Gun stores in one California city have emerged as the state’s biggest source of firearms later linked to crimes, according to newly released state data.
Three Bakersfield gun stores topped the list between 2023 and 2025.
Turner’s Outdoorsman on Mohawk Street ranked No. 1, with 83 firearms later linked to crimes, followed by Valley Gun with 78 and Dirty Bird Guns and Ammo with 60.
Turner’s total alone was higher than the combined tally of the top five dealers in major cities including Los Angeles and San Francisco.
“There’s other cities that are a lot bigger than Bakersfield, and there are cities that have more gun shops, including some of the shops that have come out in this report,” Juan Avila, a worker at Garden Pathways, a violence intervention mentorship program, told KGET.
“So to see that Bakersfield had a high rate was of concern,” he added.
Some have suggested that gun stores in the area are not selling with the proper guardrails resulting weapons in the wrong hands.
Bakersfield PD told The Trace that the department is “unaware of there being any illegal firearms sales or transactions that are occurring.”
The Bakersfield Turner’s store is actually one of 30 locations in California for the chain, and The Trace previously reported the chain sold a quarter of California’s crime-linked guns.
The California shooter at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner bought his firearm from a Torrance location.
Some officials, such as Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, have even called for a probe into the business.
But some of Turner’s customers said it was actually a difficult process to buy a gun.
“I feel like they’re doing a good job and doing everything right,” Obed Munoz of Bakersfield told KGET. “So that statistic is shocking, but after you do have the gun, you can do whatever you want with it. So if you do a crime, that’s more on the individual and not the store.”
Turner’s Outdoorsman has insisted that it follows all laws and regulations.
The company has a “proven commitment to regulatory compliance” and data on traces “does not indicate wrongdoing by the retailer,” it told the Daily Caller.
