AG investigating Columbia gun shop owner

Two days after a Columbia gun shop closes its doors, the Missouri Attorney General’s Office is looking for anyone who’s out money from ZK Guns in Columbia.

ABC 17 News reported back in July that some customers claimed the owner of ZK Guns, Zach Kean, was taking money up front for firearms and not delivering the product or a refund.

The AG’s office said it has received multiple complaints about Kean in this year alone.

Those customers range from local residents to people in multiple states.

“We’ve worked with, oh, half a dozen or so, maybe a few more consumers,” said Joe Bindbeutel, Chief Counsel for Consumer Protection. “We’ve gotten over $8,000 back for those folks to date.”

Kean announced his business was officially closed on Facebook Tuesday night, the same day his landlord filed a lawsuit against him, saying Kean hasn’t paid rent for the store space in months.

“We need to know who’s out there, so if there’s anybody that has a claim they want us to know about or pursue, we’d be happy to do it. Just call our hotline,” Bindbeutel said.

This also goes for out of state customers who may be out money from online ordering through ZK Guns.

And there may be hope for those still waiting on their refunds.

“All but one of the complainants that we are aware of have gotten restitution,” Bindbeutel said.

He said there are ways to keep this from happening again in the future.

“When you’re dealing with this kind of money, it’s a good idea to check with the BBB, check our complaint database, if you give us a call, we can let you know whether a business has complaints registered against it,” Bindbeutel said.

If you would like to file a complaint, you can call the Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-392-8222.