Monday, January 12, 2009

Gun Dealers Target of Thieves

Twice in the last four months gun dealers have been robbed on their way home from gun shows at the Valley Forge Convention Center in Pennsylvania.  Thieves have made off with more than 70 high-powered weapons and handguns.  Both robberies occurred when the gun dealers stopped for a meal on the way home and left their trucks unattended.  

In September, a New York gun dealer had 45 handguns stolen from his truck.  In December, aPittsburgh gun dealer had 26 guns stolen from his truck.  14 of these guns were fully automatic machine guns like the ones pictured below. 

Last week a gun dealer in New Hampshire returned home to find his entire inventory of 73 handguns, rifles, and shotguns stolen.  Fortunately, the guns were recovered a few days later at the home of an ex-employee.  

Stolen guns are a major source of firearms used by criminals and the cause of untold gun violence in our country, yet only nine states require gun dealers to use security measures to reduce the risk of firearm theft.  

Gun dealers are a tempting target for thieves and should be held to a strict security standard.  There is no excuse for the theft of 14 machine guns from a pickup truck left unattended outside a restaurant.