​Six Men Charged with Stealing 300 Firearms from California Gun Stores

Guns are always more fun with friends – but not like this. This week, law enforcement in Southern California arrested six men for stealing hundreds of firearms from nearly a dozen gun stores. Now, they’re facing federal firearms charges that could land them in prison for years.

Six Men Charged with Stealing More than 300 Firearms from California Gun Stores

The burglars allegedly committed their crimes over the span of nine months, spanning from October until last week. Seven of the nine robberies occurred in the last two months. During that time, police say that they set their sights on nine different gun stores in five different counties from Ventura to San Diego. The thieves absconded with a total of 312 firearms.

Investigators say that a total of nine men were involved in the robberies, ranging in age from 18 to 23 years old. Members of the group hailed from California and Nevada. Their spree ended last week after they stole 70 firearms from a gun store in Orange, CA.

After stealing the guns, they would sell them on the black market to criminal organizations. Some of the stolen guns have already popped up during the course of other investigations.

Local law enforcement worked with the ATF on the case. The investigation led police to raid a house where several of the alleged perpetrators lived. After trying to escape the house, police arrested the suspects without incident. During the raid, investigators found nearly 50 guns that they traced to local gun stores using their serial numbers.

The Process

According to the police, the burglars developed a simple – but effective – playbook. They would start their crime spree by stealing a car. Then, they’d ram the stolen vehicle through the wall of a gun store. In one instance, it took them three tries to break through the security bars protecting the gun store.

After smashing the wall in, the alleged perpetrators would ransack the store, stealing between 25 and 78 guns each time. Recordings from security cameras showed them breaking into glass gun cases with sledgehammers.The supposed thieves failed to break into three stores during the course of their spree. In these attempts, the stores’ security features foiled their plans.

The Big Picture

While these thefts all occurred from licensed FFLs, this story has a lesson for all gun owners out there. Criminals would love nothing more than to steal your guns, and the best way to thwart them is to store your guns properly.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not a fan of laws that force people to store guns in a certain way. With that being said, I 100% advocate responsible gun ownership, and that includes storing guns safely.

As a citizen, you don’t want your weapons stolen and used in crimes. And as a gun owner and enthusiast, you probably don’t want anyone stealing your hard-earned firearms anyway.

So don’t let that happen. When you’re not using them, keep your guns locked somewhere safe. That way only you (and people you give permission to) can access them.