Attempted Gun Store Robbery

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BarryLee

New member
Attached is a link to a sort of puzzling story about three masterminds who attempted to rob a gun store during early morning hours. The owner lived in an apartment behind the store and responded with an AR15 equipped with a 30 round magazine and proceeded to defend his store. One of the robbers ended up dead on scene and two others were arrested at a nearby Waffle House suffering from gunshot wounds.

I guess two things to take from this:

Who in their right mind would try to rob a gun store? I am sure it does happen, but it seems like just more nominees for the Darwin Awards.

Secondly, this seems to verify that there are indeed legitimate uses for magazines with capacities above 10 and for semi-auto rifles designed for self defense.

http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/crime-courts/2012-08-09/gun-shop-owner-kills-suspected-burglar-injures-two-others?v=1344521241
 
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357 Terms

New member
Secondly, this seems to verify that there are indeed legitimate uses for magazines with capacities above 10 and for semi-auto rifles designed for self defense.
Click to expand...

When confronting three men with a seemingly unlimited supply of guns and ammo, I could think of no better choice.

Still, he emptied that mag and two still walked away. Spray and pray?
 
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cannonfire

New member
Still, he emptied that mag and two still walked away. Spray and pray?
Click to expand...


He was defending himself and his property, not in a raid. Sorry but I don't blame the guy for emptying a 30 rd mag, better to shoot more and get them to run away than shoot less and have them advance/hurt you.

Plus he hit 100% of his targets and killed 33% of them. Sounds like good shooting when facing 3 to 1 odds.


And I can see why they thought it was smart to rob a gun store. Lots of merchandise that could be sold on the streets. Would be more profitable than holding up a liquor store and a better chance of success than robbing a bank, or so I would think
 
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Yung.gunr

New member
The pawn shop close to my house was broken into and robbed twice IN THE SAME NIGHT. They say that the robberies (burglaries, don't know which is technically correct) happened within a couple hours of each other. I'm sure it was no coincidence. Probably the original scumbag told his scumbag buddy about it.

That brings up an interesting question. Is there no requirement by the ATF as far as alarms or security measures? It sounded like they didn't find out till they came to open up shop and 50 guns were missing. That's right 50 guns!!!! I'm not suggesting more government intervention, just seems like something they would require.

Funny thing is I have gone in there multiple times and never seen more then 15 guns out. Why in the world would they be holding out on selling that many guns? I can't imagine they have multiple in stock of the same gun so they keep them in back...
 
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Spats McGee

Administrator
On the one hand, I am reminded of the old story about the bank robber, Willie Sutton (?). When asked why he robbed banks, he allegedly replied, "Because that's where the money was." So why did these guys try to burglarize a gun store? Because that's where the guns were.

On the other hand, I think this event pretty clearly falls into the "play stupid games, win stupid prizes" category. Surely, surely they thought about the prospect of a gun store proprietor owning a gun!

Finally, I have to agree with BarryLee that this does support the notion that there is indeed a legitimate use for magazines in excess of 10+ rounds. After all, Mr. Bayazes prevented a van-full of guns from falling into criminal hands, did he not?
 
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Willie Sutton

Moderator
"On the one hand, I am reminded of the old story about the bank robber, Willie Sutton (?). When asked why he robbed banks, he allegedly replied, "Because that's where the money was."


No kidding? And I thought it was just a family rumour... :rolleyes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutton's_law

Now taught to every Medical Student.


High value easy to sell things that are portable are going to be targeted.


Willie


.
 
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Mike Irwin

Staff
"Still, he emptied that mag and two still walked away. Spray and pray?"

Of course!

Everyone knows that a REAL man would have required only TWO shots to end this.

The first one would have killed perp 1, and the second would have been fired after perps 2 and 3 lined up, allowing one bullet to do the job on them.



:rolleyes:
 
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ltc444

New member
Three out of three perps were hit. Most trained LEOs do not score that well unless they are firing en-mass.

Not bad shooting.
 
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oneounceload

Moderator
Who in their right mind would try to rob a gun store?
Click to expand...

Their mistake was trying to rob one where the owner lived in the back; otherwise, they would have made good on a robbery - even if caught on camera, the deed would have been done
 
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TXAZ

New member
Nobody every said robbers thought things through....

How many gun shops have you been in where the owner / manager wasn't armed? If the robbers had done their recon / data gathering, they would have known the guy lived behind the place and was likely *heavily armed*.

Nominated for (low grade) Darwin award.
 
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Double Naught Spy

New member
Who in their right mind would try to rob a gun store? I am sure it does happen, but it seems like just more nominees for the Darwin Awards.
Click to expand...

Actually, it happens with some regularity and success.
40-50 pistols taken here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnap0_Xb7Hk

Another example...
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/lo...cle_6d85df5a-b7e8-11e0-85a3-001cc4c03286.html

Robberies are high risk, but it at a gun store or convenient store, but much more is to be had from a gun store than a convenient store.

In the OP's case, it was a burglary of a business, with the owner living out back (as noted), in another building.

Gun store burglaries can be very successful, especially in stores that leave all the guns out at night and unlocked (though the store is locked).

Here is a nifty burglary. I thought the guy was a bit funny for carrying in the hammer to smash display cases given all the things he could have used to do that with from inside the store, but then figured he used it to break in the store itself. Note the video is misidentified.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&NR=1&v=zglOvVXwTTI

Also see...
http://www.fox43.com/news/wpmt-gun-shop-burglary-shrewsbury,0,4466114.story

Burglaries can often yield a very high number of guns when, like in the OP's case, you have a crew to work the store and on top of that, they usually have more time and less risk than when trying actual robberies of the staff in the business.
 
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Flopsweat

New member
Yung.gunr said:
...Funny thing is I have gone in there multiple times and never seen more then 15 guns out. Why in the world would they be holding out on selling that many guns? I can't imagine they have multiple in stock of the same gun so they keep them in back...
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They can't sell items that are still under pawn. They have to wait until the contract is over and the item is officially property of the pawn shop.
 
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akguy1985

New member
In tulsa we have a store called oklahoma police supply. The furniture store directly across the street got robbed a couple different times but the crooks never bothered OPS.
 
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mete

New member
I know of a similar incident .Result one BG gone and crime in the area immediately dropped to ZERO !!:D
 
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ClydeFrog

Moderator
Gun store thefts, smash-in...

In my metro area, a few gun ranges & pawn stores that deal in firearms have been hit.
A common tactic is to steal a vehicle, then drive it into a gun shop bldg. The robbers then dash in & grab as many firearms/products they can.

One crew of gun shop robbers walked in, drew weapons, then got into a gun battle with the armed gun shop mgr. The store mgr shot 2 of the subjects, the other fled.
If I owned a gun shop or had a FFL, I'd use environmental design features & security systems to deter crime. Hard targets make crooks move on in most cases. Smart gun shops & ranges have barriers, CCTV systems, space, etc.

Not all crimes can be prevented but many events can be avoided with plans & training.

Clyde
 
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Stressfire

New member
Wow...sounds like the one Darwin award where the guy tried to rob a gun store and ended up getting shot 20 or so times...

Gotta wonder what kind of brain trust comes up with these schemes
 
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5.56RifleGuy

New member
I think If I was running a gun store nowadays I would put concrete bollards up around it to prevent the drive in robbery. I'm not sure how expensive it would be, but I think it would be worth it.

I always liked the idea of a buzz in buzz out operation with a double door also. I wonder if someone could do that with a remote control.

All these things cost money though.
 
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ClydeFrog

Moderator
CPTED, gun store designs...

If you work in the shooting sports industry or have plans to obtain a FFL, then I'd consider CPTED.
CPTED is a law enforcement/protective services term meaning; Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design.
Crime prevention & being pro-active can reduce a lot of these crimes.
I was looking into starting a small business & maybe selling weapons-ammunition. I saw a large car dealership lot for sale near a major retail area.
What I liked about the structure was how it was elevated off the ground and a fast vehicle couldn't smash into it with ease. Patrons & handicap(wheel chairs) could go right up the wide ramp or stairs.

The wide lot would be good for parking & in slow times/non-business hours offer a clear view of all angles.
 
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