Why Criminals Target Gun Stores
The reality is that nearly every type of business can be a target for smash and grab criminals. All you need is an asset (such as merchandise or cash) that criminals consider valuable and your property could be targeted. However, certain types of businesses are more frequent targets.
One of the most common targets for smash and grab criminals is gun stores.
There are many reasons why. Criminals want to steal items that are small enough to carry away from the property with ease. They don’t want to have to back a truck up to a store, use expensive and cumbersome lifting equipment, etc. in order to commit a robbery. They want to be in and out as quickly as possible. Gun are small enough and easy to carry. They can be removed from a store without much trouble, once criminals gain access to the store.
Another reason is that criminals want to steal items that are valuable to them or ones that can be easily sold for profit. Firearms and other weapons meet these requirements. Criminals are more likely to use stolen guns in future crimes because there isn’t a reliable way of tracking these guns to any individual. This fact also makes them popular on the black market. A criminal who steals weapons from a gun store should have no issue selling them for profit quickly. Obviously, this is serious issue as stolen guns or illegally sold guns can be easily used in a variety of crimes and endanger the lives of innocent people.
Securing Gun Stores
One of the most common types of gun store robbery is the smash and grab robbery. This crime is exactly what it sounds like. Criminals use bricks, rocks, baseball bats, crowbars or whatever else they can find to break through doors and windows in order to gain access to a property.
Smash and grab robberies are generally very successful on locations that are not properly secured. Not only do they not require specialized tools, by they can be completed in just a few minutes. Some smash and grab robberies are over in seconds. This allows criminals to escape the scene before the authorities arrive. Even if they break into a property that has an alarm system installed, and even if that alarm system automatically contacts the police, there simply isn’t enough time for the police to arrive and catch the criminals in the act. They will be long gone, leaving nothing by chaos and destruction behind.
For this reason, gun stores owners need to ensure that they have physical security installed at their properties. Physical security tools, such as security gates, make it significantly more difficult to break into a property. A criminal cannot simply smash through a window with a rock and enter the location if there are gates installed.
When it comes to protecting your store, it’s also a very good idea to lock guns behind security bars or inside secure cabinets. This is especially true during hours when your store is closed.
Physical security acts as a crime deterrent. If a criminal walks by and sees an unprotected window with dozens of guns out in the open, it’s pretty tempting for them to try a break-in. However, if they see a window secured with gates and a store filled with locked cabinets, they’ll very quickly realize that any attempted crime will likely be unsuccessful and will move on.
Want some more helpful tips to improving the security of your business? Download our helpful guide to Improving Your Security Mindset.
