There’s a troubling trend taking place in two cities in America’s Heartland. In both Denver and St. Louis, local, state and federal law enforcement authorities are dealing with an increasing number of burglaries and attempted heists at gun shops, where guns, and in many of the cases multiple firearms, are taken.
The latest gun store heist in the St. Louis area occurred earlier this week. According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, a firearms retailer in the St. Louis suburb of O’Fallon, MO, was broken into on Monday morning, with suspects reportedly stealing nearly two dozen guns. The newspaper reported that local police, along with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are investigating this week’s heist and determining whether it’s connected to at least two other incidents at gun stores in the region – one a burglary of a shop in Wentzville and the second an attempted heist at a Cabela’s store.
Meanwhile, in Denver, a gun retailer in the southern suburb of Centennial, CO, was the scene of an attempted burglary Wednesday morning, according to KDVR-TV. The incident may be the latest in a string of burglaries and attempted heists of firearms shops up and down the I-25 corridor. KUSA-TV reported that the Denver bureau of the ATF is investigating at least four burglaries of area stores that resulted in the theft of nearly four dozen firearms. It is not known if any of the incidents, including today’s, are connected. Local sheriff’s deputies responded to today’s incident and are investigating.
The increasing number of these types of burglaries in both cities is likely raising alarms in some quarters, and is a reminder about the importance of proper security procedures for those who own and operate these businesses which are essential in helping support our Second Amendment freedoms.
More on the Denver heists from KDVR and KUSA, and here’s the story on the St. Louis incidents from the Post-Dispatch.
