Stolen Guns

Celtic Armory · Oct 17, 2011

My neighbor got broken into and lost his entire gun safe today. I'll get a list of firearms stolen and post them for us to keep an eye out for. He has an idea who it was, but I can't go into more detail.

TOVO · Oct 18, 2011

Wow. That really sucks. I hope they find the people responsible for the crime.

BigDaddyDMD · Oct 18, 2011

Sorry to hear that. I hope your friend has good luck in recovering his weapons.

Jerry · Oct 18, 2011

Just out of curiosity, did they break into the safe or transport the whole dang thing away? If they broke into it, how was it accomplished?

pokerace · Oct 18, 2011

Is that the one that's on the TV News???

Celtic Armory · Oct 18, 2011

Doubt it made the tv news. Probably didn't even make the local paper. Perps went in through an unlocked window and stole the whole dang safe. The one he had was a smaller size and he had been rearranging stuff in his house and hadn't gotten around to bolting it down. The reason he thinks he knows who it was is that that's all they took. He mentioned they missed the couple guns in hard cases that were by his TV that he had taken to the range the other day. So it sounds like they targeted the guns.

pokerace · Oct 18, 2011

this one the guns and ammo were in a safe..I think..

CORNELIUS, OR (KPTV) -
After 25 burglaries in the past five months, Cornelius police are investigating the rash of break-ins.

The most recent burglary happened this past Saturday when thieves broke into Ignacio Valencia's house on North Fremont Street. They made off with the homeowner's two pistols and ammunition.

Cornelius police say this is just one of more than two dozen burglary cases in the past several months. They've had 11 break-ins since September.

Each time, the burglars gained access through unlocked doors or by smashing out windows. They've been stealing a variety of things from money and jewelry to electronics. Nearly half of the burglaries happened during daytime.

Police have arrested three teens so far, but believe there are adult suspects on the loose.

"You just got to be a little more alert, alert our neighbors as well because it could happen to anybody," Valencia said.

If you know anything about these burglaries, contact

mjbskwim · Oct 18, 2011

I'll tell the locals up here in Sequim and Nate at Port Hadlock.
Hey you may talk to Boerner's too.Then a list to the gun show this weekend at Puyallup

Kind of a lesson for the rest of us

FINNISH THE GUN SAFE FIRST

I go shooting and leave the guns out.Sometimes I go take the dogs out in the AM and wonder if I should have locked the guns up while I'm gone.
Heck I'm just leaving for an hour.
Bet these guys were in there only minutes.

Celtic Armory · Oct 18, 2011

They definitely knew the place. I have them on my video camera system coming and going. No real detail but they knew exactly when he went to work and were in and out in 40 minutes. They nabbed his computer, safe, a few handguns in his bedroom and all his wife's jewelry boxes. They pulled into the driveway not more than 10 minutes after he left. He drives out and gets coffee and such, returns and then walks out to the bus stop to get a ride to work at 5:55 in the morning. The people knew his schedule and his house. And they were able to work around his large territorial dog. Since the dog didn't do anything, he's sure they had been there more than a few times before. He's working up a list and will get it to me later today. I'll add the guns to the Be On The Look Out sections of a few sites.

fredball · Oct 18, 2011

What a bad deal I can not imagine anything like that .

Celtic Armory · Oct 18, 2011

I've put a list that he gave me in the Stolen Firearms thread. Not all have serial numbers listed.

G1GRANDEUR · Oct 18, 2011

How big was the safe? was not bolted down on the floor?

Celtic Armory · Oct 18, 2011

It was a cheap $200 number from walmart. More of a gun locker than a safe, even though it had a combo lock. He had been rearranging things and intended to bolt it to the floor, but hadn't got around to it.

NWGunner · Oct 18, 2011

BASTARDS! This happen to me back in 04. I suspected someone I knew from high school and even had some evidence and cops did nothing about it. Recently though I got one returned from a whole different cities police department but my department I talked to and filed the report with have done nothing for me at all even with the mounds of evidence I brought them. It was even "rumored" by some LE buddies of mine that more were found and yet I've never recieved a single call from them to return them yet! Keep your head up and I feel for you man! My total loss was close to $10000 worth of highly customized rifles and pistols (a few junk guns) and I miss them terribly! I cringed at the thought of gangbangers, meth heads, or the like buying and selling my 1911 race guns and other guns and rifles with high power scopes on the streets for a fraction of what I paid gunsmiths just to customize them! Home cam and security system put an end to anymore problems. I expected to hear about drive-bys and shootings done with extreme accuracy or done at 100-500 yards after that.

DieselScout · Oct 18, 2011

NWGunner said:
BASTARDS! This happen to me back in 04. I suspected someone I knew from high school and even had some evidence and cops did nothing about it. Recently though I got one returned from a whole different cities police department but my department I talked to and filed the report with have done nothing for me at all even with the mounds of evidence I brought them. It was even "rumored" by some LE buddies of mine that more were found and yet I've never recieved a single call from them to return them yet! Keep your head up and I feel for you man! My total loss was close to $10000 worth of highly customized rifles and pistols (a few junk guns) and I miss them terribly! I cringed at the thought of gangbangers, meth heads, or the like buying and selling my 1911 race guns and other guns and rifles with high power scopes on the streets for a fraction of what I paid gunsmiths just to customize them! Home cam and security system put an end to anymore problems. I expected to hear about drive-bys and shootings done with extreme accuracy or done at 100-500 yards after that.

Was it mounds of evidence they could act on or was it hearsay and circumstantial. Also, it would be VERY hard to hide a stolen gun that has been located by law enforcement. If they were entered into the national and state crime database, both the finding agency and the listing agency get notified when the firearm's serial number is run. Neither agency would have to act on it for you to not get your firearm back. Also, the state would be notified as they hold and oversee the LEDS system here in the state. If the serial number was run and nothing was done about it, both agencies would be contacted and investigated as to why no action was taken. This would be a violation of LEDS policy and there access to the database could be terminated, which would make it impossible to function as a law enforcement agency within the state. It would be near impossible for an officer on the beat to run one of your firearms, realize it is yours and make it go away without anyone else knowing.

And honestly if you having this many problems you need to go up the departments chain of command, all the way to the chief if need be. If that doesn't work, contact your local representatives, state representatives and the AG. Call the news and make a stink. Stolen firearms are NEVER purged from the state or national database. If they are found and run they will be returned. I've seen firearms returned that were missing for 15 and over 30 years. They all made it home.

chemist · Oct 18, 2011

Yeah, concealing the safe and adding a decoy safe are great ideas - if you have the space, the time, and the gumption to do it right.

drew · Oct 18, 2011

chemist said:
Yeah, concealing the safe and adding a decoy safe are great ideas - if you have the space, the time, and the gumption to do it right.

Just make sure to load the decoy with some scrap metal to reward the dbs for taking it.

madcratebuilder · Oct 19, 2011

Anyone with average ability, that knows you have a safe full of guns can steal them with ease. Bolted down heavy wall safe is easy pickings for two guys with a dolly and 6ft pry bars. Try not to let those "types" of people in your circle. With all the small portable steel cutting tools, portable plasma cutters, nothing is safe from a determined thief. A alarm system and video is well worth the cost if you have more than a few valuable items.