Having credibility means being fair and calling things in both directions as you see them. It is clear by now that I am not averse to calling out the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) when it comes to anything I see as a violation of the Second Amendment and our Constitutional rights in general. Many Americans make their living and support their families through the work they do at the ATF. While I know securing gun stores from theft is part of the agency’s agenda to keep unaccounted-for firearms off the streets, robberies can be a real hassle for gun store owners and employees who work hard to take care of their families and spread the American tradition of freedom and self-preservation to their communities. That being said, my gift to the ATF this holiday season is pointing out something they are actually helping with.
In North Carolina alone, 474 firearms have gone missing this year, stolen from Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs), up from 259 in 2023, marking an 83% increase. With the ATF overseeing FFLs and conducting periodic inspections, WCNC Charlotte recently took a closer look at the agency’s efforts to help business owners secure their shops, employees, and livelihoods from criminals.
“We reduce violent crimes and we protect the public … We make sure to educate our FFLs on ways to best secure their premises,” said Regina Milledge-Brown, Director of Industry Operations for the agency’s Charlotte Field Division.
Unfortunately, criminals can be quite resourceful, which is one of the reasons law-abiding gun owners must protect their Second Amendment rights. As we know, the bad guys will always arm themselves one way or another, so we might as well protect our local gun shops and keep those firearms in good-guy circulation.
FFL protocol gives dealers 48 hours to report break-ins to the ATF, and agents respond by working with local law enforcement to investigate all alleged thefts and report serial numbers to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC).
“Any stolen firearm can end up in the hands of criminals; any stolen firearms can be used to impact public safety in a negative way … We see a barrage of firearms stolen, whether that be handguns, pistols, revolvers – we are seeing a lot of semi-automatic rifles that are being stolen … If those firearms do come up in a crime somewhere, we are going to see that is a stolen firearm,” according to Milledge-Brown.
In 2023, the ATF recovered more than 27,000 stolen and illegally purchased firearms in North Carolina, many of which were in the hands of prohibited individuals. Over 1,400 of them were connected to homicide or aggravated assault cases.
Even the most secure locations are vulnerable to clever thieves, keeping the ATF busy updating store owners on methods used by criminals while advising them on safeguarding techniques to avoid becoming victims.
“We have seen criminals come in through the ceiling or rooftop area of stores, we have seen criminals use stolen vehicles and ram through the front of the store to gain entry, and when they gain entry, they are in and out in seconds,” noted Milledge-Brown.
Break-ins tend to spike toward year’s end and during natural disasters. ATF reports, however, that fewer gun shops experienced robberies during recent storms in Ashville than the agency expected. FFLs, however, are still taught methods to protect employees, inventory, and records from falling victim to Mother Nature, including keeping a Disaster Preparedness Plan in place.
“That just shows the significance of what we share with our FFLs when we go out and do inspections… We are always educating them on what they can do to best protect their inventory,” said Milledge-Brown.
Gun shops are encouraged to supplement technology like alarms and security cameras with hard measures like window bars, security gates, and concrete-filled barriers to thwart criminal smash-and-grabs that use vehicles to crash into the building. The ATF also advises store owners to be mindful of non-standard points of entry, recommending obstructions to prevent access through vents and air ducts.
There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Although security companies and local law enforcement are capable of assisting gun store owners when it comes to these matters, a centralized agency that aggregates crime data and uses it to protect Americans is an idea I can get on board with. Stop trying to legislate through “rules” punishable by the force of law. Remember your oath of office and the plain text of the document you swore to defend. Come clean with Americans, be transparent, and throw your anti-Second Amendment conspirators under the proverbial bus, and maybe we’ll stop trying to abolish the ATF. Maybe…
Yeah, like gun shop owners never thought of securing their shops against theft until the ATF stepped in to help.
Locally there has been quite a few break-ins & Gun shop thefts. Ill annoy & Indiana. Some have been unsuccessful because of advanced security. Abolish the ATF! Protect home & hearth. Have a safe new year TTAG!
To ATF, the only secure gun store is one that was closed down over a petty clerical error from years or decades ago.
“Yeah, like gun shop owners never thought of securing their shops against theft until the ATF stepped in to help.”
The problem is, far too many think just an alarm and deadbolts will protect their shops against break-ins. Often times, they simply don’t know what they don’t know.
First, my personal credentials on how I know what will work is, I’ve worked in three different pawn and gun shops over the years in the 80s and 90s, and early 2000s.
This list isn’t complete, shops have to adapt to changes in criminal behavior.
First off, keep vehicles from ramming their way inside late one night by putting several *massive* concrete planters weighing several tons each in front of the shop door and windows, using them as improvised bollards.
Second, replace plate glass windows with polycarbonate clear Lexan sheet, that will stop a cinderblock, rock, or brick. Do *not* use Plexiglass, it will shatter.
Third, mount the security bars *inside* the window, protected by the shatter-proof Lexan sheet.
Fourth, replace the hardware used to secure the shop door handles to the door with nylon bolt hardware, that will stop a chain attached to a bumper and a door from being pulled off. All they will get is the handle.
That’s just the basics, there are *lots* of other ways creative shop owners can make their business a lot harder to get broken into…
A friend of mine used to own a LGS. He was a NFA dealer and his store was hit in a smash and grab. He lost a couple of MP-5s, some other full auto stuff and a few handguns. The suspects were eventually arrested and the weapons recovered. In the meantime the insurance had paid off. The local agent attempted to keep the guns until a call was made to corporate and the nuances of transferring an NFA weapon explained. My friend had to return a portion of the payout, but he used a favorite tactic of insurance companies against them. He depreciated the value of the guns because they could no longer be sold as new and kept the difference. Truthfully, the suspects had beat them up pretty badly.
Then there was that idiot in Tallahassee whose store was burglarized. He provided TPD with all the information on the stolen guns. As well as some that weren’t stolen. All of that was provided to his insurance company as well. A few months later TPD does a traffic stop. The driver told the officer his registration was in the glove box along with a handgun. You guessed it, the gun came back stolen when ran through FCIC/NCIC. Fortunately for the citizen he also kept the sales receipt with the handgun. It was dated after the date of the burglary. Needless to say ATF shut him down post haste. I understand he faced charges in Federal and Circuit Court.
Comm to the notorious p work out?
Way back in the late 80s my BiL was a municipal cop in Jersey and a member of the county SWAT team. Needless to say firearms were hard to come by for us average folks, but he had a number locked up in a basement safe. One night he and the wife went out and when they got home the safe was missing. About a decade later a number of them were recovered in NYC.
Was reminded of this today when I read about the NOLA attack and the reports that the firearms were stolen from Jersey.
Really easy to move a safe if it isn’t secured to the structure. All you need to do is tilt the safe until you can get a trolley under it and the just wheel it away.
Decades ago, my family’s grocery was burglarized The perpetrators tipped the safe onto a pallet jack to wheel it away. All went well until they knocked over an end display of really slippery cooking oil. The perpetrators persevered. They wheeled the safe out to the loading dock. They loaded the safe into a stolen pickup that was parked in the truck well. Elated by their success and eager to make their get away, they accellerated a bit to abruptly. The well lubricated safe slid backwards in the pickup bed, broke through the tailgate and landed in the truckwell.
“Really easy to move a safe if it isn’t secured to the structure.”
Bolt it from the inside to the concrete floor below. Wood floor, lag bolts…
It’s still not that hard to remove, or alternatively, get into.
All one has to do is simply stop caring about the amount of damage that entry may do to the structure and/or safe. This is an entire area of [things we don’t discuss in polite company] known as “destructive bypass”.
Once in that mindset, one realizes that safes are much akin to locks on your house. Feel good measures that only work against children and people who were mostly honest to begin with. They do essentially nothing about ne’er-do-wells who are determined to gain entry.
This is the fact ^
When 14 year old me had my 10-speed bike stolen, the person who took it (and other bikes belonging to siblings) simply sawed through the metal door of the steel shed they were stored in. All the Master Lock did was make him bring a saw to the scene of his crime. And best we could tell, we were all home when it happened.
In college, 21 year old me had my school project stolen. The person was probably just after the books and the black briefcase they were in.
I couldn’t afford to buy new books, didn’t have enough time to redo my project back in the days when we still hand-drew things, and if they were on a computer, they were on floppy diskettes, and not on some hard drive somewhere waiting to be reprinted. The briefcase was gorgeous, but was a 2nd-hand find. Nothing was worth more than $10-15 dollars, except for the lost time and grade to me.
When 26 year old me had my car stereo stolen, the person basically sawed it right out of the dashboard of my trans am. The damage required repair of the center console before a new unit could be installed. Nothing was insured, and the car was parked in front of my apartment window when the theft occurred. And the car had an alarm. I just didn’t hear it that night.
Needless to say, I replaced it (an inexpensive Alpine unit) with a slide-out unit (Aiwa). And I was religious about taking that unit with me whenever I was not in the car.
It usually got put into the brown briefcase I bought for $5 at a garage sale after the black one was stolen a few years prior.
But by that time I had started carrying stuff around in a cheap-looking (and 2nd hand) backpack. So now the thieves would have to guess…briefcase? Or backpack?
lol.
Thou shalt not steal. Please.
Same sort of deal with ragtop Jeep Wranglers (and other ragtops).
You’re well advised to simply leave the doors unlocked because otherwise someone will cut the soft topper and that damage will probably cost you more than the value of what they steal.
They steal $300 worth of shit by destroying the $3000+ car top. They don’t care but you will when you see the bill.
The lowbrow version of this with a house is a hilift jack turned sideways in a doorframe until the door frame no longer fits the door. Unless you’re lazy, in which case it’s a hydraulic jack.
I have a grip of these flange spreaders (see below) in my garage to compliment a portable hydraulic pump, along side some some 15T spreaders and a box full of lighter ones as well. I used to use them to move/set heavy equipment around in a warehouse setting. However, if I really care enough to get into or take your safe, I’m going to. Bolt it to a concrete floor? A couple whacks with a sledge hammer to make a spot for the tips, flip a switch, wait just a smidgen and your safe’s not attached to the floor any more. But why bother when I can just stick one or two in the safe’s door and pop it open like a Pringles can?
h-t-t-p-s://powerxinternational . com/product/pxfs25-fl-25-ton-flange-spreader/
The nice thing for a gun store is that mostly the criminals won’t be coming at you in a serious manner because they’re not pros. Pros steal things where several million dollars worth of it fits in their pockets or a small bag (or is art which may be quite large). They don’t dick around with a pickup truck bed full that’s worth, maybe, $200K.
One of the most interesting people I know was a high level professional thief for years. He promises me that when the statute of limitations wears off he’ll explain how to steal a historic suit of armor from a museum.
Remember when arresting, prosecuting, convicting and sentencing criminals worked well to protect FFLs and the public generally? / “… we make sure to educate our FFLs …” / Can the gov’t give “educate(d)” a break and use a less “lordly” phraseology like “providing tips” or “tips provided?” Happy New Year.
Many Americans make their living and support their families through the work they do at the ATF.
This statement applies equally to many ladies of the night and drug dealers as well, the major difference being that both of those groups provide useful services that people actually want and do so free of charge to the taxpayer.
As such, I fail to see the relevance of this line in the story other than as a throwaway bone to the ATF itself, which is quite frankly, rather worrisome.
Texas Native Flew ISIS Flag in Deadly Bourbon Street Terrorist Truck Attack.
h ttps://www.shootingnewsweekly.com/crime-and-punishment/texas-native-flew-isis-flag-in-new-orleans-new-years-eve-truck-attack/
Additional information:
Truck Used in Bourbon Street Slaying Crossed Border at Eagle Pass, TX (in November)
h ttps://redstate.com/brutalbrittany/2025/01/01/breaking-truck-used-in-bourbon-street-slaying-crossed-border-at-eagle-pass-tx-two-days-prior-n2183813
“Sources now tell FOX – the truck crossed Eagle Pass, TX on November 16th — not two days ago. The identification of driver that crossed border does not appear to be the shooter. The truck changed hands at some point.”
FBI Blatantly Lied About New Orleans Attack > h ttps://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2025/01/01/fbi-blatantly-lied-about-new-orleans-attack-n1227266
Attacker in Bourbon Street Massacre Identified, and the FBI Clearly Misled the Public (UPDATED)
h ttps://redstate.com/bonchie/2025/01/01/new-attacker-in-new-orleans-massacre-identified-and-the-fbi-clearly-misled-the-public-n2183811
The assailant was born and raised in Texas. He also served in the U.S. Army.
The truck was a rental truck, so it wouldn’t be unusual for a rental vehicle to change hands or in that area of the country to go from Houston to Mexico and back. The border crossing at Eagle Pass (post above) is likely unrelated to the attack, but time will tell.
The terrorist attacker, Shamsud Din Jabbar, had a Glock and a .308 rifle. The rifle had been reported stolen in New Jersey.
h ttps://redstate.com/joesquire/2025/01/01/bourbon-street-death-toll-hits-15-as-distrubing-details-of-terrorist-emerge-n2183838
“…
More details about Jabbar are also emerging, some of which are disturbing.
In a series of videos, the suspect in the deadly New Year’s attack in New Orleans discussed planning to kill his family and having dreams that helped inspire him to join ISIS, according to multiple officials briefed on the investigation.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the 42-year-old man who police suspect drove a pickup truck into a crowd of revelers on Bourbon Street, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens more, made the chilling recordings while driving from his home in Texas to Louisiana, authorities believe.
…”
FBI now says they do not think Jabbar was acting alone. The IED’s were made at an AirBnB rental.
The truck was owned by an individual and was self-rented-out by him via an app named TURO that lets people rent out their vehicles. The owner IS NOT THE TERRORIST (and is not linked to this terrorist attack, he is helping law enforcement with information.)
Now, the ‘suspected’ terrorist attack, second attack on New Years day….
hours after the New Orleans attack…. a Tesla Cybertruck exploded right in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is now investigating that explosion as a possible act of terror.
Trump hotel Tesla Cybertruck explosion probed as possible terror act as Vegas cops release frightening pics of canisters, mortars packed inside vehicle > h ttps://nypost.com/2025/01/01/us-news/tesla-cybertruck-explosion-at-trump-hotel-in-las-vegas-being-investigated-as-potential-act-of-terror-report/
(nypost link has surveillance video showing the Tesla Cybertruck exploding).
The Tesla Cybertruck was also rented through the Turo app, the same one used to rent the pickup truck used in the New Orleans attack.
Apparently the Tesla Cybertruck was a bad choice for the Trump International Hotel attacker.
> h ttps://x.com/elonmusk/status/1874614362612326761
“The evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack. Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards.
Not even the glass doors of the lobby were broken.”
and then yet a third ‘terroristic’ like attack in New York …
Mass Shooting Reported at Entertainment Venue in Queens, New York. (Queens, NY at Amazura Night Club – not known if linked to terrorist attacks in New Orleans French Quarter and Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, currently not known if being investigated as a terrorist attack but such things are ‘terroristic’ like anyway. Might turn out to be yet another garden variety gang related thing, among the other 300’ish such events wrongly termed as ‘mass shooting’ in 2024 in the GVA propaganda machine.)
h ttps://twitchy.com/warren-squire/2025/01/02/amazura-queens-new-york-clib-mass-shooting-n2406004
New report out says the man responsible for the Cybertruck explosion outside Trump International Hotel served at the same military base as the New Orleans terrorist.
h ttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14243099/cybertruck-explosion-suspect-identified-las-vegas.html?ito=social-whatsapp-main
Maybe coincidence … but both renting their EV vehicles from private individuals via the Turo app, were stationed on the same military base, perform terrorist attacks on the same day within hours of each other…
Tesla Cybertruck Bomber Identified. Here’s Where There Might Be a Connection to the New Orleans Attack.
h ttps://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2025/01/02/tesla-cybertruck-bomber-identifed-n2649869
About Those Four Individuals Allegedly Planting Explosives Around the French Quarter.
h ttps://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2025/01/02/about-those-four-individuals-allegedly-planting-explosives-around-the-french-quarter-n2649868
FBI rules out involvement of 3 men, 1 woman allegedly seen planting IEDs around New Orleans near terror attack.
“…
Federal authorities have since ruled out their involvement in the attack but still suggested that terror suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, was not ‘solely responsible’ for the carnage.
…”
Joe Biden is practicing for Jan 20, 2025 > h ttps://media.townhall.com/cdn/hodl/2024/86/f8e39e13-29ce-40a8-8bd4-a75c5576ee0c-1052×615.jpg
Joe Biden’s TOP 50 Presidential Bloopers & Blunders: 2025 Edition (note: edited down from 20 hours, to just top 50 at 1 hour 15 minutes).
h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uwEOVhr6Wg
Local shop hit just before Christmas. First time in 30+ years in business. Had window bars, concrete filled bollards buried 3’ in sidewalk and alarm system, located in highly visible location on main highway and just a quarter mile from police station. Most likely gang hit with stolen vehicle to ram their way in.
This is a euphemism for exterminating the “Mom&Pop” gun shops.
I’m not convinced by this article to support the ATF for anything.
Defund, disband.