Sunday, April 23, 2000
Gun dealers respond
Spate of 1999 burglaries prompts change
BY Earnest Winston
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Several Tristate gun dealers who were burglarized last year said they have made their businesses more secure.
An employee at Manford Sporting Goods in Aurora, Ind., said the store has stopped keeping guns in stock since the burglaries because it became too expensive to replace the front door and window that were shattered during the two break-ins at the store.
The employee, who asked not to be named, said now the store sell guns only via special order.
At Costello's Gun Shop in North College Hill, changes have been made to make the store safer — but an employee declined to say what the changes are.
“We did make some modifications that I really didn't think were necessary to do before,” said Frank Costello, an employee at Costello's Gun Shop in North College Hill. He said the store already had an alarm system and bars.
He said he was surprised at how quickly the store was burglarized.
“They were in and out in about a minute and a half,” he said. “There's nothing that's full-proof. It just proves that stuff can hap pen.”
Karen Embs, owner of Land, Air and Sea Surplus in Newport, agrees with Mr. Costello. She said her store was burglarized despite an alarm system and regular police patrol.
“The store is secure. It's as secure as it needs to be,” said Ms. Embs.
On Thursday, federal authorities announced the indictment of six people by a federal grand jury on charges that they broke into 10 gun shops in the Tristate during 1999.
More than 200 firearms, including revolvers, semi-automatic pistols, rifles and shotguns, were stolen during the burglaries, which occurred between April 15 and July 15.
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