Posted October 18, 2017 7:30 am by Comments

By Christen Smith

Gun thefts are on the rise in Kansas City, mirroring a trend seen nationally. (Photo: John Sleezer/Kansas City Star)
Gun thefts spiked nearly 37 percent last year in Kansas City and the upward trajectory shows no signs of slowing, according to a report the Kansas City Star published Monday.
Local law enforcement recorded 804 gun thefts in 2016 — up from 588 in 2015. So far this year, 837 guns have gone missing.
“It comes down to personal responsibility,” Mark Jones of Chicago, a retired supervisory special agent in the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, told the newspaper Monday. “All guns start life as a legal commodity. But when gun owners fail to protect their weapons, criminals take them into the underground market.”
Many of the guns disappear from cars, police said. The most popular targets for thieves include the parking lots at the KCI Expo Center, the Ameristar Casino and a handful of nightclubs throughout the city — places where metal detectors force people to leave their firearms in their vehicle for the night.
“I think there’s a ring (of gun thieves) going around,” Charlie Johnson, owner of KC Mingles nightclub, told the newspaper. “And more people are carrying guns. If you break into

Source: Guns.com

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