Data shows gun theft has increased

There has been another report from the Columbia Police Department about a gun being stolen from the owner, but the theft not being reported until several days after.

Gun stores notice the increase of stolen firearms because of the calls they receive from gun owners asking for their serial numbers. Jim Hill, a gun salesman at Target Master, said they used to only get a few calls a month, but now they receive multiple calls a day, so the owners can fill out an incident report.

It’s hard for the Boone County Sheriff’s office to detail how many guns have been stolen, according to Tom O’ Sullivan, a detective for Boone County. He said they catalog stolen firearms with stolen laptops, jewelry, or any other property item.

Data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms showed there were about 600 more firearms recovered and traced from 2014 to 2015 in Missouri.

The same data showed handguns were stolen the most.