TULSA, Okla. -- — Tulsa pawn shops are double checking their security system after Second Hand Rose lost 18 guns over the holiday. Staff at Big Time Gun and Pawn said it could have been prevented with better technology.
"It was run through the phone lines so the people were able to cut the phone lines, it was down for three days, they checked it out and they were able to go and clean out the house. They went through the roof undetected and god knows how long they were in there doing what they needed to do," Cliff Parvin said.
After receiving an anonymous tip on Wednesday 14 guns were recovered, and a man was arrested. Tulsa Police said crimes like these are a priority for officers.
"It's a big public safety concern. We don't know where these guns are going. We don't know what they're going to use them for, we don't know who they're going to sell them to, we don't know whose hands they're in," Officer Jeanne Pierce said.
At Big Time Pawn they use everything from motion-censored cameras to bars across the doors. Parvin said losing more than a dozen guns would be a tough loss to recover from.
"In a good week we make a little less than that. We're trying to watch our investment. It's a game and when you invest a lot of money in something you want to protect it as best you can," he said.
Those looking to buy guns at a pawn shop are put through a federal background check, and every time these stores buy a firearm it's run through the system LeadsOnline.
"If firearms end up in the wrong hands they could walk through that door and rob us. They could come in, they could take our pistols and do whatever they want. We try to protect ourselves the best we can but if firearms end up in the wrong hands people get robbed, people get shot," Parvin said.
TPD continues to look for the four remaining guns, and believe another suspect is still out there.
