SMYRNA, Tenn. (WKRN) — They are using their cars to bust through businesses, break in and steal guns. Time and time again, thieves have been caught on surveillance video breaking into gun shops to steal dozens of firearms at a time.
On Friday morning, wooden paneling and closed signs marked the front of The Southern Bunker in Smyrna after the business was broken into for the second time this week.
“We don’t want to go anywhere,” The Southern Bunker’s owner, Christopher Alford, told News 2. “We don’t want to close down, but you can only take so much.”
Alford told News 2 about eight people were in and out of his store in just minutes. The thieves were able to get in by slamming a car through the front door before getting away with about 30 guns.
“I don’t want my wife to have to deal with this time and time again — abruptly waking up at 3 and 4 in the morning to stuff like this,” Alford said. “So we’ve got to make some changes, unfortunately.”
This isn’t Alford’s first time experiencing the problem. In May, his store was targeted by the same crime after a car crashed into the storefront. Several people ran in and got away with guns and ammo.
“We could tell they had handfuls of items, so we knew if they had gotten away that they had stolen from us,” Kelsey Alford told News 2 back in May. “By the time we got here, we already had that in our mindsets so that our cases were probably going to be demolished and we were probably going to be missing quite a few items.”
Another gun shop that was targeted this month occurred in Goodlettsville shop where the criminals smashed a car into the business five times in order to get in. Within 30 seconds, the thieves were in and out and took about 20 firearms with them.
“They were very precise. They were in and out in about 30 seconds from the time they made entry. It was a different pattern, for sure, than what I’ve seen in days gone by,” said owner Phillip Arrington when News 2 spoke to him earlier in December.
This year, there have been numerous shops across Middle Tennessee that became targets for thieves. The method to break in has been almost identical every single time: crash a car, have several people run inside and get away with multiple firearms.
“It’s a big problem that’s come to our area and they’re doing what they can,” Alford explained.
According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), last year there were over 4,000 firearms stolen during byrglaries. In Tennessee, there were nearly a dozen reports of burglary involving a firearm, and the department found almost 300 guns were stolen.
The Southern Bunker wrote a statement to its customers on social media, stating:
“Lengthy Update for all of our amazing customers.
So as many know now, we had another group of thieves ram a car through our shop in the early morning hours on Chrismas Eve. We had still planned to be open afterward, but then had another group do it again the day after Christmas.
Between the damaged done and the mental toll of this week, we will be closing down….for now. With that said, we will be open all of next week (Tues-Sat) and will attempt to move as much of our inventory as possible, so come by and see us for tons of crazy low prices.
I’ve contacted most people already, but if you have any pending business with us (gunsmithing, layaway, gift cards, consignments, transfers, etc), be sure to come in next week to settle up on everything. However, if you can’t make it in, we can definitely discuss alternative case-by-case methods of helping get you taken care of.
Our main goal is to try and find another location that better suits our needs as a business (so let me know if you have any leads) and reopen. If that doesn’t pan out, I will still maintain the FFL and continue gunsmithing, along with helping you all with any and all firearm related needs. But, we will cross that bridge when we come to it.
I can’t tell you all enough how thankful my wife and I are for all of your support. We have been blessed with some of the absolute greatest customers that any shop could hope for. Please come by and see us next week if at all possible!!”
The Southern Bunker
