Theft prevention can be a rather dull topic, and in the world of firearms sales there’s a tendency to focus on the guns themselves. However, there are far more products in your store than guns, and it’s those smaller items that frequently disappear. Figuring out how to prevent loss is an important part of owning a brick-and-mortar business, and we’re here to help. Let’s take a look at best practices for theft prevention — and yes, we’ll touch on firearms.
First Line of Loss Prevention
Your employees are on the front lines of loss prevention. That’s not because they’re expected to tackle would-be thieves, either; it’s due to the fact that active customer service serves as a layer of security. Employees should be greeting and engaging customers as soon as they walk in the door, and anyone loitering beyond the norm should be approached to find out how the employee can help. There’s a fine line between properly executed customer service and being obnoxious, so take care to ensure your team is trained.
Employees are your eyes and ears. If your business is large enough to include a loss prevention officer, employees can quickly alert them to potential issues. Of course, for most businesses, there’s not going to be a loss prevention officer on site. That leaves it to the team to figure out how to handle theft.
In situations where an employee believes the person wandering the aisles might be a potential thief, they need to know how to handle it. Physical presence is often effective, and that doesn’t mean your team member needs to stare at the customer or enter their personal space. Employees can circulate in the store, hang out in the general area front-facing products, and even start “cleaning” the shelves or displays in the immediate vicinity. A physical presence in close proximity is often enough to deter would-be thieves. This is also the time to go ahead and bring out the somewhat obnoxious level of customer service, offering to help and chatting the person up in a friendly manner.
Not all thieves are deterred by an employee staying close by. So what’s your employee supposed to do if they know for a fact that someone is stealing? The answer is simple: nothing. In no scenario is it wise to attempt to stop someone who’s shoplifting. The reasons why it’s a hands-off issue include legal liability and the potential for violence. You never know how desperate or unstable someone is, and it isn’t worth an employee’s physical well-being to have them risk confronting a thief.
This doesn’t mean the employee can’t pay close attention to what the shoplifter looks like. A solid physical description is helpful, as is getting a license plate number if it can be done without chasing the thief into the parking lot (binoculars at the counter can help). The employee should also take note of what was stolen, what direction the thief went in upon exiting the store, and what time it was. Even if you have cameras — and of course you have cameras — additional information from a team member helps a great deal. Cameras tend to be grainy and unable to bring out important details about clothing or facial features.
Once the thief is out of the store, your employees should follow protocol for reporting the incident.
Electronic Surveillance
From a logical standpoint, good cameras are a must for gun stores. There are no federal laws controlling the use of cameras in gun stores, but some states do have laws in place. California requires video and audio surveillance of specific locations in the business, and New York mandates surveillance of all transactions. Check out your local laws if you’re unsure whether any exist specific to the firearms industry.
Install a closed-circuit system to avoid dependence on a WiFi signal and to stop thieves from easily disrupting the feed. Try not to utilize cameras that record over footage in short windows of time, either. It won’t do you any good to have a surveillance system if the evidence gets deleted or taped over at frequent intervals. Technology continues to advance, and there’s no longer a good excuse to slack off with electronic surveillance.
A quick note on alarm systems: It’s smart to connect your burglar alarm to law enforcement. A system that only makes noise is far less useful than one that notifies you and the local authorities.
Store Layout
It might come as a surprise, but the way your store is laid out has an impact on theft. Items with higher price points should be protected in a locked case, and we’re not talking only about guns. High-end optics, thermal optics, night vision gear, and any other expensive items that are lightweight enough to carry off easily should be secured. If you cannot or do not want to lock up extra products that aren’t guns behind glass, at least keep them near the register and in a highly visible area. Tucking a several-thousand-dollar optic in a corner where it can’t be seen and easily monitored by staff is a recipe for theft-related disaster.
Except for a few rare scenarios, it’s going to be impossible to make your entire store layout visible to staff. You can make it easier for team members to monitor products by lowering shelf height, placing high-value items in the most direct lines of vision, and installing mirrors. Ceiling-height convex mirrors are fantastic for getting eyes on an otherwise invisible area. These mirrors give you a 160-degree panoramic look at what’s going on in the store. If you want something that gives you a broader look, try a dome mirror. Figure out which options distort images the least, because many designs make it challenging to figure out what you’re looking at.
The register should be positioned near the exit to force customers to walk by a team member when leaving the store. Installing a convex mirror near the exit can be useful as well because it can enable employees to see the side of the person’s body they otherwise couldn’t visualize.
Guns and More Guns
It’s common for firearms to be closed in glass display cases. Whether they’re locked is almost irrelevant (but please, lock the cases anyway), because glass means a smash-and-grab is easy to accomplish. There’s been an increase in overnight thefts at gun stores, and it isn’t uncommon for thieves to get away with the guns they got their hands on. The simplest way to prevent an after-hours smash-and-grab is by moving guns into secure safes at night.
Be aware that not all glass display cases are created equally. Measures can be taken to further secure cases beyond the basic locks. Frames should be reinforced and deep enough to make it difficult to pry or push sheets of glass out of the way. The glass itself can be strengthened by laminating to slow down attempts to shatter it or by adding sheets of polycarbonate glazing over the initial sheet of glass. Making it more time-consuming for thieves to break the glass gives law enforcement more time to respond and can make it uncomfortable for the criminals to stay there long enough to get the job done.
Long guns are typically hung on walls. If you have a wall display and intend to leave the guns up at all times, consider locking them in place beyond a basic cable gun lock. Guns that can’t simply be removed from display hooks are harder to steal.
Door security is an important layer for preventing theft of firearms. If the entryway is poorly secured, so is the rest of the store. Find ways to reinforce glass, use high-quality locks, and consider bars (even if they’re the accordion type). Never dismiss the value of redundant locks.
Daytime Gun Theft
Firearms are stolen right in front of employees; it happens. This is the time the power of observation, surveillance cameras, and speedy reporting matter. Under no circumstances should an employee chase the thief, and it’s also not a good idea to get into a grappling match. In addition to the fact that all guns should be treated as though they’re loaded, there’s the reality that the thief themselves might have brought ammo with them or could have another loaded weapon — or a knife — on their body.
This is another reason not to display ammunition near the firearms. It should be difficult to grab ammo to load a display gun. In fact, no live ammunition should be allowed at the gun counter. Keep it entirely separate for everyone’s safety.
Should Employees Carry Guns?
Not only is it a great conversation starter, it’s a solid theft deterrent for your team to be armed. Because these are most likely open-carry guns, you need to ensure holsters provide fantastic retention. This could mean requiring a thumb strap or higher level of retention holsters. It also wouldn’t hurt to have employees take a class on gun retention.
Something else open-carried guns on staff members can do — aside from deterring theft — is preventing suicides. Unfortunately, gun ranges and counters are used for suicides by some mentally disturbed individuals. A staff member wearing their own firearm openly and sticking to strict rules for display guns can be a solid prevention tool at the gun counter.
The bottom line is that properly securing your store and creating a prevention-friendly layout is a must. If you identify a higher risk part of the store or a specific item that’s growing legs and walking off more frequently, figure out ways to combat that. Also don’t fail to run background checks on potential employees. Gun stores aren’t the place for word-of-mouth hires.
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