MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com) - Federal agents have recovered several guns stolen from a Hickory Hill pawn shop in late December 2011. Nearly two dozen guns were stolen from the pawn shop. This comes as police investigate a similar crime in Olive Branch.
All of these stolen guns on the streets have residents and police alike worried about where these stolen guns will end up.
To buy a gun legally you have to pass a background check. On the street there's no background check, and no way of tracking these guns until it is too late.
Pawn Plus in Hickory Hill is pretty fortified, with bars in the windows and steel pillars out front. That didn't stop two burglars determined to get their hands on some guns.
It's patched up now, but police said two men hammered their way into the pawn shop and stole 20 handguns and 3 shotguns. That's alarming for police because it's likely those guns will be used to commit another crime.
It's a similar story in Olive Branch where someone used a Ford Expedition to smash their way into the Gun Exchange early Wednesday, Jan. 11. In this case, 18 guns were stolen.
MPD Sgt. Karen Rudolph told abc24.com that detectives are comparing the two burglaries to see if there is any relevant connection between the two cases. But with both cases there is one outcome: more guns on the street.
No suspects have been arrested in either case. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms are working both burglaries in hopes of tracking down all the guns.
