Origins: This seemingly helpful heads-up about examining for dots, check marks, or other symbols left on vehicles that were parked in front of gun stores has been circulating on the Internet since December 2011. The warning, which variously claims the tagging happened to a vehicle parked outside a Denver gun store or to one in Texas, asserts gangs of thieves use such identifiers to later single out cars for break-in on the theory that such vehicles are likely to contain firearms, armaments which are both useful to the burglars themselves and are easily turned into cash on the black market. (The presumption, of course, being that breaking into such potential treasure troves while they are still lodged in front of gun shops would be foolhardy, one somewhat supported by an incident from 1990 in which the would-be robber of such an establishment was shot dead by the store's patrons.)
No news stories from either Texas or Denver support the claim of marks having been discovered on vehicles left parked in such locations or of gun thefts from vehicles subsequently discovered to bear such identifiers. That, plus the knowledge that it would be very difficult to subsequently recognize a small mark or decal on a car's bumper or tire leads to the conclusion that the tale is naught but invention. Thieves — even organized gangs of thieves — look to gain the most for the least effort. If guns are their target and they've concluded folks who park in front of gun shops are the ones most likely to carry such weapons in their vehicles, a far more certain method of subsequently locating those cars is to follow them as they leave the store.
The National Skeet Shooting Association/National Sporting Clays Association states the claims made above are false. To summarize its statement on the matter (the full text of which can be found here
http://www.nssa-nsca.org/index.php/2012/01/nsc-response-to-rumors-about-gun-thefts), while gun thefts from vehicles are an ongoing problem everywhere in the nation, there's no epidemic of such purloinments from vehicles at gun clubs or from those of traveling shooters at restaurants or other businesses. Moreover, at a shoot in June 2011, that body investigated reports of marked vehicles only to discover "all the questionable marks reported to us were left there by manufacturers, tire services, or rental car companies. In fact, most marks were so worn or well covered that they could not have occurred in the parking lot."
Referring to the claim regarding a police chief issuing a warning to 400 shooters about the epidemic of gun thefts linked to marks left on tires and bumpers, it stated: "We have read that because gun thefts from vehicles are so 'rampant' in San Antonio that a police chief met with the 400 shooters at that event to warn them about the problem. That did not happen."
That governing body points out the localization of the rumor from an unspecified national event to its own national championship as the tale spread in cyberspace. It also puts paid to the notion that gun thefts were rampant at the (then) most recent NSCA National Championship (held in October 2011 at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio), stating "we had no reports of gun theft at the NSCA National Championship."
In some online discussions, the phrase "national event" has morphed into "National Championship" with implications that gun theft was a problem during that event. To be clear, in 2011, we had no reports of gun theft at the NSCA National Championship, the largest shooting event held annually at the National Shooting Complex. In previous years, we did experience some gun thefts during the National Championship, and we responded by implementing a number of procedures to eliminate as much risk as possible. We have 24-hour security on the grounds during events, and we have improved our gate security. For the past several years, we have also made 24-hour gun storage available at a very modest fee throughout all events so that shooters never have to leave their firearms in vehicles or hotel rooms.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) concurs with the NSC's debunking.
http://web.archive.org/web/20120123033410/http:/www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?ID=7264
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