Burglary Is Reality for TV Show Gun Shop
An unknown number of guns were stolen early today from a Colorado firearms dealer featured in the Discovery Channel reality series "American Guns."
Police in the Denver suburb of Wheat Ridge responded to an alarm at Gunsmoke Guns just after 4 a.m. and found that burglars had entered the store through a hole in the roof, according to Wheat Ridge Police spokesman Joe Cassa.
A witness reported seeing a silver two-door car leaving the scene before police arrived, but there is no description of a suspect.
Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting with the investigation and trying to find out how many guns, and what type, were taken, said agent Bradley Beyersdorf. Investigators say it's not clear if surveillance video caught any suspect on camera.
Gunsmoke Guns is owned by Rich and Renee Wyatt, who appeared along with their children Kurt and Paige on "American Guns." Discovery cancelled the series in December.
Cassa told ABC News the Wyatts are cooperating with investigators.
"The owners are being very cooperative. They have the same kind of concerns that we do about additional weapons being out on the street," Cassa told ABC News.
Phone calls by ABC News to Gunsmoke Guns were not immediately returned.
The Gunsmoke Guns caper is the latest in a flood of gun thefts nationwide documented by the Department of Justice.
The statistics for commercial thefts show that nearly 25,000 guns per year are lost or stolen from gun dealers.
According to the ATF, more than 4,000 gun stores and retailers have been targeted in the last three years, with 74,000 guns reported stolen or lost.