State police report 44 guns stolen, five recovered in St. Lawrence County in 2011

The State Police Troop B Gun Investigation Unit reports that 44 guns were stolen in St. Lawrence County in 2011, and five were recovered.

For the second year in a row, St. Lawrence County leads the list with the most guns stolen in the five-county Troop B area, which also includes Clinton, Essex, Franklin and Hamilton counties.

This was actually a significant decrease from 2010. In 2010, 63 were reported stolen in the county, and nearly half that many –31 -- were recovered.

This tally includes gun thefts reported to all law enforcement agencies within the five counties.

The totals for all of Troop B were 104 guns stolen in 2011, and 25 were recovered. In 2010, the numbers were 102 stolen, 42 recovered.

State police report that the majority of these guns were stolen from private residences during the summer and fall. A small quantity were stolen from motor vehicles during hunting season.

In Franklin County, the numbers of guns reported stolen almost doubled from 2010 to 2011, from 14 to 26.

The numbers in Clinton, Essex and Hamilton Counties remained about the same.

Although the total amount only increased slightly from last year, police said they remain concerned about the inaccurate descriptions and lack of serial numbers for most long guns reported stolen. The state police are encouraging gun owners to protect their gun collections and to maintain an accurate and reliable inventory of their firearms. This includes recording the make, model, caliber and serial number of every gun in their possession and immediately providing this information to police should any gun be lost or stolen. For this reason, a gun inventory record should be stored in a secure location separate from the firearms, police advise.

They recommend using a form distributed by ATF called a “Personal Firearms Record” that can be found on-line at http://149.101.29.141/publications/download/p/atf-p-3312-8.pdf

You can also contact the New York State Police Gun Investigation Unit at (518) 897-2093 to request a free copy or to report any suspicious gun activity.