A recent spike in Connecticut gun store burglaries should be ringing alarm bells for lawmakers—literally and figuratively. From Salem to Southington, Monroe to Bristol, it is unclear from public statements of law enforcement just how many stolen guns are now floating around the state. But a surge in any market implies a profitable operation, to say the least.

Connecticut rightly prides itself on leading the country in common sense gun control laws. Many of those laws—including the laudable recent 2023 updates—focus on the specifics of firearms models and safety measures for individual ownership. The recent rash of gun store thefts has us wondering: what, if any, penalties might a gun store face for negligent storage?