London police officers have arrested three people after a number of paint ball and Airsoft guns were stolen in a break and enter at Adrenaline PaintBall.

The break-in took place on July 19th while the business at 1350 Trafalgar Street in east London was closed.

One adult and one young offender have been charged with break and enter as well as trafficking in stolen property. A second young offender has been charged with the break in.

Police have recovered some of the guns, but others have been sold online.

London police Det. Mark McGugan says “Anywhere from 20 to 30 is what we're still looking at right now. We know there's several, we're just trying to do a count of everything that's missing right now because it was a huge store.”

Police want the public to be aware that if a gun was recently purchased via Facebook or over the Internet, it may be stolen.

Risk of replica guns emphasized

On Monday, London police demonstrated how realistic the paint ball and Airsoft guns look, and emphasized that people should take them seriously.

McGugan says “If you were [trying] to tell at night-time in the blink of an eye which one’s real and which one’s not, it’d be tough to tell.”

Greg Muscutt works at Adrenaline PaintBall in Melbourne, Ont. and thinks the replica guns have become more realistic and popular in part due to the gaming industry.

“Eighty per cent of males under [the age of] 30 want to have one of these, either because it's their favourite ‘Call of Duty’ game gun or because they just want to have that fantasy role-playing experience.”

A London bylaw prevents discharging guns within city limits. In fact they can only be used in designated areas like paint ball fields.

There’s a reason for that, Muscutt says “The concern is having guns that look realistic on the street. Maybe they get used for something they shouldn't be used for, or maybe someone gets hurt while they have them in their possession. ”

Police warn anyone who sees someone carrying this kind of item to steer clear, treat it as a real gun and call 911.

While this kind of theft isn’t common, police say they are following up because of the quantity that was taken.