The owner of a Calgary gun range and store is apologizing for the “catastrophic failure” of his security system after thieves broke into the store twice this month and stole more than 30 guns.

On May 11, a man broke into The Shooting Edge on 77th Avenue S.E. and stole 11 handguns, using a baseball bat to smash open a display case. He put the guns into a backpack and left.

Just before 1 a.m. Monday, an intruder broke into the store again and made off with around 20 handguns.

“It’s completely and totally embarrassing,” said Shooting Edge owner JR Cox. “It’s almost like we have this moral contract with the people of Calgary saying, ‘We can have our firearms but we have to look after them.’ And then for the security system to fail so spectacularly that they can get in, it’s heartbreaking.”

An appropriate security system appeared to be in place at the store, but it failed in ways that allowed this to happen twice in two weeks, said Staff Sgt. Mark Rahn. “So there are questions as to what is going on at this location.”

Rahn said there was no indication that Shooting Edge employees were responsible for the thefts.

Police said the man who broke in on May 11 was wearing blue jeans, a black hoodie, red gloves with grey palms and white shoes.

They are still trying to identify the person involved in Monday’s theft and believe that person was working with at least one other.

After the May 11 break-in, Cox said he looked for ways to improve his security system.

Some of the security improvements he’d ordered for the windows and cabinets arrived for installation on Monday — one day too late.

“We have multiple layers of (security), so even if you get through one layer you’re supposed to be stopped or slowed down by the next layer,” Cox said. “There were some catastrophic failures in some layers of our security, and that’s where the questions will be asked.”

He said there will be security guards on site 24 hours a day until the security upgrades are complete.

Cox said he wants to “publicly apologize” to Calgarians for the thefts.

“Me and my team, the professionals I hired to stop this, didn’t.”

Anyone who may have information about the thefts are asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers.

Last February, thieves unsuccessfully attempted to break into the shop by ramming a truck through the front window. In October 2012, more than 30 guns were stolen in a similar heist when the culprits broke through the storefront with a truck.

estark@calgaryherald.com

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