05/15/2026
This morning at around 3:20 Berkeley Armory was burglarized by three young males in black clothing with masks and gloves.
They were driving a white 4-door sedan, and a dark colored mid-sized SUV.
They came down, scouted the building, attempted to break in without success, and then returned again and smashed the glass in, jumping through the window and stealing approximately a dozen handguns.
Any information leading to the arrest of the perpetrator(s) would be rewarded with cash.
The office will be closed today while we sort through the inventory to find the missing items, and clean up from the mess.
I will update the post as new information is available and when I have time between dealing with the police and ATF.
*UPDATE*
I really find it appalling how many people that are ignorant to business and real life that want to come on here and spout opinions that are nothing but harmful and uneducated, which has has dissuaded me from sharing information along the way today. Simply stated, I figured that there's no sense in feeding the trolls.
Despite that, there's a few things that need to be set straight before I put this behind me and to figure out if I even feel like continuing to operate the business. Because, if I can be be honest with everyone for a moment, more and more clients are acting like entitled jerks lately, and it's really making me want to take my time and effort an instead redirect it into something that actually makes me happy again and to not do this anymore.
The few noteworthy bits of information that I feel need to be clarified are:
The cars were stolen out of MD, and we believe it was a gang smash and grab, similar to the same attacks on other gun shops like 2A and Green Monstah in the last few years. One car is the battering ram, and the other one is the getaway car.
There were at least three young males, appearing to be African American in color based off of the small amount of skin visible around the masks, but I wouldn't bet my life on it. They wore masks, dark jeans and black clothing, and wore gloves. The one had what appeared to be a window punch specifically designed for breaking windows in an emergency, and the other wielded a big engineering sledge hammer.
They were thinking about driving the dark colored SUV through the front wall of the shop about 10 minutes before the actual burglary, as they started to drive across Rt 9 and aim for the doors, but turned back and likely decided against it for fear of getting stuck on the steep grassy hill out front.
The suspects were seen driving around for over an hour casing the area and waiting for a good time to strike, even getting prepped over at Murphy's and swapping people around in cars before the hit.
They ditched the SUV at Hedgesville Middle, and we suspect they likely took the white car back to the Baltimore area.
And lastly, I personally believe that no amount of bars, security film, bollards, roll-up gates, ETC was going to deter them. While there are things that may have slowed them down, or maybe have caused them to flee sooner, the short answer is that very few things stand up to a 4500 Lb SUV smashing through a block wall or a storefront door.
Additionally, many suggested deterrents would be wildly impractical or prohibitively expensive. And when you are talking about an industry that makes 10% to 15% profit, that's a whole lot of guns you gotta sell to make up for all the investment, and if you dare try to even sell guns at anywhere near MSRP, you get berated by customers telling you how Buds has it for $50 and brow beating you over the price tag.
It's a lose-lose, and despite selling and transferring hundreds of guns last year, I would be surprised if Berkeley Armory cleared $30K in profit last year, and that isn't even enough to pay for an employee, more-less total infrastructure modifications for what amounts to be little more than a paying hobby.
The short answer though is that there are new policies that we are going to implement moving forward, and there are things we can do to harden the storefront (assuming I even decide to keep doing this), but there are also a LOT of things that commenters don't have a clue about which helped dissuade the burglars, and it is unrealistic for people to speak with such authority about a place that they know little or nothing about.
To the supporters though, I appreciate all the love and care, and as Grandma would have told me if she were still with us, "this too shall pass". Without you guys, we wouldn't be here to do what we do, I just hope I can find the strength or the drive to keep doing this and keep being better for you.
And to the on-site employee that scared them off, thank you, your intervention and quick thinking likely saved a lot of guns from growing legs.
Thanks again,
-Ave
