[Daffynition]

This is the story: Man Charged With Stealing Rifle From East Windsor Gun Store

What needs to be said, is this Marsh character was out on *parole*; so once again, the wrong people, IMO, are being punished. Riverview may have had loosy-goosey security and record keeping, [and should be accountable for such] but this is a lesson as to how a broken justice system contributes to the gun problem....nothing of which is addressed in the Malloy Gun Bill signed yesterday.

>>without fearing the repercussions.<< Ya think?

ENFIELD — — A South Windsor man who received a suspended prison sentence and two years probation in May for stealing a dozen rifles and shotguns from a local gun store struck again Saturday, police said.

Jordan Marsh, 26, pleaded guilty May 10 to a single count of stealing a firearm and received a suspended prison sentence and two years of probation. He initially faced 12 counts of stealing a firearm and other larceny charges.

According to East Windsor police, Marsh attempted to steal a gun again on Saturday. This time, he grabbed a Bushmaster .50-caliber rifle from Riverview Sales valued at $5,000 and ran from the store. When store employees confronted Marsh, he pulled a knife, then fled on foot. Police officers eventually caught and arrested him.

During his arraignment on the new charges Monday in Superior Court in Enfield, his bail was set at $2 million and a mental health watch was ordered. His case was also transferred to Superior Court in Hartford, where more serious cases are handled. The new charges are first-degree robbery, third-degree larceny, stealing a firearm and carrying a dangerous weapon.

A police report on Saturday's incident offered no explanation for Marsh's alleged conduct, but in his earlier case he told officers he was trying to establish a gun collection.

He told police he would go to Riverview Sales in East Windsor, a gun shop, and steal rifles. First, he told officers, he'd decide on a gun to take, grab ammunition to go with it, then grab the firearm and walk out of the store. He said he frequented the store on days he knew it would be busy and that store staff would be occupied and not watching him.

"I selected the business to steal the rifles because it was so easy to walk out of the business with a rifle and ammunition and not be stopped or questioned," Marsh wrote a statement, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

He was caught in the first case after a customer watched him carry a box of ammunition and a rifle out of the store without paying. The man thought it was odd, wrote down Marsh's license plate number, then told the store owner.

East Windsor police found Marsh at his home in South Windsor. He admitted to stealing the rifles and shotguns, as well as other thefts at the Sears, Lowe's and Bob's stores in Manchester and two grocery stores.

In his first case, Marsh was initially found to be incompetent to stand trial and was sent to a state mental hospital. He was treated and later found to be competent to stand trial.

"He said he only took what he needed so it was not that bad of a thing to do," according to a warrant. "Jordan Marsh wanted to include in his statement that he only took these items to save money and he thinks his brain injury makes him do 'crazy things' without fearing the repercussions."

[rockrr]

That’s an amazing account. I’ve been in a lot of gun shops and never been in one that allowed a customer to have possession of a weapon without a clerk watching his every move. When it gets crowded people simply have to wait their turn because no clerks divide their attention to more than a single customer at a time.

Allowing an environment where there is such an ability to shoplift weapons - especially rifles - shows criminal negligence IMO.