Police say two men stole at least 20 guns from Jim's Pawn Shop Saturday morning. The robbery happened just a week after the owner took down locks and metal bars that officials said violated the fire code.
Jim Faircloth says the robbery was inevitable.
"I predicted that within a week's time we'd be broken into," he says. "They gained entry by breaking the glass out, and reaching and hitting the bar."
The locks had to go to comply with state code.
"They say you have to provide an out for a person who might be (accidentally) locked in there," says Faircloth.
"From our perspective, we're looking at life safety, for any person who might happen to be in there, for whatever reason," says Deputy Fire Marshal Christina Morey, who ordered the changes.
She says the code often causes conflict.
"The reason there's a conflict is because the easiest and probably the most effective security measures are the ones that are against the codes," Morey says.
Faircloth lost two appeals to state committees and says he did not have time to make changes to the door to make it more secure. He says that in his case, the fire code creates danger for the city.
"They overlook the fact that all these firearms will go on the streets and what a danger (that creates)."
Police arrested James Farrier and Michael Good for the robbery. They recovered several guns, but will not know if they got all of them off the street until the pawn shop finishes an inventory of what is missing.
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