When there’s a riot going on, the police have to be focused on just a few things. Number one is to make sure the government itself is safe. That includes their own personal safety. After that, they focus on the riot itself. Other crimes often take a back seat for the time being for what should be obvious reasons.

Unfortunately, this makes it easier for some to get away with other crimes. Especially when it comes to gun store burglaries.

As noted on Tuesday, gun stores were hit by criminals while looters rampaged throughout the various cities.

Well, those particular gun stores weren’t the only ones targeted.

First, we have this one in Dallas:

Investigators need your help finding out who stole dozens of firearms at the DFW Gun Range and Training Center early Sunday morning.

A $10,000 reward is being offered for any tips that could lead to the arrest of three men who of ransacked the place.

The thieves took 46 firearms. They broke in about 1:30 Tuesday morning, while the rioting was still continuing.

In other words, the criminals at least seized on the opportunity the riots presented to break in and steal numerous guns.

And that’s actually the best-case scenario. The worst case is that these were looters who wanted to arm themselves against police and National Guard troops that may try to quell the rioting.

And it wasn’t the only gun store in Texas hit, either.

Thirty-two guns were stolen out of a Pflugerville gun range, and just a few minutes later thieves attempted to break into a south Austin gun shop.

Right now it’s not believed the cases are linked and the ATF is getting involved in locating those stolen guns.

Security cameras captured the moment a suspect pulls out a gun from his hoodie and points it at Central Texas Gun Works. “The last thing I want to do is have any of my guns on the streets of Austin, Travis County, Texas and used illegally,” said owner Michael Cargill.

…

While thieves came up empty-handed in this case, just a few minutes earlier a gun range in Pflugerville was broken into. A total of 32 guns were stolen from Red’s Indoor Range on West Pecan Street. The ATF is now getting involved to locate the firearms.

Between the thefts we talked about on Tuesday and these, somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 guns are on the streets in criminal hands, all at least in part due to the rioting that took place in various cities.

With luck, these are criminals looking to cash in on the situation and little else. If so, they’ll likely screw up and be caught easily enough, hopefully before any of these guns end up in the hands of people likely to use them for criminal acts.

The question is, are we that fortunate? At this point, it’s impossible to say. I can’t help but fear that this is for some more nefarious purpose.

Then again, it’s also possible the last few days have pegged my paranoid meter. Let’s all hope that’s the case.