By: Teresa Mull

A group of thieves found out the hard way that a gun store may not be the smartest place from which to steal.

Bullseye Gun, Gear & Pawn had been robbed the week before, so when four young men walked in and started acting in a way that raised suspicions, the staff, according to co-owner Annette Lane, was on high alert.

Two men outside the store moved a vehicle into a parking space near the shop’s door.

The Murfreesboro Post reports:

It turned out one of the men outside was the man who had run outside with the guns in the previous theft, [Lane] said.

Several of the men inside the store Tuesday grabbed the guns and ran outside, Lane said. The employees, including herself, and a customer, chased them and captured them at gunpoint, she said. One employee stayed inside to alert police.

“They gave it up, they figured out it wasn’t going to work for them,” Lane said.

The Murfreesboro Police Department responded to the store and found the six suspects had been detained in the parking lot, according to a press release. Police found two loaded handguns in the vehicle in addition to the stolen guns the employees recovered.

WKRN reported:

"Somehow I managed to get out the door with this gun under my arm like this and the magazine like this, chased somebody to the gate got em’ turned around, and as they are walking back I’m kind of poking him in the back with this magazine," Lane explained.

Lane’s brother Kelly Brooks, who is also a store owner, grabbed his gun and joined in on the chase for the bad guys.

"I went out of the back door fast as I could go, pulling my gun and trying to stop them," Brooks said. "The car was still running we were hollering and screaming, ‘get out, get out, get out.’ It was crazy — I’ve never pulled my gun the whole time we’ve owned the store, but reaction and training kicked in and we were on point. We are tired of getting robbed."

Teresa Mull is editor of Gunpowder Magazine. Contact her at [email protected].