Burglarized New Kensington gun store moves to new, secured location

A New Kensington gun store burglarized in January has moved to a new location its owners have fortified against break-ins.

RC Firearms moved about two miles within the city from the rear of 404 Freeport St. to 2391 Seventh Street Road, said Roy Berg, who opened RC Firearms with his son, Cole, just over a year ago.

Roy Berg owns the Seventh Street Road property where his other business, AK Valley Auto Glass, has been located since September 2022. RC Firearms opened in February 2023 where the auto glass business had previously been housed.

Two men, Michael Guin, 26, and Steyn Sarduy, 18, are facing federal charges of conspiracy and theft, accused of using a stolen pickup to smash through the doors of RC Firearms before dawn on Jan. 22.

Authorities said they stole 24 guns, including 22 handguns and two shotguns.

At last report, only three of the 24 guns have been recovered. A spokesman with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives did not respond to a request for an update Friday.

Guin and Sarduy have pleaded not guilty.

Berg said they decided it would be better for the gun store to be in his own building and outside of town, in an area he described as being a bit more rural with no foot traffic.

“It’s a better situation here,” Berg said. “They’re not going to walk up that hill.”

As they had at the previous location following the burglary, the Bergs have fortified the building to ensure a vehicle can’t be used to break in. There are steel gates over doors at the front and back of the building, a gate controlling access to the back of the building where the entrance to the gun store is located, and one that closes across the garage door.

Steel bollards are filled with concrete and secured deep in the ground.

These features could withstand a hit from a vehicle traveling at 55 mph, Berg said, but there isn’t enough room in front of the building for a vehicle to even get up to that speed.

At the previous location, authorities say Guin and Sarduy used hammers to smash open display cases. Display cases at the new store are shatterproof, and rifles are secured in racks with locking bars.

The building has its own camera system. Other cameras, including license plate readers, are not far away.

“The biggest advantage to having it up here is the cameras are set for ‘human,’” Berg said. “If a person walks within 60 feet of the building, we’re alerted.”

If the Bergs do not deactivate the system within 15 seconds of an alert, an alarm goes off and police are notified, he said.

While all of the security measures have come at a cost, Berg said it was necessary.

“I have to be able to sleep at night,” he said. “We don’t want to have to worry about somebody doing this again.”

Berg carved out a corner of the glass shop garage to house RC Firearms. Within the next year or so, he’s planning on either expanding the building for the shop or putting up a new building on vacant property nearby.

RC Firearms will normally be closed on weekends. However, Berg said they will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

Regular hours will be 2 to 5 p.m. Mondays and Fridays; 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays; and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays.

The weekends the store is open will be posted on its Facebook page, Berg said.