The study is based on information from 643 crime reports submitted by 16 police forces in England and Wales relating to the misappropriation of firearms that occurred in 1992. Most firearms were taken during the course of residential burglaries in developed areas. Rural houses and vehicles were targeted in just over one in three of the incidents recorded. The offenses were most likely to occur when owners were not on the premises. Shotguns and handguns were the most common types of firearms stolen, although most of the latter were imitation or replicas. Often victims kept their weapons in secure containers or armories, but there were some instances where owners either had no firearm security measures or forgot to use them; however, despite preventive measures, offenders were prepared to force open security containers or take the containers with them. In a small number of cases firearms containers were opened with keys found on the premises. There is no evidence the firearms owners were targeted by offenders; other valuable and easily disposable items were usually taken from the premises as well. Thieves who were arrested were typically unemployed young male offenders with a criminal history. Only about one in six of the stolen firearms was recovered by the police. Available evidence shows that only a small proportion of recovered firearms had been used in a crime; when they had, it was usually within 1 month of being stolen. Extensive tables and 2 references