Thieves Take Entire Gun Safe From Home Of Iraqi War Veteran

An Iraqi War veteran's home was broken into in Skiatook, and along with his TV, laptop and tools, thieves also stole an entire gun safe with nine guns in it.

Tony Clark's first thought was he didn't want his guns in the hands of bad guys, and certainly doesn't want them used against innocent people or law enforcement officers.

A couple of these guns have the insignia of Clark's unit on them, making them very identifiable.

Clark left his house Friday night, with all his doors locked and dead bolted, the lights and TV left on.

But when he came home a few hours later, his back door was kicked in, his electronics were gone and, worst of all, his black Centurion gun safe had been hauled out of a back closet.

The safe weighs 500 pounds empty, but he had nine guns, ammo and personal papers inside.

He had two AR-15's, an AR-10, a 9 mm Beretta, a 45 auto ordnance with U.S. Army stamped on the slide, a Springfield XD-40 and a .40 caliber Glock.

The AR-10 and 15 were specially made with scopes, night sights and bi-pods, plus the insignia of his unit, commemorating his tour in Iraq.

"On the right side of the magazine well unit, were cross sabers, because I'm in the Calvary, Thunderbird, 180th Calvary squadron and our deployment code, Operation Enduring Freedom, Enduring Iraqi Freedom," Clark said.

They were special guns he hoped to make a family keepsake that would be passed down through the generations.

He said he was in shock when he realized they were gone.

"I was pissed beyond description," Clark said.

He says if the crooks would work as hard at a legit job as they did hauling out that heavy safe, they wouldn't have to steal from others.

Clark has this advice for others: "People need to start bolting gun safes to the floor, where it cannot just be picked up and moved."

He said, just when you think you've done enough to protect your home and property, do even more. Install alarms, cameras, organize a neighborhood watch—anything necessary to prevent something like this.

Clark said what really burns him is they waited until he was gone.

"Them cowards don't have the guts to come face off with me. They know my name now, they know where I live. I'd welcome, very much, some face time with them," Clark said.

Tony said he hopes people will keep an eye out for his guns. He wants them back before someone does something bad with them.

His neighbor says they've had a number of break-ins in that area, recently so neighbors are on the lookout, getting tag numbers and sharing information.