[ArrogantBustard]

Why not spend $4,000 (or less) to equip the bodega owners with Army-surplus .45 caliber Browning handguns,

Because the Army-surplus 1911s are all clapped out. And they could spend about $500 each to get them brand-spankin'-new 1911s from Springfield, Inc. or some other civvie arms manufacturer.

[durasell]

Because the gun is the first thing they steal -- even before the cash -- when robbing a bodega.