It's not so anecdotal. The majority (70%) of gun homicides in the US are with (cheap) handguns[1]:
Total firearm homicides: 8,454
Handgun homicides: 5,782
Rifles, Shotguns, other: ~700
Which, with other stats, goes to show IMO, that "Assault Weapon Bans" are more grandstanding than anything else.
[1] - https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-...
It's only anecdotal, but the one thief that I knew loved handguns as they are small, have real value, and are easy to sell.
The fact that no one is going to go into a house to steal stuff if they think someone is there to protect it pairs just fine with the fact that often folks aren't home.