The largest source of stolen guns? Parked cars
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — On a Sunday in January 2022, a Glock 9 mm pistol, serial number AFDN559, disappeared from a Dodge Charger parked near a midtown Nashville bank after someone smashed in the rear driver’s side window.
Increasingly, thieves are doing just that. The Everytown researchers found that a decade ago, less than one-quarter of all gun thefts were from cars; in 2020, more than half of them were. The researchers say more study is needed to understand the shift, which has occurred as more states have adopted permitless carry laws and messages in gun industry marketing have encouraged Americans to take their weapons with them for personal protection.
Many lockboxes are relatively cheap. Simple versions that can attach to the underside of a car seat with a cable can be found for about $40, and some cities have even begun developing programs to give them away. In Houston, where more than 4,400 guns were stolen from cars last year, the police have given away roughly 700 such boxes this year, according to Houston Police Sgt. Tracy Hicks, and have plans to give away 6,300 more.
Tennessee’s Republican-dominated state legislature is considering a pair of bills with bipartisan support that would explicitly outlaw leaving a firearm in a motor vehicle or boat unless it is “locked within the trunk, utility or glove box, or a locked container securely affixed.” Hemmer’s bill is supported by John Drake, the Nashville police chief, who Tuesday wrote a letter to legislative leaders in which he mentioned that the high-profile robbery and killing of a local country musician, Kyle Yorlets, in 2019 was carried out by youths using a pistol stolen from a vehicle.
“This law can only be enforced if someone’s gun is stolen, the victim then reports the theft and admits the gun was unsecured — at which point the theft victim is charged with a crime,” she said. “I’m more than willing to increase the penalties for people stealing a gun,” he said. “But are we really that burdened by asking someone to properly lock up their gun in a vehicle so it can’t be stolen?”
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