By Dave Workman
If you keep a gun in your car, you may be pushing your luck, as a new report from the Council on Criminal Justice says gun thefts from automobiles “rose sharply” during a five-year study period between 2018 and 2022.
Among its key findings, the Council report noted, “The rate of guns reported stolen from motor vehicles increased by 31% over the period, while the rate of guns reported stolen during residential and commercial burglaries dropped by 40%. Rates of gun thefts from vehicles were highest and rose the most steeply in the most rural areas.”
Another alarming revelation: “About half of all guns reported stolen from motor vehicles were stolen from vehicles parked at residences. However, thefts from vehicles in parking lots or garages increased by 76% over the study period.”
The Virginia Mercury said the Council’s findings are based on data from more than 2,000 law enforcement agencies across the country which submitted “detailed crime reports” to the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).
“The report’s findings suggest that parked cars have become a major weak point in firearm security — one that could be addressed through policy, public education and better data collection,” the Mercury report stated.
One revelation noted by the Mercury was, “Among the 16 cities included in the report, Memphis, Tennessee, had the highest rate of gun thefts in 2022 — 546 reported incidents per 100,000 residents. That’s nearly double the rate in Detroit, which ranked second at 297 per 100,000, and more than 10 times higher than in Seattle, which had the lowest rate at 44 per 100,000. Kansas City, Missouri, had the third-highest rate at 234 per 100,000, followed by Milwaukee, at 219 per 100,000, and Nashville, Tennessee, at 210 per 100,000.”
One main contributing factor to gun theft from cars may be the growing number of “gun free zones” and “sensitive areas” being created by anti-gun city councils. People licensed to carry are forced by such restrictive laws to leave their guns locked in their cars. Some gun owners believe such laws are passed in an effort to discourage people from carrying guns at all.
When the issue was discussed at Quora.com, gun owners offered suggestions ranging from locking guns in the car trunk, or in a gun safe, or maybe just avoiding such places altogether.
One man wrote, “Unless I have to I don’t go in a business that has one of those signs no matter if I am carrying or not. If someplace believes criminals have more rights then (sic) law abiding citizens they don’t get any of my money.”
Another man explained, “For starters I avoid anyplace that bans concealed handguns. I won’t violate laws but I don’t go into places like that either. I do banking online, car and driver’s license renewals online and don’t go into (government) buildings. IF that rare one in a million thing happens and I have NO choice to go into a government building I leave my gun in the car in a locked storage system with the car locked as well.”
There are various strategies for people forced to leave guns in cars. Don’t put bumper stickers or decals in or on your vehicle, which might suggest there is a gun inside.
Thanks to American ingenuity, there are several available gun safe options for cars, SUVs and trucks. There are key lock type metal safes sized to slide under an automobile seat, which come with cables that can actually be used to anchor the safe to the car seat.
Another company offers a console gun safe with either a combination lock or biometric device which is activated by fingerprint recognition.
Motorists also store guns in locked glove compartments, or hide them out of sight inside of a locked vehicle.
