The rate of gun theft from cars has tripled in the United States since 2013, according to a new study published Thursday by gun safety group Everytown.
The authors analyzed FBI crime data from 337 small to large cities in 44 states covering about 63 million people. In 2013 there were 21 gun thefts from automobiles per 100,000 people.
By 2022, the rate of theft had increased threefold to 63.1 firearms stolen from cars per 100,000. The study noted that while gun theft from cars has risen over 200% during that time, overall theft from vehicles has decreased 11%.
Of the 112,000 guns reported stolen in 2022, about 51% were taken from cars. That figure of roughly 62,000 guns amounts to an average of at least one firearm stolen every nine minutes from a vehicle in the U.S.
The study noted that the rate of gun theft from cars is 18 times higher when the city is located in a state with less restrictive gun laws. Memphis has the highest rate of gun theft from cars with Atlanta, St. Louis, and Richmond, Virginia, and San Antonio rounding out the top five.
The authors noted a law passed in Tennessee in 2014 that allowed all legal gun owners to store firearms in parked vehicles. They noted that since 2013, more than 29,000 guns have been stolen from vehicles in the state.
Evergreen emphasized the importance of the study in that stolen gun are often used to then commit other crimes. During the same 10-year period, gun homicides increased 85% in Tennessee.
The authors said that while they encouraged legislators to pass further gun regulations, the problem of stolen guns from cars could be greatly reduced by gun owners simply locking their vehicles and securing firearms so they are not visible.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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