If a dollar were given for every instance we heard how wise and responsible gun owners are it would require a trip to a bank to make a hefty deposit. But as national data proves, gun owners are not always responsible members of society.
The rate of guns stolen from cars in the U.S. has tripled over the last decade, making them the largest source of stolen guns in the country, an analysis of FBI data by the gun safety group Everytown found.
The rate of stolen guns from cars climbed nearly every year and spiked during the coronavirus pandemic along with a major surge in weapons purchases in the U.S., according tothe report, which analyzes FBI data from 337 cities in 44 states and was provided to The Associated Press.
Shortly after reading that news story, I was at a Walgreens pharmacy counter in Madison. Behind me, two men had apparently vied for the same place in line and rather than be gentlemanly about it proceeded to a loud verbal showdown. Given that we live in a gun-soaked society the first thing that crossed my mind was one of the Mensa members making a public scene might pull a gun. It was only about a month ago when several people got into a verbal altercation for some equally crazy nonsense inside a State Street eatery and gunshots followed out on the pavement. It is, therefore, necessary to be mindful of what can happen in any given situation. If guns are in cars ready to be stolen it makes sense that the drivers also arm themselves when walking into stores in our communities.
Nearly 112,000 guns were reported stolen in 2022, and just over half of those were from cars — most often when they were parked in driveways or outside people’s homes, the Everytown report found. That’s up from about one-quarter of all thefts in 2013, when homes were the leading spot for firearm thefts, the report says.
Stolen guns have also been linked to tragic accidents, such as when a 14-year-old boy in St. Petersburg, Florida, killed his 11-year-old brother after finding in an alley a gun that had been stolen from an unlocked car a few days before.
At least one firearm was stolen from a car every nine minutes on average in 2022, the most recent year for which data was available. That’s almost certainly an undercount, though, since there’s no federal law requiring people to report stolen guns and only one-third of states require a report.
We know road rage with gun violence continues to escalate and with national data, we also know more and more of the guns people carry and use are not only left in cars but in unlocked cars. At a time when gun owners ask that we trust them to make sound decisions with their deadly weapons, the data proves they are no more concerned about locking up weapons than if a burger wrapper was left on their floormat.
What can be done to curb this national problem, which leads to more gun violence, deaths, and injuries? Legislatorsat all levels must pass laws to help prevent these thefts. The highest-priority policies are, first,laws that require guns to be securely storedand not visible when left unattended in cars. States including California, Connecticut, and Oregon have done so and can serve as examples.Second, immediate, mandatory reporting oflost and stolen gunsenables law enforcement to investigate the theft and any possible gun trafficking and allows us to better understand where and when these incidents are happening to help focus prevention efforts. Research has shown that these reporting laws can reduce illegal gun movements by 46 percent compared to states without this law.
The problem with logical measures to help stem gun violence is that the National Rifle Association has for so long been the tail that has wagged the body of elected legislative chambers, there is no reason to think that is soon to change. But history shows that the NRA is wrong in claiming that gun control measures do not work. In fact, gun control measures do work. Decades ago, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act was enacted to create the requirement for background checks on all handgun purchases from federally licensed firearm dealers. Since its enactment in 1994, approximately 4 million illegal gun transactions have been prevented.
What is still much needed, but rejected by the NRA, is for a background check to be mandatory for guns sold by unlicensed sellers who ply their weapons online or at gun shows. This loophole enables people with felony convictions, domestic abuse restraining orders, and other troubled people with prohibiting histories to buy guns with no questions asked. The loophole should be closed torequire background checks on all gun sales.
With that same sense of urgency, we should demand another source of future gun violence be addressed, and that is making sure laws are in place to ensure guns are stored correctly and stolen weapons are reported to authorities. After all, we know how earnest gun owners are in telling us they are wise and responsible for their actions.
