U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- The billionaire-backed Everytown for Gun Safety and its subsidiary, Moms Demand Action, are pushing hard to convince voters to elect so-called “gun sense” candidates in November, so they can continue promoting restrictive gun control measures.
This comes as NBC News is reporting an Everytown “study” analyzing FBI crime data allegedly showing “From 2019 to 2020, at least 180 cities saw a rise in gun thefts from vehicles, which now makes up the largest source of stolen guns.” NBC says it obtained the data analysis and verified it.
“It’s an alarming trend as shootings rise nationwide, propelled in large part by firearms obtained illegally,” NBC reported, which seems to overlook an obvious problem with the kinds of gun control programs pushed by Everytown and the Moms group.
Criminals who steal guns from cars—or anywhere else—are obtaining them illegally, and no background check or waiting period requirement for law-abiding citizens is going to change this.
According to the report, this trend is showing up across the country.
“In South Carolina, gun thefts from motor vehicles climbed to more than 5,100 in 2021, from roughly 4,200 in 2019, according to the statewide data provided by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division,” NBC reported.
The Richland County, SC Sheriff’s Department has posted a short video on Twitter to remind gun owners to not leave guns in cars.
Did you know a majority of the guns used to commit violent crimes in the Midlands have been stolen out of an unlocked vehicle? Help keep your community safer by making sure to properly secure your firearms. #YourCarIsNotYourHolster pic.twitter.com/7ZQiB7dlMt
— Richland County Sheriff's Dept. (@RCSD) May 1, 2022
In Virginia, Hampton Police Chief Mark Talbot told the network said gun thefts from motor vehicles climbed from 88 in 2019 to 142 by 2021. He said it is “exceedingly rare” to investigate a gun-related crime when the firearm was legally possessed.
As if to underscore this scenario, in distant Puyallup, Washington—a suburb of Tacoma—KIRO news is reporting that police are investigating an unusual carjacking in which the victim shot one of the would-be carjackers, only to find himself in trouble. The carjacking victim turned out to be a convicted felon, unable to possess a firearm legally, yet he had a gun.
In the effort to elect anti-gunners to public office at every level, the gun prohibition lobby remains oblivious to the connection between the growing violent crime problem and stolen guns. Instead, anti-gunners seem determined to erect as many barricades as possible for honest citizens to overcome in order to exercise their rights, while none of the gun control proposals, or laws that already exist, are keeping guns out of the wrong hands.
It is against this backdrop that gun prohibitionists are growing more worried as a Supreme Court ruling in the case of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen looms. They appear to be anticipating the ruling will strike down New York’s restrictive concealed carry permitting system, which requires applicants to show “good cause” in order to exercise a constitutionally-protected fundamental right.
An email from one Evergreen State gun rights activist revealed a note from Everytown, which capitalized on the Mother’s Day weekend to encourage people to donate to the organization’s “Gun Safety Victory Fund.” In reaction, he wrote, “In related news, SAF just got another $50,” a reference to the donation he just made to the Second Amendment Foundation.
The suggestion seems clear: The more Everytown and Moms want money, the more gun rights activists should donate to their favorite Second Amendment organization.
As some activists evidently look at the Everytown money plea, there are some absurdities worth exploring.
For example, the Everytown note says, “If the Supreme Court is going to strike down our rights and protections, it will be up to our elected officials to keep us safe.”
The message from “Moms” founder Shannon Watts echoes the plea: “We need to start working now to mitigate any damage that comes from the courts—and that begins by electing gun sense lawmakers up and down the ticket.”
Those “elected officials” so far haven’t managed to keep anyone safe, so what will change if they are re-elected?
One might suspect that the push to keep legally-carried guns out of more public places is designed to accomplish one of two things:
- Discourage honest citizens from carrying firearms altogether, or
- Force armed citizens to leave their defensive sidearms in vehicles, where they are likely to be stolen.
Either scenario pays off for the gun prohibition lobby, and the second option—and its potential problem—will provide more ammunition to anti-gunners to complain about gun theft and demand more restrictions.
Pay attention to gun control groups as they identify so-called “gun-sense” candidates and cast your votes accordingly.
Anytime you see a request for money from a gun control group, make a donation to a Second Amendment organization.
- www.saf.org
- www.ccrkba.org
- www.nra.org
- www.gunowners.org
About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
if the control freaks wouldn’t make carrying illegal in so many places many firearms wouldn’t be left in vehicles to be stolen. i have a lock box in my vehicle for when i cannot carry, but that only makes it a little more of a hassle for a criminal to steal my firearm. i always lock my vehicle, sometimes even with the keys in it. carry a spare key.
I have a lock box under my back seat. It has a cable thru the seat frame. As gregs said if they want it bad enough they will get it. The safest place for the firearm is on my hip.
hip ankle and shoulder
Like @gregs wrote, if there weren’t gun free zones far fewer guns would be left in cars. The post office is the worst; no guns allowed on the property so park across the street or risk jail.
I laugh like hell about that , the local post master told me in front of the carriers that the local office supports ccw , I do know the contract carrier on my route is armed
Sounds like a good common sense postmaster.
concealed is concealed. I always discretely do a gun check before exiting the car, and just walk on in. Thing is, that is federal law, and locals cannot enforce it. How often are any Fed level LE actually AT the Post Office? City and county coppers cannot enforce tat. Any more than they can enforce immigration law.
I’d be surprised if the P.O. did not have cameras and if there was a hint of a suspicion that you might have been armed A.G. Garland would be thrilled to track you down and throw you in jail until they were satisfied you were unarmed. And it could take forever to prove your innocence.
As long as current laws/ordinances force legal gun owners to leave their firearms in their vehicle in order to : go to work, shopping, meetings etc, gun thefts will continue to climb. I encourage all who must leave their valuable firearms in their vehicle to invest in a car safe or at least lock it out of sight in console or glove ompartment.
It seems silly to restrict folks who are allowed to possess a firearm from possessing it, they’re not a threat.
Tweet from sheriff embedded in article says majority are stolen from unlocked cars. Got to wonder where he got that statistic? All I saw from FBI said “stolen from cars.” That includes inside a lockbox cable-locked inside locked trunk or hidden under seat. I suspect majority of these thefts are by professional thieves who carry tools to enter car and to cut cables. Those cheap lockboxes are easy enough to break open – but they will simply cut the cable which takes only a moment. Not saying to not bother, but your best hope is to avoid leaving firearm when… Read more »
As mentioned, if the baddies want it bad enough, they can steal arms from cars. But in recent years, cars don’t have glove compartments with locks on them or trunks which can be secured from easy entry. A trip to an auto locksmith is in order nowadays. While at it, wear it.
more new gun owners more people without experience and training, more people to steal from .All the places that park your car for you ,people dont check when leaving restaurant /bar/shopping get in car move ,they find the gun gone hours or days later. , I have been in a restaurant and asked to leave because I had a gun ,stood up and politely announced to every one there ,the owners wanted people with guns to leave fifteen couples got up and left with us , to be fair I knew what would happen after all a gun club meeting… Read more »
great story, fifteen couples leaving. Serves the restaurant right. Bad night for them, goon one for you and friends. Well done.
So if you live in California and have a firearm stolen (from a car or a home) and the value is less than $950, will the police even file a report?
I’d hope so. I suspect that it is a crime to not report theft within a specified short period after the event. If your gun was ever “recovered”, you would need proof that you reported it stolen. Of course having “recovered” your stolen property, they will never return it to it’s rightful owner.
I’d be very interested in learning the details as to WHY the poor carjacked sap in Puyallup is labelled “prohibited person”. Glad he was armed and able to defend himself against an armed criminal. This does two things: first, it proves that no law will absolutely disarm anyone, and scond that there are many labelled “prohibited persons: that should not be so desingated I’m betting this poor chap is one of them. I aso hope he gets his day in court and a sympathetic jury. Not in my county so I know I won’t be able to nullify the law… Read more »
Dave’s hone state,Washington, prohibits anyone inside a space where alcohol is served from possession of a firearm. (exeptions for restaurants where half their revenue or less is from alcohol sales, you can tell this by whether children are allowed to sit with their parants at the same table) What this does, and the criminals know this all too well, is that EVERYONE inside the bar/tavern/pub is UNarmed, and that those who normally go about armed hae left their weappn in the car park out back. Car prowls/firearms thefts in such places are legendary. Oregon, next south, does not prohibit guns… Read more »
Criminals no longer fear the law Felons with guns do not abide by the law Judges district attorneys are turning a blind eye to justice.
Concealed carry benefits me no one needs to know if I am armed, that is a mistake most folks make.
NBC cannot believed while not trustworthy they are political in nature. The fact of the matter is people should not leave guns in cars or their car unlocked even in their own driveways.Richland county SC is not one of the best communities in SC in fact it was a target on the show Live PD in which you got a fair point of view of those folks that live in Richland. The media at the instructions of the democratic elite fail to include the rest of the thefts along with violent crime committed by gangs and drug dealers along with… Read more »
Government continually brag how THEY are the ones who “protect” us, when they not only do not but for the most part they do what they can to prevent US from protecting OURSELVES. They fail, or deliberately ignore, the COnstitioin, which plainly ststas that the job of “the security of a free state” (meaning organised society) is the task of the people, armed and trained at their discretion for that purpose. It never is, never will be, government’s “job” to “keep us safe”. Not from criminals, not from any virus.
I agree and have always believed that you must protect yourself and family.