One of the local area agencies made it tough on a vehicle robbery gang this week. Several kids were arrested and lots of car burglaries have been solved. That is all good.

Now for the bad.

There were many cars that were ripped off. There were many guns taken, sometimes multiple guns were taken from one vehicle. A few people had things take from their cars that they did not know about until police notified them weeks later. Other than guns, theives got GPS units, laptop computers, cameras and video games. Now we are talking dozens of cars and dozens of guns.

What we are also talking about is the cars were all UNLOCKED. There was no break in, vehicle damage or such. Just open the door as the car, get the items from under the seat, out of the console, door panel or other place Then close the door softly and leave.

I was shocked to find that so many people left their firearms in the cars. I was appalled that so many did not even lock their car doors. I was amazed that so many did not even know they had their gun stolen until police notified them.

This is a simple link to the initial tv news of the arrests.

Four Teens Charged With Vehicle Burglaries - Local News Story - KTBS Shreveport

I think this shows though how irresponsible some gun owners are. Just leave a gun in an unlocked car over night and not miss it.
Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid.

agreed, agreed, agreed, agreed.

I can fix ignorant--but stupid's hopeless.

That is a special kind of stupid.

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Soli Deo Gloria

Were the *kids* locals?
The Memphis news recently reported that a large group of goblins from Florida were breaking into cars all over this area.
Like they don't have cars in Florida?

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In dog years I'm dead.

They were local area kids. I have not talked with any officers involved in the bust but I wonder if it had any thing to do with one very young teen carrying a nice gun to school in the same area last week to sell to another young kid. The boy was caught when another student told a teacher about the boy having the gun. Naturally the gun was seized and the kid was arrested. Since the initial arrest of the kid, there has been no public mention of where the gun came from.

I don't even leave shopping packages in my car, no less a firearm. Leaving a gun in the car is ASKING FOR TROUBLE! In my neck of the woods it is also against the law, and if your firearm is reported stolen from a vehicle, kiss your permit and all your guns good-bye!

Aside from the fact that it is not a smart idea, why WOULDN'T one who is carrying want it on their person when they are outside the vehicle as well????

Chief38

This is a problem everywhere. In a nearby community every few months there's a rash of these thefts and police issue the usual warning, lock your vehicles, etc. And a few months later it happens again. The biggest advantage for us (responsible people) is that few of these vehicle break-ins result in damage to vehicles simply because of (1) alarm systems and (2) the thieves know that most cars will be unlocked. If they find a locked vehicle with no valuables in view, they just move on to the next knowing it will most likely be unlocked.

A few months ago we had a similar incident in our neighborhood. 13 cars burglarized, all unlocked!:eek One handgun was stolen but recovered the following morning when the 16 year old who stole it shot himself while shoving it in his waistband. And who says there's no such thing as karma?

I have, unfortuantely, had my car ransacked when I forgot and left it unlocked overnight. I NEVER leave anything of value in my cars, especially not a firearm.

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Even older, even crankier....

Wow.... The only time my firearm is in my vehicle is when I am in my vehicle. It is always on my hip!!!

Bob

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SW40VE AF
2000 rounds so far

Let me ask this.

Where do you secure your handgun when you go into a court house, police station,post office,school or any other restricted place you are not allowed to carry?

If that was directed at me......

I DON'T go into any of those places!!!

Bob

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SW40VE AF
2000 rounds so far

I go into court houses and police stations daily. When I do, I simply remove the sidearm and place it inside the trunk of my car or in the tool box of my truck. The alarms are turned on. Also I remove the gun prior to where I will be parking so nobody sees me putting anything in the trunk. There are two police stations where I am allowed to retain my sidearm.

If I am going to be in court all day, I leave it in a gun safe at home, holster and all.

If one of these maggots breaks into my truck, they'll get a 4 way lug wrench and a 50 cal ammo can with a few basic tools and a flat repair kit. If I happen upon them at that time, they'll also recieve a lead and copper salute.

I had a gun stolen from an unlocked vehicle, about two years ago.

My daughter, in an emergency tizzy, borrowed my truck one afternoon. She was in a huge rush, and I inadvertantly left a pistol in my console. When she got to her home she did not lock my truck, and you know what happened.

I called her in the evening, and told her to go out and get it, but was too late! She said: " But it was only there about an hour, and this is a CRIME FREE neighborhood."

My Homeowner's Insurance did pay off, after a $500.00 deductible.

Best Wishes,
Tom

... the rule of KISS

Keep It Simple, Stupid

Lock you doors (auto & house). You can't fix stupid.

I have had several incidents. I had just drove 2,000 miles from wisconsin back to california. I had the truck loaded heavy as I had just moved my dad into a rest home. I unloaded most the stuff but stupidly left a revolver locked in the back. I had unloaded a armfull of family long guns and forgot the one. I came out the next morning and no truck! The truck nor the gun has ever showed up. On top of that the gun must have tipped them off I was a gun person. I was watched and a day or two later right after I left the house to shop for another truck and the house was broken into and all the old family guns were stolen! I had so many other guns filling my safe I couldnt fit them in!
I had a jc penneys CC in the truck that I had just picked up from the mail box still in the truck. I went and checked penneys on a hunch and over $4,000s was on it! A woman had forged my name on the shopping spree but in her excitement she also signed her own name, KIANE NEMUTH several times going to different cashiers in two stores. I got printouts and took them to the detective assigned my case. We ran a check and found she had just been released from jail on the same type charges, not for the crime, but from breaking parole stemming from the first thefts. I went to her trial and the judge was giveing her some nothing sentance for stealing my CC. I got up and started telling the judge she stold a lot more and he wouldnt even let me finish and gave me the bums rush! Basicly she would only admit to stealing the CC when someone she didnt know gave her a ride in my truck. By chance I talked to the first guy in the case that also had his house broke into and guns stolen. He said she had come over to his house with a girl friend to his stepdaughter one day and he got hit the next. He asked neighbors and they recalled seeing her out front while some boy friends were hauling stuff out. They discribed her, didnt relate to the fact they were watching a robbery. I lost many family guns. I did get one back, a shotgun, where they sawed the stock and barrel and put on a doc holiday sling. In short, she probley got a couple months and I am out precious heirlooms.
Thats the short version.

GeeWiz, What a story, my mouth is hanging open. So sorry for your loss.

Someone close to me stayed at a motel with an underground garage. The next morning they found their car had been burglarized, having been left unlocked. From the locked trunk was taken a .44 magnum revolver. They thought the car was safe in the garage, and the gun was safe in the trunk. No, the trunk wasn't broken into, it was unlocked with an inside the car trunk release. Now the bad guys are armed. We truly need to be thinking all the time.

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Endeavor to persevere. <><

Years ago I ran home for just a minute and didnt lock the truck. My neighbor called me he seen someone rumminging through my truck. Described him as mexican looking wearing a backpack. By the time I got outside he was gone. I cruised a few blocks and saw him putting out dommino pizza coupons on doors. I made him empty his packsack and nothing of mine was in it. Of course he either couldnt or wouldnt speak a word of english. As we were about two blocks from my house I couldnt do much but give him a scare.
Think about it! Isnt that a perfect job to check out houses and vehicles?

Situational awareness and preparedness also means that you lock your doors and keep your guns from theives.

I heard a diesel pickup pull up outside the house this morning. Looked out the window of the bedroom and the guy was looking in the window of my car. By the time I got to the front door, he was rattling the storm door. I probably shouldn't have, but I opened the door with a pistol in my hand and asked him, in less polite terms, what he wanted. He showed me a flyer and said he was buying old cars. I told him to get off my property and never come back. As he was getting in his truck he called me something Lee won't let me post here, but he's gone and he knows someone in the neighborhood is paying attention.

The reason that I was less than polite, besides the fact that he was looking in my cars and trying to open my storm door, is that scrap metal buyers around here can buy cars made before, IIRC, 1999 without a title or any proof of ownership. So this cat could have been scoping out a couple of scores for later on, as all but one of my vehicles are older than 1999.

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Insert short witty words here

I always answer the door with a sidearm showing. Had a religious feller knock on the door one day, when he saw the pistol, asked me if I was expecting trouble. I said "Nope, if I was, I'da been carrying this" and reached behind the door and picked up the Mossberg...

If a stolen gun, from an unlocked vehicle, were used in a crime,
wouldn't the owner be included in the civil trial, for damages?
Just seems like the owner would bear some responsibility.....
TACC1

Way back there was a knock on my door about 11:30 pm. I opened it and a black youth about 20 years old wanted to know if this is where a party was suppose to be. I didnt point my nickle 2 1/2" python at him but I let him have a good look at it and said, naw, no party here, now git! I was sure I was gonna have to shovel his eye balls off the doorstep the next morning!

Not really. It would depend on the circumstances and jurisdiction. As an investigator in many such cases, I can offer my findings.

1. If a gun is stolen, the chances of it being used in a crime is high. People do not steal guns to add them in a collection. They steal them to sell on the streets to those that cannot buy one legally and who wants a gun that will be used in a crime but cannot be traced back to them.

2. The owner of a stolen gun may have to show he used good judgement in securing the gun. Actual incident: A LEO removed their sidearm in a diner while eating. Nobody knows why. He ate and left. He also left his sidearm in the diner seat. Someone found it and it was used in a crime three days later. The perp was caught within hours of the crime with the gun in his possession. The officer was placed in a heap of trouble. Had someone gotten injured or killed, the officer could have been sued since he was negligent in the handling of his gun. FWIW: The officer's dept is now missing eight guns. Four officer issued sidearms, a full auto tactical, two shotguns and a gas gun.

However, as long as the storage of a gun was not negligent or careless, the owner cannot usually be held responsible for the actions of a thief.

Feral, could that be considered as brandishing? You do not have to point or pull a gun to be so charged.

I answered my door Monday night at midnight. My gun was in hand that I kept out of sight but ready for immediate use. It was my neighbor having a dead battery and needing to get boost off for work so no harm. But meeting one at the door with a visible gun may scare some into calling the local PD.

Just saying.

Yes, yes it is. That's why I'm never terribly friendly to people wandering the neighborhood with a fistful of paper handbills...another thing that I've noticed about them is they never seem to do a very good job covering their supposed "route". They never even get to half the houses on my street...maybe because I'm sitting outside giving them the "hairy eyeball" the whole time? I dunno...don't trust 'em though, and NEVER let 'em IN the house!

Check local laws...around here, in your own home, you have to do more than just "display" it. As I read the statute, one has to actually take aim at another before any serious eyebrows get raised.

I wasnt worried about brandishing the gun. Guess I watched too many movies. Never entered my head. How often do you get a knock on the door at almost midnight? Specialy when you dont have many friends or relatives in the area? When I was in my 20s it wouldnt mean much, but oldman as you probley know, at 60 friendly visitors arent too common at midnight.
Really, I been in quite a few more touchier than that one. Never got in legal trouble in the last 70 years over such stuff, and I belive if I thought hard over it I can come up with a half dozzen incidents a lot more dramatic.

It also goes without saying, don't make your vehicle a target. We're all proud of our regular, life, benefactor, etc. NRA status but that member sticker in the back window just shouts out "GUN INSIDE" even if there isn't. Same thing for "Insured by insert firearm make here" or other such bumper stickers. And no matter how proud you are of that 1/2 inch 25 round group out of your M&P 15-22 or whatever, don't leave targets laying openly in your vehicle. All of these things just let thieves know you might have guns in your car/truck and almost certainly have them at home.

CW

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