Tulsa Police Stress Gun Safety After Increase In Stolen Weapons From Vehicles

Tulsa Police say more than 100 guns were stolen in the first two and a half months of this year and it's a problem that's not slowing down.

Burglary detectives have already had 169 reports of guns stolen from cars, since January.

Investigators say the reality is, fewer than one percent of those stolen guns are ever found and are very often used to commit crimes, including murder. They say the majority of guns are stolen from unlocked cars. It's called carhopping where thieves walk along a line of parked cars, trying door handles.

Police say a major problem in the city is people who shouldn't be allowed to have a gun, being able to get guns because gun owners aren't taking care of their guns.

"You're just making it easy for these criminals to come in there and take your stuff out of your car if you leave it unlocked,” said Lieutenant Tim Means with Tulsa Police.

The burglary unit has investigated 971 burglaries from cars this year, and guns were taken in 169 of those. That's about 20 percent, and more than half of those, were taken from unlocked cars.

"In some of those reports we have multiple guns taken. It's more than 169 guns that have been taken out of cars,” Lt. Means said.

Lieutenant Means said these numbers don't include guns stolen from homes or businesses. He says they average more than one stolen gun case a day and just last week, an AR-15 was stolen from an unlocked car.

"You have some of these mass shootings that happen, and AR-15s are used in those and you just don't know what the intent is of the person that took it that now has this rifle that is out there that could possibly be used in a crime,” Lt. Means said.

Tulsa Police released a map showing where most guns are stolen and it's places like near Woodland Hills Mall where there are a lot of people, a lot of cars, and people aren't around their cars because they are shopping or eating.

"We've had these happen where they were used in a homicide not too long after they were taken. I'm hoping that individuals that have a gun taken, hopefully they would learn something from this if nothing else. It's part of being a gun owner, you should be responsible with your weapon,” Lt. Means said.

Police say take your gun out of your car when you get home at night and lock your car. If you do ever have to leave a gun in your car, find a way to secure it.