Arlington police to gun owners: Stop leaving your guns in unlocked cars

Most guns confiscated by Arlington police have been stolen from vehicles, many of which were left unlocked.

By Sarah Bahari

Arlington police are urging gun owners to better secure their firearms, blaming an uptick in crime on guns swiped from vehicles, many of which were left unlocked.

Both the number of stolen guns and the number of cases involving stolen firearms have increased so far this year, according to police data.

“Leaving a firearm unsecured in a vehicle is not the responsible gun owner thing to do,” said Arlington police officer Jastin Williams, who’s a firearms safety expert.

This summer, Arlington Police Chief Al Jones blamed an uptick in violence to teenagers having access to guns. Most guns confiscated by police were stolen from vehicles, he said.

By Nov. 9 this year, 255 guns were reported stolen from vehicles, according to police figures. In 2019 and 2020, police reported 254 and 217 similar incidents, respectively.

The number of cases that involved stolen firearms climbed to 455, as of Nov. 9, compared to 451 in 2019 and 418 in 2020.

Police pointed to two recent examples:

• In June of this year, a gun reported stolen from a vehicle on Carthage Way in Arlington was recovered the following month by Richardson police, who arrested a suspect who used it in an alleged aggravated assault.
• In July of this year, a gun stolen from a vehicle in the 5000 block of Autumn Wheat Trail in Arlington was recovered the same day when Arlington police arrested a suspect in two armed robberies.

Police asked gun owners to record their firearms’ serial numbers in case they are stolen.