Gun thefts from cars up 85 percent in two years in Tennessee, some police blame laws

By the time the 500th report of a car break-in hit the desk of east Nashville police commander David Imhof in the first few months of 2018, he'd had enough. 

Among hundreds of other valuables taken, more than 40 firearms were reported stolen from cars parked in the Shelby Hills, Five Points and Historic Edgehill neighborhoods in his precinct.

It was the weapon thefts that concerned Imhof the most. 

The vast majority were handguns, he said. Some were lying in plain sight. Many were taken by juveniles from unlocked cars. Imhof knew he would see some of them again in crimes committed against the city's residents.

Imhof made flyers plastered with the message: "STOP ARMING CRIMINALS IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD."

He had his officers hand them out at every traffic stop, and he mailed them to every household in high risk neighborhoods. He spoke at 25 community meetings a month and contacted local TV stations. 

Across the city at other police precincts, officers undertook similar education campaigns.

None of it worked. 

Nashville saw a 70 percent increase in firearms stolen from vehicles between 2016 and 2018, when there were 659 reported thefts of one or more guns from cars and trucks, according to Metro police.

Statewide, there was an 85 percent increase in guns stolen from cars and trucks in a two-year period from 2016 to 2017, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Last week, the shooting death of 24-year-old Nashville musician Kyle Yorlets brought the city's alarming trend into sharp focus.

Five juveniles between the ages of 12 and 16 are charged with criminal homicide in the case. Police said the youths are linked to at least five vehicle thefts. Two guns police said they recovered from the suspects came from stolen cars.

Police blame state's gun laws

Imhof and other police officials place some of the blame on Tennessee gun storage laws they say are driving the thefts of handguns from vehicles. 

In 2013, the Tennessee legislature approved what is called the "guns in trunks" law, which made it legal for valid permit holders to keep handguns in cars and trucks parked in public and at private employer-owned parking lots. 

In 2014, lawmakers went further, enacting a law that allows legal gun owners to keep loaded handguns, shotguns and rifles in their cars without a state handgun carry permit. 

Before the 2014 measure, only those with state-issued handgun carry permits could legally keep loaded firearms in vehicles. Owners of long guns, including hunting rifles, who don't need a permit to carry those firearms in their vehicles, were not allowed to keep them loaded before the 2014 law.

In December, Memphis Police Director Mike Rallings urged state lawmakers to act, saying the gun laws have led to the "unintended consequence" of an increase in weapons left in cars by their owners, then stolen — and a corresponding spike in violent crime. Rallings said he would like the laws repealed.

Firearm thefts from vehicles in Memphis have increased by 256 percent since 2013, according to the city's police.

"We have crews of juveniles, crews of young men, and they go out and just pull door handles, and they’re specifically looking for guns," Rallings said. 

"I’m not against guns. I definitely support the Second Amendment. I’m against stolen guns," he said. "The problem is that citizens are not as responsible as we would like them to be, and they are leaving guns in cars that are unlocked and leaving guns in cars that are running."

At Rallings' urging, Memphis lawmakers have introduced bills this year that would require gun owners to keep handguns left in their cars in a locked glove box or secured container.

A measure by Sen. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, and Rep. Mark White, R-Memphis, would also require handgun owners to report thefts of their weapons from cars and create a $500 fine for owners who failed to report a theft if the weapon was later used in the commission of a crime.

The bill does not apply to long guns, White said.

"All we are asking is for law abiding people, if it's (weapons) in your car, lock it up," White said. "That's not too much to ask."

A nearly identical bill from Rep. G.A. Hardaway, D-Memphis, and Rep. Sara Kyle, D-Memphis, would make it a misdemeanor to leave a firearm or ammunition in a vehicle or boat that was unattended. It would also make it a misdemeanor to leave an unsecured firearm with a person under 18.

In Chattanooga, where the number of guns stolen from cars climbed 262 percent from 2016 to 2018, the police department is asking citizens to voluntarily install custom concealed compartments or a vehicle-mounted gun safe, according to spokeswoman Elisa Myzal.

House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Cottontown, thinks lawmakers should take a different approach. He dismissed the notion that the increase in gun thefts from vehicles was tied to the legislature's changes to the state’s gun storage law.

“Not at all,” Lamberth said. “Not even remotely.”

But he acknowledged that there was a serious problem with guns being stolen from homes and cars.

This session, Lamberth filed a bill that would impose a mandatory 30-day sentence for theft of a gun.

“We want to go after those criminals, regardless of what age they are, that are stealing firearms,” he said. “That is one thing I think we can do to address this, and hopefully the mere knowledge that you’re going to do some serious jail time on stealing a firearm would deter some of these folks.”

Like Lamberth, Gov. Bill Lee said state officials should focus on lawbreakers, not lawful gun owners.

“I think the guns that were used were done so by criminals, and that’s what we need to address,” Lee said, referring to the recent killing of Yorlets.

House Speaker Glen Casada, R-Franklin, sees "zero connection" between Tennessee gun laws and the steep increase in firearms stolen from vehicles, according to a statement.

The increase stems instead from the rise in juvenile and gang activity, the statement said. Casada supports stiffer penalties for gun theft.

Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, the Senate minority leader, said lawmakers should more closely examine gun theft data to consider revisions to Tennessee gun laws. 

“Stolen guns should be a problem for people on both sides of the aisle," he said. "There may be other contributing factors, but you don’t exactly have to be a statistician to recognize there is some relationship between an increased number of weapons in cars and the increase in weapons stolen from cars.”

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Joel Ebert and Natalie Allison contributed to this report.

Reach Anita Wadhwani at awadhwani@tennessean.com; 615-259-8092 or on Twitter @AnitaWadhwani.