Point of Impact: Tennessee’s guns in cars law puts onus on owners. Or does it?
Tennessee State Rep. Jeremy Faison, R-Cosby, left, is an original sponsor of the guns in cars law. He is with U.S. Rep. David Kustoff during a campaign event in Collierville Town Square Oct. 28, 2020. Faison told The Daily Memphian he believes gun owners should properly secure their guns. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian file)
This story is part of The Daily Memphian’s “Point of Impact” series about gun violence and its effects on Memphis. The series is running throughout the month of October.
More than 2,000 guns were stolen from cars in Memphis in 2023, according to data from the Memphis Police Department.
The number has skyrocketed locally over the past decade and in the wake of the 2014 passage of Tennessee’s “guns in cars” law. The increase has also seen Memphis rise to the top of that metric nationally.
The “guns in cars” law allows owners to store firearms in their cars if those weapons are properly secured. But, unlike other states, the law provides no penalties for not doing so. Tennessee also does not require gun owners to report thefts if their guns are stolen from their cars.
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In 2011, the oldest data The Daily Memphian asked for from MPD, 287 guns were stolen from cars in Memphis. In 2023, almost a decade after the bill’s passage, 2,127 guns were stolen out of vehicles; that’s an increase of 641%.
Memphis also garnered the highest rate of gun thefts from cars nationally, per an April 2024 report from nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety.
The rise in gun thefts from cars in Memphis has coincided with an increase in car break-ins as well as much more serious crimes, such as homicides.
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Aarron Fleming
Aarron Fleming covers Memphis and Shelby County’s court system and is a member of The Daily Memphian’s public safety reporting team. He formerly covered education and earned his B.A. in journalism from the University of Memphis.
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