Thieves prey on gun owners’ cars showing pro-arms stickers

CARS with bumper stickers promoting the right to bear arms have become a magnet for thieves targeting gun owners in America, a report has found.

Motorists who plaster their vehicles with stickers from the likes of the National Rifle Association (NRA) or advertising weapons manufacturers are especially vulnerable as cars emerge as the biggest source of stolen weapons.

Everytown for Gun Safety, a group calling for reforms, identified the trend after trawling through FBI data from 271 cities.

The group’s researchers found that more than half of stolen guns were taken from cars and pick-up trucks. A decade earlier it was around a quarter.

Thieves have been smashing their way into vehicles and finding guns “hidden” under car seats, in central consoles or the glove compartment.

Stickers declaring “molon labe” – which translates as “come and take them” – are seen as an open invitation to thieves.

The research found that 41 per cent of gun thefts from cars took place when the vehicle was parked at home, compared with 28 per cent from a car park.

One solution would be to compel gun owners to use lockboxes inside their vehicles to make theft impossible.

Christian Heyne, vice president of policy at gun violence prevention organisation Brady, told The New York Times: “I do think that safe storage is where we find a lot of common ground.”

Memphis in Tennessee was the city with the worst problem, with 193.6 thefts from cars per 100,000 people, just ahead of Chattanooga, also in Tennessee with 193.1.

Figures released by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations last weekshowed that 5,301 of the 9,413 stolen guns were taken from cars.

The number has increased sixfold in the state since 2012, when storage requirements were eased.

Legislators in Tennessee are considering a bill which would make storing a gun in a car a criminal offence unless it is locked away. However, the bill has been opposed by the NRA, which warned that the measure would discourage gun owners from reporting thefts if they feared being prosecuted.