A recent report by the anti-gun violence nonprofit Everytown highlights a significant increase in guns being stolen from vehicles across the United States over the past decade. Notably, three Virginia cities rank among the top 10 for gun thefts from vehicles in 2022.
Using FBI data from 337 cities in 44 states, Everytown found that gun thefts from vehicles have surged from an estimated 21 thefts per 100,000 people to 63.1 per 100,000 in 2022. Memphis, Tennessee, recorded the highest rate in 2022 with 350.8 thefts per 100,000 people. Among Virginia cities, Richmond ranked fourth nationally with 218.3 thefts per 100,000 people.
Portsmouth was listed sixth with 196.1 thefts per 100,000 people, and Norfolk was ninth with 181.9 thefts per 100,000 people.
The report includes data on gun thefts from vehicles between 2013 and 2022 for 11 Virginia cities: Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach. Each city in the Hampton Roads area saw a significant increase in 2019 or 2020, mirroring a national trend where gun thefts spiked by 51% during the pandemic. Portsmouth’s rise in thefts started in 2015 and has steadily increased.
Suffolk experienced a notable decline in gun thefts from vehicles, dropping from a peak of 47.2 thefts per 100,000 people in 2021 to 20 thefts per 100,000 in 2022, which is below its 2016 rate.
The report also reveals other important insights. The rise in gun thefts from vehicles is not correlated with an overall increase in vehicle thefts, which decreased by 11% over the last decade. Additionally, the location where a car is parked is not a significant factor in gun thefts: of the 159 cities studied, 36% of vehicle gun thefts occurred at or near people’s homes, 20% from cars parked on the road, and 32% from parking lots.
