Statistics For Stolen Guns And Cars On The Rise

With violent crimes at an all time high, an increasing number of regular citizens are carrying licensed personal firearms. But in the past two weeks, police have reported a number of licensed guns stolen from residences and vehicles. It's a tough situation, because most public places won't allow someone carrying a gun inside and those who leave their guns at home, risk having it stolen if the home is burglarized. And while gun owners ponder that catch 22, they don't even wonder if they'll be next because 2002 is on pace to record number of stolen firearms. In 2002, there were 42 firearms stolen, 66 in 2001, and already, with just 7 months completed, there have been 51 guns stolen in 2002. And while more have been stolen, not many more have been seized. Through 7 months, 72 guns have been taken off the streets, which is somewhat behind the pace set in 2001 when 133 were seized. Another worrying statistic relates to stolen cars where police are reporting that between January and June, 196 cars have been stolen countrywide. That's especially bad news if you're the owner of Toyota vehicles because those get stolen more than any other vehicle. Of that 196, 130 were made by Toyota, and more than half, 64 of them, were Camries - while 35 were Corollas, Cressidas and Tercels. A full 35 of the 196 were stolen from the Newtown Barracks area.