BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation today said that a reported rise in gun thefts from cars underscores a dangerous consequence of so-called “gun-free zones” that prohibit law-abiding citizens from carrying their legally-licensed guns, thus forcing people to leave their firearms where they are vulnerable to car prowlers.
A story in The Trace, a publication that received funding from anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety, said gun thefts from cars have soared in some cities. SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb contends that one reason for this that “nobody wants to talk about” is a proliferation of “gun-free zones.”
“Whether it’s a school, city hall or other municipal building, city park, baseball or football stadium, post office or a private business such as a restaurant, shopping mall, theater or big box store that has been encouraged to prohibit firearms on the premises,” Gottlieb observed, “the result is the same. Honest citizens are being forced to leave their legal firearms locked in cars, trucks or SUVs and thieves have figured this out.
“American gun owners are being systematically discriminated against for simply exercising their constitutionally-protected right to bear arms,” he continued. “Ultimately, honest citizens are being victimized by such restrictions because not only are they vulnerable to criminal attack because of these unilateral disarmament laws, they stand an increasing chance of having their property stolen. The bottom line is that whether you own a gun or not, these laws make us all less safe.
“In some states where discretionary laws allow bureaucrats to deny carry licenses or permits to honest citizens,” Gottlieb added, “people who want to travel with firearms are doubly penalized because they must also leave those guns in cars, where they could fall into the wrong hands.
“This story in an anti-gun publication unintentionally underscores the necessity for serious gun law reform that includes abolition of gun-free zones, and adoption of constitution-friendly shall-issue carry laws in all 50 states,” he concluded. “This nonsense of forcing people to disarm needs to stop, and it’s an easy fix.”