Thieves in Pittsburgh targeting parked cars to steal guns, data shows
Stolen guns are a headache for law enforcement and a threat to communities.
But new research shows the source of those stolen guns is changing, and criminals are making choices about where to target their efforts to steal those guns.
Stolen guns in Pittsburgh
From Jan. 1 to June 30, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police investigated 118 reports of stolen guns.
So far this year, someone has stolen a gun from a car in Pittsburgh 69 times, though Pennsylvania law doesn't require a gun owner to report to police if their gun was stolen.
"People know people store guns in cars," said Susan Parker, professor at Northwestern University. "It is a crime of opportunity."
Parker and another researcher published an analysis of five years' worth of data on stolen guns across 16 cities.
an analysis, with the Council on Criminal Justice, of five years' worth of data on stolen guns across 16 cities. They found that while the overall rate of reported gun thefts remained steady, the percentage stolen from cars rose sharply.
"Not particularly surprised since we've seen stories of more and more guns being stolen out of cars and used in violent crime in recent years," said Adam Garber, executive director of CeaseFirePA.
CeaseFirePA is an organization that works toward policy-level solutions for gun violence.
"The reality is that we've known that this is a problem for quite a while," Garber said.
Parker's study did not look at Pittsburgh, so KDKA Investigates did. According to police data, both in 2024 and 2025, about 60 percent of guns stolen in Pittsburgh were stolen out of cars.
Police remind people to lock cars
Norman Locke is the chief of police in North Versailles. He said that when someone says their gun was stolen out of their car, the vehicle was most likely unlocked.
"People in the comments are going to say that's not true, my windows were broken, or my vehicle was stolen and the keys weren't in it, my vehicle was locked," Locke said. "That does happen, but it is the absolute exception. It's not the rule."
Parker's research found an increase in gun thefts from parked cars, mainly in urban areas.
"There are a lot of situations where responsible gun owners are going to go grab a drink, and they leave their gun in the car, right?" Parker said. "Because you don't want to be consuming alcohol while carrying a gun."
Parker said that while her research found thieves are targeting cars, it's much more about where the vehicle is parked.
"We know that this bar doesn't allow guns, and we know that people who may be carrying them go to this bar and park in the bar's parking lot," Parker said.
"It's not so much a specific car or specific person," Parker added. "But it's just these kinds of environmental factors that just are — stadiums that might not allow firearms or bars that might not allow firearms."
KDKA Investigates wanted to see if there was a similar pattern in Pittsburgh. When KDKA mapped the locations where guns were reported stolen from cars in 2024 and 2025, visible clusters were found on the South Side's East Carson Street and the North Shore.
Both areas have numerous bars and restaurants, plus the stadiums on the North Shore.
"We might be trying to do the right thing by putting our gun in our car and not bringing it into some place, but there might just be these unintended consequences," Parker said.
Parker said an increased awareness around safe storage of guns in the home could be part of why more guns are being stolen from cars.
"Safe storage, it tends to pretty consistently show that this is a really helpful policy that keeps guns out of the hands of kids and other people who shouldn't have them," Parker said.
"If you don't have a secure storage mechanism in your car, it's very easy to smash a window and grab a gun out of it, right?" Garber said. "And in this case, this isn't just losing $5, $10 or $50, having to repair your car. It may be used in the follow-up crime and cost the loss of a life."
Chief Locke said drivers should also lock their doors.
"People get complacent, whatever the case may be," the police chief said. "And oftentimes, there's a firearm in it, and that firearm winds up in the hands of a criminal."
KDKA Investigates reached out to Pittsburgh police for this story and was told they weren't available to talk.
