ATLANTA, GA — For a short time, it was a startling number. At least 850 guns were stolen from cars in Atlanta in 2015. The information was published earlier this week by The Trace, a nonprofit monitoring gun violence. By the end of a week — and following a high-profile accidental shooting of an Atlanta executive inside an SUV — we learned gun thefts from cars is even worse this year.

A new report found that more than 800 guns have already been stolen from Atlanta cars in 2016 — outpacing that 2015 total that was already far more than any other large city examined by The Trace. This past week, thieves reportedly broke into 50 cars in two Midtown parking lots, stealing 15 guns, according to the AJC. That followed 70 cars broken into last week. In that case, the suspects were walking alongside the getaway car, and randomly breaking into cars that they passed, a police spokesperson told local media.



According to the study by The Trace, a nonprofit news website covering gun issues, thieves were stealing guns out of Atlanta vehicles at a rate of more than two a day in 2015. We're pacing at nearly three a day for 2016.

Atlanta police have seemingly acknowledged the rise in gun thefts from vehicles, releasing a public service announcement in September that urges residents to secure their firearms.

"Store your firearm in a safe location," Senior Officer Pete Fite says in the video. "A car is not a safe location."



The issue of guns in vehicles came into stark light this past week, when a spokesman for Claud "Tex" McIver said the Atlanta attorney accidentally shot Diane McIver, his wife, in a vehicle because he was worried about carjackers.



Bill Crane told several media outlets that Tex McIver pulled the gun in fear of carjackers when the gun accidentally went off and shot his wife, who was sitting in the front seat of the SUV. The incident happened near Piedmont Park late Sunday night. Diane McIver was taken to Emory University Hospital and died from her injuries early Monday morning.

See also: Buckhead Executive Accidentally Shot By Husband: Report Diane McIver served as president of Corey Airport Services, an Atlanta-based marketing company whose logo adorns a smokestack-like structure on the downtown connector. According to his bio on the firm's website, McIver's legal career spans 40 years from the military to private practice. He is also a member of the American Bar Association's committee on gun violence. Addressing Gun Thefts — In Two Different Directions