This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The number of guns stolen out of vehicles in Memphis is way up, and Mayor Jim Strickland is asking people to do something about it.

Strickland tweeted a graphic from his account Tuesday showing the number of reported stolen guns from vehicles in Memphis. In 2010, that number was 282. In 2020, it was 1,324, a 369% increase.

Already, just a little more than halfway through the year, the number is 812.

The reason, Strickland said, is that Tennessee law changed in 2014 to allow guns to be stored in cars without a permit.

“Since state law was changed allowing guns in cars without a permit, the number of guns stolen from cars has skyrocketed. And those guns are being used to commit crimes,” the mayor said.

Strickland asked for the public to help by never leaving an unsecured gun in a car.

Since the 2014 law change, local law enforcement from District Attorney General Amy Weirich to former Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings have voiced concern about its effect on Memphis.