HOUSTON – Houston police department data shows the number of guns stolen from vehicles has been decreasing over the last three years.
HPD’s data shows there were 3,913 reported guns thefts from vehicles in 2022, involving a total of 4,286 guns. In 2023, the numbers edged down to 3,877 reports involving 4,263 guns and in 2024 there were 3,633 reports involving 4,009 guns.
This downward trend appears to be continuing into 2025. HPD data shows during the first four months of this year there were 1,117 reported thefts involving 1,234 guns, compared to 1,199 reports and 1,316 guns stolen during the same time period in 2024.
Based on HPD’s data, 43 percent of these thefts happened between 6 p.m. and midnight. Sgt. Tracy Hicks with the Houston Police Department said crooks look for parking lots attached to bars, entertainment venues or other businesses that don’t allow guns.
“We’ve had many reports of parking garages that the entire garage was hit and nothing was reported stolen. That means those guys were looking for guns,” said Hicks. “The value of the guns is much more than what they might get for a laptop or an iPad.“
Hicks said a proven deterrent to this type of crime is a gun safe that is either bolted to a vehicle or a safe with a steel cable that can be attached to an immovable part of a vehicle.
“There is never ever a time to leave a gun unsecured in your vehicle,” said Hicks.
Hicks also strongly recommends not putting stickers or decals on vehicles that let people know they are a gun owner.
Retired Houston Police Officer, Ronny Cortez was shot and paralyzed by a burglar using a gun stolen from a house. He and his wife, Sheri, work with Hicks to warn people about the dangers of leaving guns unattended.
“There’s repercussions, somebody’s going to suffer somewhere,” said Ronny Cortez about the dangers of leaving a gun unattended in a vehicle. “You have to understand there’s a little bit of negligence involved in that, when you do that, because you don’t know what’s going to happen. You don’t know how safe your car is going to be. Somebody can just easily break into it and take your weapon and you don’t know what they’re going to do with it. You don’t know what purpose they have for it."
Sheri Cortez works in the domestic violence bureau of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. She and Hicks started handing out thousands of free gun safes at community events and saw the impact it was having on this crime.
“It affects everyone, it affects the community, it affects people who accidentally leave their weapon out, not understanding repercussions, and then it also affects those who are victims of the gun violence," said Sheri Cortez.
Sheri Cortez encouraged her husband to join she and Hicks at gun safe giveaways through management district events or at HPD Positive Interaction Program (PIP) community meetings. Cortez said the DA’s Office also provides free gun safes to domestic violence victims obtaining protective orders.
“The word is getting out, it is helping," said Ronny Cortez.
You can inquire about obtaining a gun safe by emailing the DA’s Office at da@dao.hctx.net . You can also check HPD’s PIP schedule to find a meeting and inquire if gun safes will be made available.
The Cortezes’ and Hicks’ efforts have also led to other community leaders providing free guns safe for vehicles and homes, like Councilmember Abie Kamin’s ‘Lock It Up Safe’ initiative.