Duval and Clay reporting uptick in gun thefts from unlocked cars

If you're a First Coast gun owner who wants to keep your gun, you might want to keep reading about a scary trend that has police telling you to lock your car doors and keep your gun out of sight.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and the Clay County Sheriff's Office are both reporting a rise in gun thefts from unlocked cars.

559 guns have already been taken from vehicles in Duval County between January and September of this year, per JSO. That's more than the 455 reported for all of 2015 and the 482 in 2014.

CCSO's reported 43 guns snatched from vehicles so far this year, four more than all of last year and 11 more than the year before.

Officials with both law enforcement agencies say most of those thefts were from opportunistic burglars who found unlocked car doors.

That was also the case when a gas mask and a chemical warfare suit were also grabbed along with a gun from a vehicle in Orange Park within the past week.

In St. Johns County, 36 guns have been taken from unlocked vehicles so far in 2016. That puts the county on pace to beat 2015's total of 39, but will likely fall short of the 47 reported in 2014.

WOKV News is contacting other First Coast law enforcement agencies to see if a similar trend is happening in those areas.