Vehicle break-ins result in gun thefts across Regina
Regina police have received 21 reports of firearms being stolen out of vehicles since 2015
A vehicle may not be the safest place to store your firearms, according to Regina Police Service's latest community crime map numbers.
Regina Police began posting online data in 2015. A total of 21 vehicle break-ins where a firearm was stolen have been reported since the first numbers were released.
"Our advice to gun owners has always been to make sure that legally-owned firearms must be stored and transported in accordance with firearms legislation," said Elizabeth Popowich, spokesperson for the Regina Police Service.
Albert Park, in Regina's south end, is at the top of the list.
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There were nine cases reported in the last year— from August 2016 and September 2017. The incidents, which appear to occur in a scattered pattern, range from Regina's south end to the north area of the city.
"Nine incidents is quite a low number," Popowich explained, elaborating that Regina is surrounded by rural municipalities and a farm-based economy resulting in "quite a few" legal gun owners, which include hunters and farmers.
Popowich said there does not appear to be a trend in terms of the location of vehicles.
"The theft of the firearms is purely a crime opportunity and can happen anywhere," she said.