Testa collaborates with authorities in Bexar County to bring attention to gun thefts from vehicles through new dashboard

Alexander Testa, PhD, associate professor in San Antonio, has been studying gun safety for several years now, including working with the San Antonio Police Department to conduct a thorough review into the data behind San Antonio’s persistent problem of gun thefts from vehicles. His tireless dedication to understanding and finding solutions for reducing gun violence has led him to develop many strong partnerships with government and law enforcement agencies.

This year, in collaboration with Bexar County’s Bexar Responsibly campaign, Testa helped provide the data and structure for a brand new gun theft dashboard that the county is hoping will help residents understand the scope of the problem.

Research from 2022 showed that San Antonio ranked fifth in the nation for the number of guns stolen from vehicles, and the new dashboard data shows the problem has not gone away in the past few years, with 2,465 guns being stolen from San Antonio vehicles in 2024.

Testa said that equates to about seven guns per day, stolen from vehicles in the city. According to the dashboard data, which was collected from the San Antonio Police Department, the majority, 92 percent, of the firearms stolen are handguns, and 69 percent are stolen from pickup trucks.

“These patterns are concerning because once a gun is stolen, it is likely to end up in illegal markets where it can be sold, traded, or used in violent crime,” Testa said. “Every theft adds another firearm into circulation, increasing risks not just for San Antonio residents, but for communities across Texas.”

Testa’s work on the dashboard is being released in conjunction with a county-wide campaign, including billboards, radio mentions, and social media ads that incorporate messaging to remind community members of the risks associated with leaving firearms in vehicles. The new awareness campaign, set to run through August across San Antonio and Bexar Country, is something Testa has personally been hoping to see for some time.

“Our research can only make an impact if people know about it,” Testa said. “Bexar County has already done the leg work to establish relationships across a broad spectrum of organizations. Now we can get this information out to the people who can do something about it – gun owners.”

While San Antonio and Bexar County are working hard to address the gun theft problem, firearms being stolen from vehicles is a widespread problem across the entire state of Texas. Testa said about 35,000 guns are stolen from vehicles alone in Texas each year, and every responsible gun owner has a part to play in keeping their weapons out of the hands of criminals.

“A car is just not a safe place to store a firearm,” Testa said. “Many of these individuals are trying to be responsible by following the law or protecting others, but they don’t recognize how vulnerable vehicles are to theft.”