MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A new report using FBI data has Memphis leading the nation in the number of guns stolen from cars.

In Memphis, gun theft has almost become a norm, and some worry it will deter visitors from coming here. That was a concern echoed by leaders of a conference held here in Memphis this week after at least five of their out-of-town participants woke up Thursday morning to smashed car windows.

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Larry Pitts is one of roughly 75 people visiting Memphis this week for the National Hardwood Lumber Summit in Cordova. He’s staying at the Hilton Garden Inn on Ikea Way.

When he walked to his car Thursday morning, he noticed several cars with broken windows.

“Today is my birthday and it was a big birthday surprise,” Pitts said. “I’m at the very rear, so I’m thinking, ‘Maybe I’m okay.’ When I got up to the side and looked, there’s a window busted out on my driver’s right side.”

According to a police report, Pitts is one of 24 victims hit in that same parking lot last night. At least five of them were people attending the conference.

Police say nothing was taken from any of the cars, but it seems pretty clear what they were looking for.

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According to the gun safety group Everytown, Memphis ranks number one in the nation for guns stolen from cars, with more than 3,000 thefts in 2022 alone.

Dalin Brooks with the National Hardwood Lumber Association says with numbers like this on the rise, he worries they won’t be able to draw a crowd for next year’s event.

“We tried to, this time, move them a little bit farther away, even though it was more to travel because we thought it would be a safer neighborhood and in fact, it wasn’t,” Brooks said.

Some fear those concerns will be justified for this conference and visitors in general if something isn’t done to turn the numbers around.

“I said something to somebody about it and they said, ‘Welcome to Memphis.’ What a welcome,” Brooks said.

This isn’t the first time thieves have broken into cars looking for guns, but the problem has been getting increasingly worse since the Tennessee legislature passed a law in 2021 allowing people to carry weapons in their cars without a permit.

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