Hinson aims to secure source of stolen guns 

State Rep. Yvonne Hinson opposed a proposed bill presented at the Alachua County delegation meeting on Tuesday.
State Rep. Yvonne Hinson.
Photo by Seth Johnson

Following the 2022 legislative session, Gainesville Rep. Yvonne Hayes Hinson returned to her district and began to feel the impact of gun violence.  

“Now I’m in Tallahassee—I can read about it, but I don’t feel it,” Hinson said in a phone interview. “But when I came there, I felt it. I could actually go to funerals.” 

She said community members packed the funerals for gun violence deaths, and participating in those processions prompted Hinson to ask how the youth were getting the guns. The answer she kept hearing from law enforcement: vehicle break-ins. 

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That’s why Hinson, a Democrat who represents parts of Alachua and Marion counties, filed a bill this session to address burglaries from any form of transportation. The Storage of Firearms in Private Conveyances and Vessels bill, or HB 571, requires gun owners to secure their firearms stored in conveyances, from cars to boats.  

Hinson said the bill serves as her top priority during the ongoing legislative session. She points to the recent triple murder of three teens in Marion County as proof of the urgency. Law enforcement arrested and charged a 12-year-old and two teens for the deaths.  

“They’re killing children; they’re killing each other—crazy,” Hinson said. “I don’t even think they understand once they pull that trigger, the bullets not coming back.” 

Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said at a press conference that at least one of the guns used in the murders was stolen from a vehicle.  

“These juveniles shouldn’t even possess a handgun, but they did,” he said, adding that all six teens were in the same vehicle at the time of the shooting and the teens were searching for vehicles to burglarize.  

In Gainesville, four people were injured in three separate shootings on April 17 and 18, continuing an ongoing issue that has plagued the city.  

Gainesville Police Chief Lonnie Scott told the city commission in February that conveyance burglaries remain a source of illegal firearms. In 2022, Gainesville police reported 222 stolen firearms, including 115 taken from vehicles. Those numbers are higher than 2021 but lower than 2020.  

“Many of those were unsecured conveyances,” Scott said. “That is a serious problem.”  

Gainesville Police Department firearms statistics: 

Stolen firearms 

2020 

  • 326 stolen firearms 
  • 158 from conveyances 

2021 

  • 189 stolen firearms 
  • 103 from conveyances 

2022 

  • 222 stolen firearms 
  • 115 from conveyances 

Shots fired  

2021 

  • 125 

2022 

  • 170 

Persons shot or injured from gunfire 

2021 

  • 51 with 6 self-inflicted incidents 

2022 

  • 47 with 8 self-inflicted incidents 

Recovered or seized firearms 

2022 

  • 381   

Gainesville Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker held a juvenile gun violence town hall in December with police chiefs from Alachua and High Springs. Then-Alachua Police Chief Chad Scott highlighted the issue of unlocked vehicles at the time, noting that youth often search whole areas for the easy targets.  

However, smashing windows has also remained a popular tactic. On Dec. 1, 2022, the Gainesville police responded to an apartment complex where 43 vehicles had had their windows smashed in a rash of break-in burglaries.  

Hinson’s bill prevents gun owners from storing their firearms in unoccupied, unlocked vehicles “unless the firearm is kept from ordinary observation and view and locked within a trunk, utility or glove box, or another locked container or secured with a device or mechanism that is securely affixed to the private conveyance or vessel.” 

The bill directs law enforcement agencies to conduct an education campaign to inform gun owners of the requirements. It also provides sanctions for any parent of a juvenile found to have stolen a firearm from a vehicle, saying parents are responsible to supervise their children.  

Hinson ran into problems after filing her first version. She said House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, pushed against the wording in one of the bill clauses, and without Republican support, she said the bill will remain stuck.  

The original bill contained a clause that punished violators with a misdemeanor if a firearm stolen from their vehicle was used in a crime. So, Hinson withdrew that bill before filing a new one that eliminated the punishment clause.  

“I think if we don’t work together, Republicans and Democrats, this is gonna start hitting our children,” Hinson said. “Then we’re going to start wanting to do something, and it’ll be too late.” 

Hinson said she is trying to keep the issue separate from the permitless carry bill the Legislature passed and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law on April 3. She doesn’t want the bill to get muddied by issues of Second Amendment rights and said it only applies to those who exercise their gun rights.  

The bill sits in the Criminal Justice subcommittee for the House—the first of three committees the bill needs to pass. Hinson said she thinks Republicans see the value of the recommendation but don’t want that recommendation coming from a member of the minority party, increasing her need for a Republican co-sponsor.  

State Sen. Darryl Rouson, D-District 16, filed a mirror bill in the Senate, but that bill also remains in its first committee.  

Gainesville juvenile arrests from 2018 through 2022 (one juvenile may have caused multiple offenses listed): 

  • Conveyance burglaries: 413 
  • Concealed firearm: 68 
  • Attempted homicide/ homicide: 29 
  • Possession of firearm/weapon by juvenile delinquent: 29 
  • Shooting/throwing deadly missile into a dwelling/vehicle: 6 

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JeffK

That’s a good point, stolen from car break-ins. In general, stealing and shoplifting are major causes of “food deserts” in every city section that has those problems. Grocers and most retailers cannot stay in business under such conditions.
Churches need to teach the 10 Commandments publicly on the street corners, since public schools aren’t allowed to anymore.

Jimmy

And make me a criminal for their criminal acts of burglary?? Outrageous!!
What’s next, prosecute me if these thugs break into my house and steal my gun???

JeffK

Portable lockboxes exist for guns. If you have to keep your gun in a car (for some reason), unattended and often overnight, it should be in a locking tamper-free box. Not a high tech issue.

Mike

A locked vehicle is already a ‘locking tamper-free box’ but thieves have methods of gaining access.

But, anyone who leaves a weapon in their vehicle and visible from outside, locked or not, is proof that stupidity should be criminalized.

Mimay

They do exist. @Jimmy’s point is not the hardship of getting them but the point of view of this lawmaker? Why are they focusing on villainizing and disciplining the law abiding citizens? Why do we not focus on villainizing the non law abiding ones. It’s like saying to a woman, “Well, I think you shouldn’t walk around with short skirts, so you won’t get raped.” “I think if you walk around with more decent clothes rapist won’t be tempted to rape you.”

Juan

Good Grief , what shallow ,misdirected thought by another failed ,prejudice Gainesville Leader, that just voted against new GRU Governance. This misdirected effort will never pass. Why not take the perpetrators of the crimes to jail, Period. Gainesville has 2 generations of criminals educated by a woke School Board that coddles misbehavior. These thugs think they are above the law just like the Gainesville City Commissioners that are soon to be fired. Lock em up.

Mimay

So, I think this legislation is out of touch. What is the real issue here? It is that people own guns and got burglarized? Or is it that these kids are growing up not respecting the laws of the land? Why not tell parents to look after their children? Tell them to keep their kids in school and at home. Why are kids roaming around without proper adult supervision when they can’t be trusted to be proper citizens? Why not legislate a parenting seminar when they have kids that are unruly at school or in the neighborhood? Legislate to hold the guardians or parents accountable if they “let” their kids roam around the community in the middle of the night. Nothing good happens to children on the the streets in the middle of the night. The gun violence she’s observing is not based on the number of guns but of the urban culture. It’s like saying “oh, she got raped because she’s wearing that short skirt!” “Oh, there is gun violence because you did not super secure your property and you let them steal guns from you!” This is why we should elect people with common sense. I’m not sure this one here has any.