When Savannah, Georgia Mayor Van Johnson signed a new ordinance into law a few months ago making it illegal to leave a firearm in an unlocked car (as well as requiring gun owners to report the theft of any firearm to police within 48 hours), he received pushback from the state's Attorney General almost immediately. 

As AG Chris Carr reminded the mayor, Georgia has a firearms preemption law that bars localities from passing and enforcing their own local gun control measures. Johnson sounded a note of defiance in response to the AG, asserting the "ordinance remains in effect and will continue to be enforced.”

"The AG told me the new gun storage ordinance was illegal. Well, we don't agree so we're saying take us to court. Sue us, we'll go to the Supreme Court and let the United States Supreme Court say it," Mayor Van Johnson said on Facebook Live Friday.

"We got lawyers too, we pay good lawyers, we have some of the best lawyers and so we can agree with our attorney general so the gun ordinance doesn't go anywhere. Sorry," said Johnson.

That was nearly two months ago, and according to the Savannah Morning News, despite the mayor's tough talk and boasts of enforcement, the ordinance has not led to any citations since it took effect. 

SPD has recorded 52 instances of firearms that were taken from unlocked or locked vehicles from April 15 to July 6, of this year, Niya Broveak, Savannah Police Department open records specialist, confirmed in an email. Yet, no citations have been issued under the ordinance, said Broveak.

When asked Tuesday morning during his weekly press conference whether the city has charged or fined anyone under the ordinance, Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said he didn't know and referred this reporter to the police department.

“My expectation is that they be charged,” said Johnson.

“Savannah Police Department is actively enforcing the city’s ordinance,” said SPD spokesman Neil Penttila. “Officers will review each incident in a case-by-case basis to determine if a citation is warranted.”

Now, some of the more recent incidents may still be under investigation, but the Savannah PD has apparently had multiple opportunities to issue a citation over the past two months and has declined to do so. It's a stretch for the department to claim that the ordinance is being actively enforced when no one has been cited. 

The Savannah paper has requested incident reports for each of the 52 cases of firearms being stolen from vehicles since the ordinance was adopted in April, but reporters should also be asking how many of these incidents have resulted in the arrest of gun thieves, not just citations for gun owners who've been the victim of a car burglary. The mayor has repeatedly blamed gun owners for the theft of their firearms, but he's said almost nothing about the individuals who are breaking into cars and stealing the contents inside. 

Johnson's generated a lot of headlines with his stunt, but he hasn't done anything to improve public safety. There's already been one lawsuit filed against the city over the new ordinance, and I suspect it won't be long before the courts confirm that Savannah has overstepped its authority by crafting their gun control measure. The city has wasted a lot of time, and will soon be wasting taxpayer money, in defending this useless and unenforced ordinance when it should have been cracking down on car burglars and gun thieves; you know, the individuals who are actually breaking the law. 

Look, it's a dumb idea to leave your firearm unsecured in your vehicle when you're not around, regardless of whether your car is locked or not. If the city council had adopted a public service campaign to remind gun owners of the harms that can come when guns are stolen, that would have been well within their purview, and they probably would have had plenty of help from local gun stores and Second Amendment advocates. They chose a different route, and I'm glad to see there's at least one local media outlet in the city that's trying to hold the mayor and city council to account for their actions.