LISTEN: Atlanta officials will begin working on a program to address gun theft after city council passed a measure on public safety. GPB's Amanda Andrews explains.

Atlanta City Council passed a resolution to address gun theft and promote public safety at their first meeting of the year.

The new measure calls on the Mayor’s Office of Violence Reduction and the Atlanta Police Department to provide free lock boxes for residents to store their guns. It’s part of a larger city effort to prevent accidental shootings and theft of unsecured weapons.

District 12 Rep. Antonio Lewis said providing lock boxes will also deter other crimes.

“No matter what you got in your car, they only want one thing,” Lewis said. "In my district, we had an old folks' home in which 26 cars were broken into. Nothing was taken, because they were looking for guns."

Recent data from the FBI lists car theft as the No. 1 source for illegal guns. The Atlanta Police Department reported over 1,000 weapons were take from vehicles last year.

Funding for the program will likely come from violence reduction grants or other government grants pursued by the mayor’s office.

Tags: gun violence  Public Policy  Georgia  Atlanta