He Left It in His Truck

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There is probably one semi-secure way of keeping a gun in a vehicle. Build a trap. Yeah, it's not fool proof and most theives aren't breaking into a car to spend 3 hrs looking for and learning how to activate a trap sequence. Still an interesting concept. Here is one that I came across that is large enough hold a handgun. You opened it by turning the air direction control underneath an AC vent.

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I am an old guy and I find it chilling how the perspective of right and wrong and who is right and wrong has decayed over time. When I was younger, the person that broke into your vehicle was liable, stupid, irresponsible, the bad guy, criminal, etc. - now the person that breaks into your vehicle is assumed, anticipated and accepted like a sunrise - the vehicle owner is now liable, stupid, irresponsible, the bad guy, criminal, etc. and on a right of the people, hardcore gun forum - I have crossed some strange boundary into upside down world - very strange reading to me.
 
I don't think anyone here is claiming that the thieves are morally right, or that the victim is morally wrong. That said, the victim has still been deprived of a gun which could be used to do bad things.
 
Steve S. said:
have crossed some strange boundary into upside down world - very strange reading to me.
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I don't know how much of it's accepted or expected. There are criminals in this world and there always will be. If we want to decrease the potential of becoming a victim , we have to take certain steps. Not leaving keys in our cars, locking our doors, make sure your gun is secured. Being held liable for our own irresponsible decisions would suck, but knowing that if a firearm gets into the hands of a criminal or child, it usually doesn't end well. That should be enough to make us want to be more responsible irregardless of legal problems.
 
drobs said:
The thief could steal the whole truck and use it to run over a whole parade of deputies. Would we place the same blame on the owner of the car?
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In some places, yes....if the keys are left in the vehicle and it's used unlawfully the owner can be charged. It's illegal in certain cities/states to leave your vehicle running to warm up unattended.
 
Howland937 said:
In some places, yes....if the keys are left in the vehicle and it's used unlawfully the owner can be charged. It's illegal in certain cities/states to leave your vehicle running to warm up unattended.
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I didn't say anything about leaving keys in the vehicle in my post.

Even so seems you're ok with blaming the victim of a crime. Certain cities / states blame the victim - so it's ok right?
 
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Howland937 said:
...if the keys are left in the vehicle and it's used unlawfully the owner can be charged. It's illegal in certain cities/states to leave your vehicle running to warm up unattended.
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Do these laws address keyless vehicle entry and remote start?
 
I'm with the majority of you here, leaving a gun in a vehicle is asking for it to be stolen. I've traveled for hunting trips and matches where I spent the night away from home. My guns go into the hotel room with me at night. We would also take turns checking in while someone always remained with the truck until it was unloaded. If we stop for fuel or bathroom breaks we took turns so that someone was always staying with the truck. Paranoid? Yeah, maybe so but we considered it being vigilant.

When we used to shoot at Memphis we had to leave about 5:00 am to get there. We would usually stop at a Waffle House for breakfast. We always backed the truck into a parking place near the seating area and we always had one of us watching the truck while we were being seated, while we ordered, used the restroom, ect. And we always sat where we could see the truck and we sat as close as possible. It took some planning but it worked well.

I would hate to loose a gun this way but I would also hate to know that I allowed a gun to be put in the hands of a criminal.
 
lightman said:
I'm with the majority of you here, leaving a gun in a vehicle is asking for it to be stolen. I've traveled for hunting trips and matches where I spent the night away from home. My guns go into the hotel room with me at night. We would also take turns checking in while someone always remained with the truck until it was unloaded. If we stop for fuel or bathroom breaks we took turns so that someone was always staying with the truck. Paranoid? Yeah, maybe so but we considered it being vigilant.

When we used to shoot at Memphis we had to leave about 5:00 am to get there. We would usually stop at a Waffle House for breakfast. We always backed the truck into a parking place near the seating area and we always had one of us watching the truck while we were being seated, while we ordered, used the restroom, ect. And we always sat where we could see the truck and we sat as close as possible. It took some planning but it worked well.

I would hate to loose a gun this way but I would also hate to know that I allowed a gun to be put in the hands of a criminal.
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You're going to tell me you've never traveled alone with a gun/s in your vehicle and stopped to use a restroom?
 
wiscoaster said:
As I read the "safe passage" provision, I don't think it covers overnight stays.
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This would be more like business owners allowing CWC on their premises. Comes down to Hotel/Motel policy. Some Motels/Hotels have secure areas and they ask you to store your gun there, with them.

Most of this comes down to common sense. Use your head. If you are reckless and foolish with anything in life you open yourself up to liability. If a crook uses an ax to open your trunk and a bolt cutter to cut the chain and walks off with your SxS birdgun and kills his crack-head girlfriend with it, do you think anyone that matters is going to blame you?
 
Everyone here that owns more than one gun at some point is going to leave a gun in their vehicle out of their direct control.
You can't take a rifle with you to use the bathroom at a gas station. You can't take a rifle with you to eat dinner after a gun show or after hunting.

Stop blaming the victim of a crime.
 
Steve S. said:
I am an old guy and I find it chilling how the perspective of right and wrong and who is right and wrong has decayed over time. When I was younger, the person that broke into your vehicle was liable, stupid, irresponsible, the bad guy, criminal, etc. - now the person that breaks into your vehicle is assumed, anticipated and accepted like a sunrise - the vehicle owner is now liable, stupid, irresponsible, the bad guy, criminal, etc. and on a right of the people, hardcore gun forum - I have crossed some strange boundary into upside down world - very strange reading to me.
Click to expand...
There's a funny saying I hear occasionally that applies here; the difference between theory and reality is that in theory there is no difference but in reality there is. While in theory I absolutely agree with you, in reality I realize there's a certain obligation of responsibility that comes with owning a gun. Even if that legal responsibility is met whenever you lock the door of the vehicle there's still just a fragile sheet of glass between thieves and your gun. Somebody's mom would be happy with a little extra security so they don't have to bury their kid. And I'm happy not to have to report a stolen gun.

There's something in law called an "attractive nuisance." If you have a junky old barn filled with glass jars that kids can enter and then slice their arteries then you're going to be held liable, even though they were technically trespassing. A visible gun in a truck seems like the same thing to me. Technically I could leave an AR-15 leaning up against my porch, and anyone who entered my property to snag it would be trespassing. Good luck convincing a civil jury (and perhaps a criminal one as well) you aren't responsible if that gun gets stolen and used in a murder.
 
Elkins45 said:
...<snip>... Good luck convincing a civil jury (and perhaps a criminal one as well) you aren't responsible if that gun gets stolen and used in a murder.
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... and isn't that basically what it comes down to, regardless of what the letter of the law is, and you were following it to the best of your ability. That's why I go as far as I reasonably can above and beyond what the law requires. And given that, I'm not going to stop carrying my firearms in my vehicle. And further, if I can't stop on the way to the range to pick up some groceries, leaving my firearms secured in my locked vehicle, then I'm going to view that as an infringement of my Second Amendment rights.
 
drobs said:
I didn't say anything about leaving keys in the vehicle in my post.

Even so seems you're ok with blaming the victim of a crime. Certain cities / states blame the victim - so it's ok right?
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Never said it was ok, just that there are circumstances in which victim blaming is not only common, but also backed up by law.
The part about leaving keys in an unattended vehicle was merely one such scenario.
 
Regarding comments here about car break-ins for visible items: On our first vacation to Hawaii several decades ago, locals warned us about locking valuables in the trunk of the rental car. The advice was to put all such items in the trunk before leaving for the stop, not after arriving and parking. Thieves would watch folks arrive, store item in the trunk, and then go to their activity. The thieves knew, then, which cars to hit, pop the trunk, and be off with the valuables, wikiwiki.
 
Elkins45 said:
There's something in law called an "attractive nuisance." If you have a junky old barn filled with glass jars that kids can enter and then slice their arteries then you're going to be held liable, even though they were technically trespassing. A visible gun in a truck seems like the same thing to me. Technically I could leave an AR-15 leaning up against my porch, and anyone who entered my property to snag it would be trespassing. Good luck convincing a civil jury (and perhaps a criminal one as well) you aren't responsible if that gun gets stolen and used in a murder.
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For fairness sake, it needs to be pointed out that there's nothing in the linked story that says whether the rifle was visible or not. For all anyone knows it may have been hidden.
 
Ah just remembered something from my past. 11 pm or 2300. My two friends stopped at a gas station. Friend one told friend two stay in the truck while I pay for gas. Friend two who is intoxicated. Gets out and goes into store. Somehow friend one doesn't see him. Goes out starts pumping gas. Hears a noise coming from truck. Assumes it's friend two. Then friend two walks out of gas station. Friend one checks truck and bam his carry piece is gone. Cameras where not working at gas station.

TL;DR lock your vehicle when pumping gas.
 
I'm trying to think of a way to say this that hasn't already been said.

Car break-ins are a common occurrence. This discussion comes up on this forum at least once a month.

Every single one of the name trainers has done an article about why you shouldn't leave an unsecured gun in your car.

I have read hundreds of posts by people identifying themselves as police officers who talked about the number of vehicle burglaries they've responded to in which the victim loses a gun. A lot of times they talk about other car wasn't even locked.

People start discussions here two or three times a year asking for suggestions for a truck or car gun and they SPECIFY that they want a cheap one in case it gets stolen.

There is even an industry based on securing your gun in your car.

So this a known risk and no one can say they weren't forewarned.

I can't speak for anyone else I can't just go out and drop $600 to replace one of my hand guns that was stolen out of my car. I certainly don't have 1200 plus dollars to replace a rifle laying around.

So even if it is the thief's fault that he/she stole a gun out of my car it's still in my best interests to take reasonable precautions to secure it with the easiest precaution being not leaving it in the car in the first place.

I don't know how else to say this but I can piss and moan about how it's the thief's fault all day long but I'm still the one who is out the gun and the money I'm going to spend replacing it
 
Meeks36 said:
Ah just remembered something from my past. 11 pm or 2300. My two friends stopped at a gas station. Friend one told friend two stay in the truck while I pay for gas. Friend two who is intoxicated. Gets out and goes into store. Somehow friend one doesn't see him. Goes out starts pumping gas. Hears a noise coming from truck. Assumes it's friend two. Then friend two walks out of gas station. Friend one checks truck and bam his carry piece is gone. Cameras where not working at gas station.

TL;DR lock your vehicle when pumping gas.
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TL;DR What in the hell are you doing pumping gas at 11 O'Clock at night (really at all) without your carry (that word is there for a reason) piece on you?
 
Trunk Monkey said:
TL;DR What in the hell are you doing pumping gas at 11 O'Clock at night (really at all) without your carry (that word is there for a reason) piece on you?
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This wasn't me but two friends. Not sure why he didn't have it on him. Wasn't there. And I guess he needed gas. I mean would have sucked running out.
 
Steve S. said:
I am an old guy and I find it chilling how the perspective of right and wrong and who is right and wrong has decayed over time. When I was younger, the person that broke into your vehicle was liable, stupid, irresponsible, the bad guy, criminal, etc. - now the person that breaks into your vehicle is assumed, anticipated and accepted like a sunrise - the vehicle owner is now liable, stupid, irresponsible, the bad guy, criminal, etc. and on a right of the people, hardcore gun forum - I have crossed some strange boundary into upside down world - very strange reading to me.
Click to expand...

Apologies if I'm misattributing this but I was told as a child that St.Brendan was traveling, and stayed a night a monastery. When it was time to turn in, he went to fetch his fine cloak from the common area to bring it into his chamber. The Abbot protested that all the Brothers were good Christians, and wouldn't steal.

Brenden explained that he strove to be a good Christian himself, and wouldn't want to place temptation before the Brothers.
 
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