Specific reasons some people keep handguns in cars?

[Ohio Gun Guy]

Sitting at a red light the other day.... with No where to go, cars front, back, and Right Side, left side concrete barrier....

A guy in a hoodie hands in pockets (It's cold here) leaves the sidewalk and crosses the road, heading directly to my car (Note, I,m not anywhere near the crosswalk).... Hops the median.....


Only then, turns and weaves his way through the line of parked cars over to the sidewalk, in an irregular fashion (goes past multiple cars he didnt have to).

Now... He went from walking on the sidewalk, to crossing 2 lanes of traffic and hopping the barrier in just a few seconds. Just long enough for me to think "here we go" and get ready.

Fortunately that came to nothing, but stuff happens FAST!

I personally hope law abiding people start keeping something in the car. There's people in the world right now that would love to hit us here in the US. If it happens, I hope we've got more of an answer, than cell phone footage.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

Reason being: I can't carry at work. If I choose to go somewhere after work I don't have the option to be armed without either a) going home first, or b) keeping the gun in the car. I choose B.

BINGO! Before I retired, I worked in Birmingham (Alabama)on the night shift. I was not allowed to be armed at work (a firing offense) giving me only two options. Option (1),Keep a gun in my truck or Option (2) Drive though the worst part of Birmingham late at night(and 35 more miles home) unarmed. Guess which option I exercised for almost 40 years? My wife now does the same thing, in the same place, for the very same reason. No one else's approval is needed or sought.

 

[JSH1]

The people that I know that keep a gun in their car do so because their husbands wanted them to carry a concealed weapon. The ladies had not desire to carry but a compromise was reached that they would keep the gun in the car.

 

[George Dickel]

For quite a long time I kept a gun in our work car. It was an inexpensive Hungarian PA63 and wouldn't have been a financial disaster if it was stolen. Why did I keep it in the car? Because there was no CCW recognized statewide at that time. A CCW was only good for the county you resided in and you had to jump through a whole lot of hoops to get one, and know someone. Where I worked it was illegal and still is to carry a concealed firearm unless you are a LEO. Years later, once I obtained a statewide recognized CCW I still had to leave my gun in the car because I couldn't carry at work. The wife and I drove 40 miles each way and sometimes due to traffic, we had to take an alternate route home that took us through some areas that weren't the safest. Plus if you broke down on the interstate at night you ran the risk of the wrong people stopping with no intention of helping you. Was I worried about someone breaking in and stealing the gun, yes but I didn't have any alternative choices.

 

[Twiki357]

Guy from ohio: Ask Reginald Denny. I bet he would have liked to have had one.

This ^^^ I used to have to work in that area a few times a year right after that happened. Also, the area I lived in was well gang infested about five blocks down my street and legal carry in Los Angeles was then (As it is now) pretty much nonexistent.

Now that I’m retired and in Arizona, I don’t have that risk any more. But it’s a 100 mile trip each way to my daughters house and 90 miles of it is wide open hill and mountain terrain. Car trouble or a flat tire and who knows what 4 (or 2) legged creatures might be lurking around. Plus, road rage occurrences seem to be a lot more common than they should be.

 

[Deaf Smith]

Ignition,

Sometimes I'm in to much of a hurry and I forget my Roscoe.

Sometimes I have to leave my wife in the car... with a Roscoe!

And many times I find myself belted into the drivers seat and I can't reach my Roscoe.

Thus having a Roscoe in the car has its virtues.

Deaf

 

[george29]

I don't get the question? It's a tool, you never need it until you don't have it. Some people like to know it's there but don't want to carry it.
You have a jack right, why?

 

[chris in va]

Considering how many guns wind up in the hands of criminals, I think it is incredibly irresponsible to have a 'permanent' truck/car gun that isn't secured by a bolted lockbox of some sort.

We can only do so much to responsibly secure firearms, as a dedicated meth addict can eventually tear into many security devices, but a car can be accessed readily by simply shattering a side window.

This whole "It's a cheap gun and no big loss if it's stolen" excuse gets my goat every time. I don't care how cheap it is, they get used in home invasions and armed robberies all the time.

 

[Deaf Smith]

Chris,

The cars ARE locked. The cars (many of them) have alarms. Making the car a mobile safe might slow the dope addicts down, but it will definitely slow the owner down if they need the weapon.

Deaf

 

[rhinoh]

Speaking of leaving guns in cars-
I shake my head every time I see a car with all sorts of stickers on it that are gun related.
So if looking for a car to break into- which one would you pick? The one that seems to advertise there is a fair chance a gun is inside, especially if parked in front of a building you know a person can't carry into, or the plain one?

I generally try my best to avoid places where one can't carry- but since my state bans it in places I cannot avoid- sometimes I must.
Each of the vehicles I drive has one of the small lock boxes tethered under the seat for those cases. Might stop the casual thief but of course someone really motivated can defeat it.

Before SC legalized alcohol serving restaurant carry I figured a great spot to steal a gun was their parking lots.
I'd love to see any statistics that showed if such parking lot gun thefts declined after it was legal (with a CCW) to take them in with you.

 

[DeepSouth]

I keep a gun in my truck at all times, sometimes two. It's there for no specific reason other than I may need it. I pocket carry my personal CCW, ever tried to draw while sitting? Solution is simple, another easily accessible gun. A lot of time I leave the wife/kids in the truck when I go in a business or something by having a truck gun I leave them armed.

Could someone break into my truck and steal the gun? Sure, but I will not change my behavior based on what someone else may or may not do and events that could easily never happen. If someone steals it I will replace it with another, report it stolen and move on with life, it's not that big of a deal.

I also keep a rifle in the truck a large amount of time, mainly for coyotes and such around the farm.

 

[Lucky Derby]

I generally do not keep a gun in my car.

As to reasons people do, a friend of mine keeps a 10/22 in his trunk in case he needs to put down an injured animal. He has had to, a couple of times.

 

[Willie Sutton]

"I have full size Glocks in the gunsafes in my vehicles . They are anchored to the vehicle and have Simplex locks. These safes cannot be seen through the windows. There is little possibility that I will need to unlock these safes to get a pistol but as we all know, when you need a gun nothing else is a good substitute. I primarily use the extra space in these safes to store my small CCW pistol when I cannot lawfully carry it into a building."


^^ Substitute "Beretta 92" for "Glock" and we do exactly the same thing. In my case, I have the safe bolted to the floor of my cars either on the floor or between the front seats, and in my van (usual daily driver) over that I've tossed a milk-crate with a portion of the bottom cut out so it sits flush on the floor. Toss a jacket or a newspaper over that and you've got perfect concealment for the safe. Using it for the big Beretta, tossing the EDC pistol into it when grabbing the mail from the post office, a bank deposit when headed into town, etc., it just works. The Beretta comes out and goes into the console when I get in, and it goes back into the box when I park. Having played drills to shoot from the inside of a car using any sort of holsters versus shooting using the Beretta from the console, there's no comparison at all. Basically I gave up on the idea of using my holstered pistol when I'm sitting down. The reason for using a full sized service pistol is that 'I can', as it's not anythig that needs to be hidden, has large magazine capacity, and is easy to manipulate under conditions of stress. Bigger = Better for a service pistol that you don't need to hide. Truthfully, I've got a half dozen of the 92's stashed here and there: Bedside, Boat, Van, Car, Wifes Car, and one in my "grab bag". In each permanent spot there's a safe that can be left locked or unlocked depending on the circumstances.


Why? Because every now and again there's a fella that just needs a shootin'...


Willie

.

 

[oneounceload]

Since I mostly pocket carry and drive a small car, placing it in the door's map pocket where it is totally concealed, even while in the driver's seat, makes it handy if I need it while driving.

 

[jrdolall]

I usually pocket carry so my EDC is almost useless while buckled in. For this reason I keep a holster attached under my steering wheel and generally keep a Makarov pistol in it. The gun usually comes in at night or when I will not be using the truck and it is just a part of going for a drive that I always grab like my keys, cell and wallet. If I go into a store and leave the truck then it goes in a cheap safe cabled under the seat. Is it un-stealable? No but it isn't subject to a three second smash and grab either.
Where I live is not prone to break ins though that is always a possibility. My "safety zone" includes my vehicles and about 200 feet around my home. It doesn't take a casual burglar very long to figure out that mine is not a good place to try to rob. Three dogs, alarm system, security lights and a veritable revolving door of cars (three kids at home) have thus far kept me from being victimized.

 

[SuedePflow]

I don't so much have a "dedicated car gun" so much as I generally keep my carry gun in the car.

Reason being: I can't carry at work. If I choose to go somewhere after work I don't have the option to be armed without either a) going home first, or b) keeping the gun in the car. I choose B.

Same here. I wish I could carry at work, at the post office, in the courthouse, at the local brewery to grab some lunch, etc... But I can't. And when I can't, it stays in my truck.

 

[BSA1]

A dedicated "car gun" is bad idea. If the vehicle gets stolen (or even simply broken into), you have just armed a thief.

Not be crass but so what?

Considering how many guns wind up in the hands of criminals, I think it is incredibly irresponsible to have a 'permanent' truck/car gun that isn't secured by a bolted lockbox of some sort.

Actually it is the first part of your statement that proves my point. One more stolen gun in our society does not have a impact on our crime rate. Guns are commonly sold and traded on the blackmarket. In fact the U.S. Government has a official policy of arming criminals here and in foreign countries where the guns reenter the U.S. to be used by criminals.

 

[jrdolall]

^^A gun is a possession just like a car or a computer and I don't want any of them stolen. "Arming criminals" is not something I worry too much about because they are already armed in many cases. I can replace guns and pretty much any property that has monetary value.
Does that mean I leave a gun on the seat of the car with it unlocked? Hardly! No more than I leave my lawn tractor parked down by the highway with the key in it.

 

[X-Rap]

I keep a G17 with two mags and a couple hundred bucks in a lock box all the time and when working in a none permissible environment my carry guns are there too.
I keep my doors locked just like at home but the same rock works at both places.

 

[anothernewb]

This one is not quite as critical as others have stated. but twice now, having one in my possession has proved useful.

One such time was not in the "truck" but I usually place one in the saddlebag on the bike. 2 summers ago, it proved useful. The short of the story was that a driver had struck a deer, severely injuring, but not killing it. Having the revolver handy made it possible to give the wounded animal a little mercy, without getting close enough to get injured.

 

[txblackout]

I keep a gun in a gun vault in my car plus I put my carry gun in there as well sometimes. Ill unlock the safe when Im in the car and lock it when I leave.

 

[huntsman]

nope no "car gun" I CC, if I felt that was lacking then I'd add a long gun.

 

[eddd7]

I keep a gun in my truck at all times, sometimes two. It's there for no specific reason other than I may need it. I pocket carry my personal CCW, ever tried to draw while sitting? Solution is simple, another easily accessible gun. A lot of time I leave the wife/kids in the truck when I go in a business or something by having a truck gun I leave them armed.

Could someone break into my truck and steal the gun? Sure, but I will not change my behavior based on what someone else may or may not do and events that could easily never happen. If someone steals it I will replace it with another, report it stolen and move on with life, it's not that big of a deal.

I also keep a rifle in the truck a large amount of time, mainly for coyotes and such around the farm.

Same carry method here - same problem......drawing from a pocket while seated in a car ain't gonna happen.

Having been curious about an ankle holster possibility, I grabbed an inexpensive one off of eBay.......just to try it. Well, it turns out that I really like it for several reasons......access to my LCP while driving or seated being one of them. My EDP (every day pants) are cargo pants, which tend to have baggyish legs, so the ankle rig doesn't show at all. BTW, the one I got has a "just below the knee" strap to keep the holster from sliding down. USGUNGEAR.com I believe.

One gent above mentioned that his relative was held up at gunpoint in a parking lot. In my imagination, I would guess that a bad guy would demand that I empty my pockets. Not a good time to pull out my pocket carry. But, to speed things along in this scenario, pulling ones front pockets inside out to convince the bad guy it's over and time to leave, still leaves one with his ankle carry and a possibility of using what's in it.
eddd7 - master of the run-on sentence.

 

[Officers'Wife]

My drivers license is in my purse... So is a .38 Super. Since I'm not likely to drive without the former the latter is in the car with me. When I get stuck with the "line truck" we use to drive around the pastures checking fences I will often take my little Winchester with me but only because the duty gives me the opp for some recreational shooting.

As for my reasons... to paraphrase the ancient- when asked why, I ask why not?

 

[Teachu2]

I also can't carry at work. I put a console vault in my pickup, and a G30 is in it. I often work until 10PM and drive 30+ miles home through some higher-crime areas. Sometimes I'll have to stop for gas, and the stations near my route have issues with transients. The G30 is out of the vault when I'm in the truck.

My wife got her CCW recently, and her suv got a vault - same reasons.