Does anyone keep a BOB gun?

[djdasher]

I would never, ever leave an unattended firearm in a vehicle...ever. In the same vein, I would never carry an unloaded gun, never, ever.

[RBid]

How many situations arose in these incidents...

- the LA Riots
- Katrina
- Sandy
- the big power outage in Spokane years ago
- east coast brown out
- California power outage & fires
- Bay Area earthquakes
- tornados in the Midwest
- blizzards on the East coast
- small town floods every year
- the London riots

...in which a firearm bigger than a handgun was really necessary. I'll bet that those store owners in LA could have used handguns for those warning shots, and had the same results.

People like being alive.

Carry your defensive weapon on body, with a spare. Use that go bag for water, food, protection from the elements, etc. History shows us that long guns only become assets in events like the siege of Bosnia. Short of that, a handgun is enough to say, "Hi. I'm not a soft target. Move along."

[Gaerek]

Carry your defensive weapon on body, with a spare. Use that go bag for water, food, protection from the elements, etc.

^^^^This

If your gun isn't on you, it won't be there when you need it. My BOB is filled with enough stuff to last me at least a few days, if needed (and we have one for each member of the family). If I'm caught without it, I'll still have my G19 with a total of 33 rounds on me, and likely my LCR with another 15 rounds. The only "gun" related items my BOB has is a box of 9mm...just in case.

[Dragline45]

See no point in the whole bug out bag concept. If there is a crisis, the last thing I am going to do is leave my home, where I have shelter, food, water, tools, first aid, and not to mention all my guns and ammo, as opposed to being stuck in a mad rush of traffic and crowds. I live in New England, we have no major natural disasters that would call for evacuation of an area. There is no way I am leaving my safe haven only to spend it on the road. If the time comes that I think I will have to evacuate, very unlikely, I'll take the 10-15 minutes and throw together a bag of essentials.

[Gaerek]

You might not be able to stay home. Flood, fire, earthquake, etc. I don't plan to go camp out in the woods if there's riots nearby or something like that. But for whatever reason, I might not be able to stay in my home. For that reason, I want to have something that will give me a few days worth of supplies. A lot of people think that bugging out is the best plan for any type of disaster. Usually, it's only a good option if for whatever reason you can't stay in your home. Having something already prepared that's easy to grab and has everything you need to survive for a few days is a good idea.

[Spats McGee]

Originally Posted by Dragline45

. . . . I live in New England, we have no major natural disasters that would call for evacuation of an area. There is no way I am leaving my safe haven only to spend it on the road. If the time comes that I think I will have to evacuate, very unlikely, I'll take the 10-15 minutes and throw together a bag of essentials.

Didn't Hurricane Sandy hit New England?

[BigD_in_FL]

On many occasions, I leave my J frame in the door map pocket in a holster after I removed it from my pocket, and I have no issue with that. I lock my car everywhere I go and leave nothing visible on the seats - I also do not go to areas where car break-ins regularly occur - you need to consider YOUR areas that you travel to. Since MY area is relatively safe - meaning I leave my windows open all day and night - leaving one in my car now and again is no biggie

[Terry A]

This thread is pretty well full but I'll pile on with yet another vote to NEVER leave a firearm in an unattended vehicle.

I've always been of the mind set that I wouldn't think of leaving a baby in a vehicle unattended because someone could steal it, or else, being locked up in a vehicle could kill it.

Someone most likely will eventually steal your gun if left in the car. And how about the elements outside? Humidity, heat, cold, all cycled constantly. Given time, your gun will show the neglect.

As for the second part, I don't have a gun in my BOB because I ALWAYS have at least one on me. And, I have no intention of leaving the house if something bad happens. Everything my family would need is HERE. Why would I take a small fraction of things and then go to WHERE? We're not in a flood, hurricane or earhquake zone. Houses are far enough apart that a neighborhood fire wouldn't spread to other homes.

If it's simply a matter of fearing "looters" or civil unrest of some sort, my neighbors are also police officers, current and retired. I'm now on retirement disability after nearly 30 years of service. I have my own plans worked out and I like the idea of staying put.

Others may disagree, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

If it's bad enough to leave your house, won't others be leaving also? Wouldn't you think it may be MORE dangerous outside in a vehicle, that offers very little protection. And NO protection agains firearms.

[triggerhappy2006]

I keep a Mossberg 590 and a Sig 556 SBR in my truck at all times along with 6 mags of 5.56 and 20 12Gauge slugs. not.....It never fails to amaze me the number of people that keep "heavier" firepower in their vehicle and not some of the other basic things needed in a firefight, I carry a pistol as a deterrent and if absolutely necessary a means to end someone elses life before they end mine. Occasionally I leave my 835 in the truck with some turkey shot, more for a spur of the moment hunt at dusk or on the way to work. If I encounter a situation where I am out gunned and looking for rifle, they probably have a rifle as well which means I want some kind of SAPI's or substantial cover neither of which I carry with me on the regular, sure I do have a BOB, but thats more of a responders bag, mostly my kit bag for EMT duties with a spare mag for my carry gun, should I get a call and be at home that involves shots fired? Yes, I'll grab a flak and shotgun, but lets face it. I'm not a SWAT member, I'm not a National Guardsmen looking for a silver star, I carry to protect myself and those around me, if confronted by an armed gunmen with a rifle, best bet is to keep covered and treat casualties, and pull back to regroup, if I can get a shot to take him out with a handgun, it will be done but I'm not going to run around with a combat load and vest hoping to save the world. Now for the OP's question, leaving a pistol in a vehicle isn't a great idea, but I have done it from time to time, usually locked in a lockbox under the seat or in the glove box.

[Dragline45]

Didn't Hurricane Sandy hit New England?

Yup, we lost power in my area for maybe 6 hours and had an old tree in our yard fall. Nothing that would warrant me to evacuate, and even if I did with the wind and rain I would be no better off on the road. Actually during Hurricane Sandy a good deal of people were injured by fallen trees while on the road, some driving into them because visibility was so low, and others literally had trees fall onto their cars while driving. All my life I have lived here I have never seen a storm bad enough to warrant evacuation, and any bad storms you would be crazy to leave your house in the first place.

And, I have no intention of leaving the house if something bad happens. Everything my family would need is HERE. Why would I take a small fraction of things and then go to WHERE? We're not in a flood, hurricane or earhquake zone. Houses are far enough apart that a neighborhood fire wouldn't spread to other homes.

If it's simply a matter of fearing "looters" or civil unrest of some sort, my neighbors are also police officers, current and retired. I'm now on retirement disability after nearly 30 years of service. I have my own plans worked out and I like the idea of staying put.

Others may disagree, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

If it's bad enough to leave your house, won't others be leaving also? Wouldn't you think it may be MORE dangerous outside in a vehicle, that offers very little protection. And NO protection agains firearms.

I'm glad someone else sees my rationale. It makes absolutely no sense to me to leave your home with a pack of gear for 5 days, as if spending it on the road or in the woods is somehow a safehaven.

[triggerhappy2006]

I will say this for the north east, a large reason we see very few natural disasters that require evacuations or spur looting and rioting is because most of the "natural disasters" include below freezing temperatures and a crap ton of snow. People aren't worried about stealing a 42" TV when there's snow up to your waist and you have no heat . Not to mention its hard to run in 12" of snow. As for the evacuation part, well Sandy's are few and far in between, and we haven't had a LA Riot style event in NY in recent history(recent for me is like the past 14 years so). I've never been to L.A, Miami or New Orleans but I'd say a large factor in NYC's lack of riot/evacuation scenarios' is due to the incredibly high population density of the area, almost 10 times that of the Los Angeles Metro Area(or roughly 3.5 Times that of LA proper) and around 17 times that of New Orleans Proper (New Orleans Metro area has a stupid low Pop density so I didn't bother including that, NY Metro area is just under 3 times larger than LA Metro area with almost twice the number of people mostly concentrated in NYC, so NYC showed a better example of evacuation percentages.) NYC also has very few egress routes, so evacuation would be near impossible( I could be very wrong, I am only taking into account the population and limited personal transportation, as well as limited number of ways out of the boroughs, If someone has a better data set hit me up).


In short....you can't evacuate NYC, looting is less likely due to the percentage of "natural disasters" to occur in winter time when everyone is cold anyway. Keeping an extra gun in your car is silly a Northern Metro area, stay home and ride it out, your not going anywhere fast.

EDIT: Keeping "heavier firepower" in ANY metro area is silly, yea sure if you live in a rural area and make a habit of breaking down in the middle of the woods for days on end and need to hunt you might want to consider keeping a rifle in your car, or a sat phone and get AAA. If you think you are going to run into a situation where you are going up against an armed gunman with rifles and MK19's your should probably have an armored car and Level IV chest rig in addition to that rifle, other wise, a spare pistol a lock box is a good idea if you occasionally forget your carry piece or decide against carrying that day, or w/e....I'm always pro back up plan, but having a rifle in your car without the rest of the things that go along with being prepared for a high stakes shootout is just silly. Now if you can't carry a pistol, and a locked rifle or shotgun with ammo stored separately may be the best your going to get legally...then I'd advocate doing that.