Do you lawfully leave a gun in the car when you're not in it?

[SIGSHR]

No decals or bumper tickers on my cars, nothing visible in the passenger comprartment.
As an old soldier I know the value of camouflage. And, as we used to say in the Army, NNTK-No Need To Know.

[Urbanrecon]

I put a little professional mental health counselor sticker on my rear window.

Certainly nobody would consider someone like that possibly armed.

[Blue Jays]

Some funny comments in this thread. Depending on vehicle make/model...a simple "CLERGY" decal on back with bible on the front seat with a rosary might also throw thieves off the scent! ;-)

In all seriousness...during occasional times that I needed to leave it in the car...it is in the locked trunk, in a lockbox, and steel-cabled to the vehicle.

[John D]

Yes. Going into Post Office or Gov't building. Out of sight in locked vehicle.

[Aguila Blanca]

Just a reminder: as expressed in the thread title, the question is "Do you lawfully leave a gun in the car when you're not in it?"

This means that the laws in effect in the jurisdiction must be considered. Some states now require -- in statute -- that guns in unattended vehicles must be stored in some kind of gun safe that is attached to the vehicle. In such states, statements such as the following would not be legal:

I have, and do. Hidden from sight, locked doors (which, last time I looked, is what the law requires).

Yes. And I always have. I usually don't leave anything inside my truck, so it appears empty and less of a temptation for thieves. My pistol is out of sight, so there's nothing to be seen inside worth stealing.

I legally keep a handgun in my center console all the times. When home the car is kept in a locked garage. When I am out, the moment the doors are shut i manually press the lock button on the door handle. No exceptions, even if I am just going to be out of the car for one minute. The doors even lock automatically when driving, so effectively the car is locked 100% of the time.

I will leave my travel gun locked in the car when I can't take it with me.

Doors locked and nothing of value in sight.

No decals or bumper tickers on my cars, nothing visible in the passenger comprartment.
As an old soldier I know the value of camouflage. And, as we used to say in the Army, NNTK-No Need To Know.

I put a little professional mental health counselor sticker on my rear window.

We have fifty states, each of which has its own laws. And, within each state, there may be county and/or municipal laws that are more strict than the state law. As has been commented many times before, in other discussions, there is no good substitute for knowing the laws of the jurisdiction in which you are operating.

[jag1954]

Yes, I can lawfully leave a gun in my car as a CHL holder in Ohio. That said, I live in a small town and on the rare occasions that I must leave it in the car, it's locked in the glove box and the car is locked. If I'm headed out of town for the day then I have a small lock safe cabled under the driver's seat and out of sight.

[Nanuk]

If I leave it in the car for any reason it is locked in a gun vault bolted to the floor.

[raimius]

I do have a secured lock box, but prefer not to leave firearms in cars, due to potential theft. The lock box is more for if I didn't realize a place is posted "no guns" and I have to disarm to go inside for an errand, etc.

[Urbanrecon]

My failure to respond comprehensively to any given post should not be considered indicative of unlawful behavior.

I use potential misdirection strategies to deter thieves, nothing more.

After all, it is even the lowly infraction that chips away at the foundations of society.

[TunnelRat]

At times yes, though I do try to minimize the frequency and duration of this. As was mentioned be aware of the local, state, and federal laws related to storing firearms of various types in a vehicle. Also be mindful of any state regulations with regards to informing a law enforcement officer during a traffic stop.


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[gwpercle]

NO ... cars are way too easy to break into ... more guns are stolen out of cars than anywhere else.
Rule #1 ... Never leave your gun in your car... if you absolutely must do it , plqce it in a locked steel box in the trunk chained to a spare tire and bolted to the trunk floor and hide it under covers the best you can .
Make it hard to find and harder to get to ... criminals don't like taking a long time to steal stuff ... your glove box and/or console are the worst place to "hide" your gun .
Gary

[44 AMP]

I "lawfully" leave everything in my car when I get out of the car...

This includes fast food wrappers, empty water and soda bottles, and junk mail to the point where my four door only holds two people. One door is bashed in (still works) and one mirror is attached with duct tape, and the car is 18 years old.

No one bothers it, or anything in it...they can't see anything worth stealing..

[Reloadron]

I believe this covers it:

We have fifty states, each of which has its own laws. And, within each state, there may be county and/or municipal laws that are more strict than the state law. As has been commented many times before, in other discussions, there is no good substitute for knowing the laws of the jurisdiction in which you are operating.

Know your local and state laws and the local and state laws of anywhere you travel.

Here in Ohio yes, I lawfully leave my gun in my truck. Just as an example when I visit the VA where like all government buildings firearms are prohibited.

EDIT: My bad here in that the VA hospital is on federal land. Now federal laws apply. Aguila Blanca was right on that and I also am not about to poke the bear. Thanks.

Ron

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by Reloadron

Here in Ohio yes, I lawfully leave my gun in my truck. Just as an example when I visit the VA where like all government buildings firearms are prohibited.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/38/1.218

Subsection (13)

[Reloadron]

Many thanks to Aguila Blanca for bringing something to my attention. My VA hospital like any VA hospital is on federal land. New rules and Thanks Obama. I see the signs with a gun lined through all the time so much so I never give it much thought.

Ron

[FITASC]

I put a little professional mental health counselor sticker on my rear window.

Certainly nobody would consider someone like that possibly armed.

And a Biden bumper sticker right near that!

[Crankylove]

Only for short periods ( a few minutes) where I can’t legally carry.

Post office, court house, certain churches, etc.

If I know I am going somewhere I can’t carry, and will be there for long periods of time, I leave it at home, rather than leave it in the car.

I’ve had a couple vehicles broken into, and while that in itself sucks, I’d hate to provide a weapon to some low life thief.

[corneileous]

Whether it’s totally a smart idea or not, I keep one of my full-size handguns in a locker down safe that wasn’t cheap that’s bolted to the center console with a programmable, up to like, 16 digit passcode. My EDC is still on me as well.

For most days, the full-size handgun just stays in the safe and my much smaller every day carry is in my pocket but when long trips come up, my EDC is still in my front pocket but the full-size pistol comes out of the safe and goes into a special holster that I bought that is attached to the side of my console for quick access in the event if somebody ever tried to carjack me.

But that’s really good information about if somebody ever tried to hijack the encrypted information off my key fob and whether or not if there’s some vehicles that’s easier to do that with than others, at least I can say I’m real happy to have the passive entry system on my Ram so that I don’t even have to push the button on my remote, I just push the button on the handle.

But one thing about concealed being concealed, I don’t disarm unless the place I’m going into has metal detectors or security guards to search you which then at that point, I either don’t go in or I secure my pistol in the safe.


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[corneileous]

Originally Posted by Pistoler0

yes, I think that is important.

For the life of me I cannot understand those people who have gun decals of all the firearms they supposedly own, on the window of their car. WHY?

I guess it all just primarily depends on what part of the country you live in because down here in the south, there’s probably not a whole lot of people down here who don’t have a firearm in their vehicle so whether or not they put their favorite gun brand sticker on their back window doesn’t matter but with that being said, no matter where I live, I won’t advertise my favorite gun brand, the brand of my safe and the brand of my very expensive soundsystem that I have under the rear seat in my vehicle… LOL.


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[corneileous]

Originally Posted by 7.62 man

I don't keep a gun in my car but I do store it in my car when I go in somewhere that doesn't allow me to carry. My truck is a different story I do a lot of driving in back woods areas looking for hunting areas. There are a lot of crack heads cooking their drugs in the woods, many don't like people looking around in the woods while they are in them.
If you walk through the woods stay away from any kind of box, trash bag or cooler sitting in the woods.
I carry as I scout out the woods that I go through, if encountered I may want a little more than a pistol, so I carry a backup small rifle behind the seat.

Locks & lock boxes only keep the honest, HONEST.
A thief can get into anything provided they have enough time.

That’s probably very true for a lot of things, but I feel pretty confident in my locker down safe after I watched a hidden dashcam video on YouTube where these people spent over 20 minutes after breaking into a car trying to gain access do the very same safe that he had in the console. Eventually they gave up and the gun was safe.

But yes, I know, no lockbox or safe is 100% secure but like I said, I was pretty impressed with that video I watched so I didn’t hesitate to spend close to $500 on my safe.


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[TunnelRat]

Originally Posted by corneileous

That’s probably very true for a lot of things, but I feel pretty confident in my locker down safe after I watched a hidden dashcam video on YouTube where these people spent over 20 minutes after breaking into a car trying to gain access do the very same safe that he had in the console. Eventually they gave up and the gun was safe.

But yes, I know, no lockbox or safe is 100% secure but like I said, I was pretty impressed with that video I watched so I didn’t hesitate to spend close to $500 on my safe.


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Why spend 20 min trying to break into a car safe? Wouldn’t it be faster to hotwire the car?


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[corneileous]

Originally Posted by Aguila Blanca

Just a reminder: as expressed in the thread title, the question is "Do you lawfully leave a gun in the car when you're not in it?"

This means that the laws in effect in the jurisdiction must be considered. Some states now require -- in statute -- that guns in unattended vehicles must be stored in some kind of gun safe that is attached to the vehicle. In such states, statements such as the following would not be legal:













We have fifty states, each of which has its own laws. And, within each state, there may be county and/or municipal laws that are more strict than the state law. As has been commented many times before, in other discussions, there is no good substitute for knowing the laws of the jurisdiction in which you are operating.

I’m not even sure what the law is in Oklahoma but either way regardless, I don’t really care because as I’ve stated, the handgun that gets left in my vehicle is secured in a lockable steel container that requires up to a 16 digit passcode that is secured to the vehicle.


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[corneileous]

Originally Posted by gwpercle

NO ... cars are way too easy to break into ... more guns are stolen out of cars than anywhere else.
Rule #1 ... Never leave your gun in your car... if you absolutely must do it , plqce it in a locked steel box in the trunk chained to a spare tire and bolted to the trunk floor and hide it under covers the best you can .
Make it hard to find and harder to get to ... criminals don't like taking a long time to steal stuff ... your glove box and/or console are the worst place to "hide" your gun .
Gary

What you do is what you do so whether you believe it’s a smart idea to leave a handgun in a vehicle or not, it doesn’t make any sense to say it’s not a good idea if you’re one of those people that leaves and under the seat, leaves it in an unsecured console or in the glove box.

As I said in a previous post, a good quality, expensive 10 gauge steel box that’s bolted to your car may not exactly be 100% secure but if they want to take my gun, they’re going to have to work for it and by also practicing parking in well lit areas, I would hope that if somebody has gained access to my truck and it looks like they’re trying to steal something that hopefully it’ll be seen by somebody or by a parking lot camera and they won’t get to finish trying to steal my stuff so, just to flat out saying no, there’s a lot more to it.


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[TunnelRat]

Damn you are on a tear. Are you waiting in between posts to get around the timer? This is kind of impressive just watching the notifications go off on my phone.


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[corneileous]

Originally Posted by TunnelRat

Why spend 20 min trying to break into a car safe? Wouldn’t it be faster to hotwire the car?


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I guess you could be right but with modern day security systems in vehicles that have much better defenses against hot wiring and theft, I really don’t see how hot wiring an extremely late model vehicle these days is all that easy. Maybe it is but besides, once you get into my vehicle you’re going to have the alarm going off which at that point I’ll be receiving an email and a text saying that my alarm is going off so instead of making cheap arguments against something so simple, why not just be happy with actually taking security measures instead of just sounding like you’re dismissing all that and carelessly tossing your pistol in a glove box and not locking your vehicle? I even go the extra mile and pay for the service that alerts me my alarm is going off and has a built-in LoJack-like system that I would hope is really not all that easy to defeat but, if a thief finds a way around it then I guess if he finds a way around it.

That’s why I also mentioned it’s important to park in well-lit parking lots that’s not desolate and away from everything else because being way back in the back where the light don’t shine sure makes it a lot more out of sight and out of mind to give somebody a lot more time to circumvent whatever security measures you may have in place.


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