Gun Security in Car: Poor Man's Method

[jakemccoy]

While this option would not work for me (suv -no trunk) for those of you with a trunk why not have a padded zipper bag in the car, put the gun in it and then drop it in the trunk. When you return - get the bag, get back in the car, and reholster?

Yeah, the guy in the other thread did not have a trunk in his pickup truck.

Regarding the hiding option, I suppose that works if you don't care if your gun gets stolen. If you do care, then a combination of locking and hiding is better.

You can imagine some scenarios where you need to lock your gun, for example:

-You take a plane flight and leave your gun in the car in long term parking.
-You regularly drive in other people's cars, for example, rental cars or company cars.
-You're going into court, the Post Office, or prison.

 

[HardShell]

... If you want to be less obvious - use a paper bag.

I had an older cousin who always kept a .38 in a wadded-up, greasy McDonald's bag lying on the back floorboard -- to my knowledge, he never lost one that way.

(Not how I'd do it at all, just sayin'... )

 

[N3810F]

What if you were being pursued back to your car by bad guys needed your pistol in a hurry?

Why not just get in your car and leave? I'd rather be driving away from a threat than in a firefight with one. And this is only when you can't carry on your person, right?

 

[googol]

Poor Man's Method

"I would suggest purchasing a higher quality lock."

What would you suggest?

 

[FAS1]

Here's another option for you. Not the least expensive, but probably the best option for security and accessability. Once you have had something stolen from you, the cost isn't quite as important and it's easier to justify spending a little more on quality. Depending on what you drive you might have enough room to mount this horizontally under your seat. With a little practice you can reach down and access your secured handgun very quickly, or sideways behind the console in a SUV with it bolted to the floor. You can reach it from the driver's seat still and it is relatively out of the way.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=459871

 

[Acera]

1000 times better than nothing that's for sure.

Not too sure I agree.

That Glock is especially dangerous in that condition, picture 1, (as others have posted), a tug on the cable and it could fire.

Picture 2, it's going to take quite a while to get that gun into operation.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Not too sure I agree.

That Glock is especially dangerous in that condition, picture 1, (as others have posted), a tug on the cable and it could fire.

OP said unloaded.

Remove the magazine. Empty the chamber. Wrap that cable around your seat post and padlock lock your gun to it.

Loaded certainly, it's a disaster looking for a place..

That's really the problem, the repeated loading and unloading of a carry gun that this will require.

The thought to run the cable through a locked back slide is good, but the fundamental problem remains that you exponentially increase the chance of a problem by the repeated loading and unloading.

But it's still better than no security at all, as long as the rules are always followed.

 

[thorazine]

I had a similar setup in combination of hiding the pistol, cable and lock behind a panel.

However...

Lock or cable should go behind the trigger -- not in front of the trigger.



I wouldn't call it the poor mans method.

Car safes scream "open me by whatever means possible".



Lock it and hide it if you can -- be ingenious -- be creative.

I had an older cousin who always kept a .38 in a wadded-up, greasy McDonald's bag lying on the back floorboard -- to my knowledge, he never lost one that way.

(Not how I'd do it at all, just sayin'... )

Twenty times better than a safe in my opinion.

 

[jakemccoy]

The recommendation about putting the lock behind the trigger is good. However, I do not recommend the method in pic 1 anymore. I kept that pic there because people have already talked about it.

I prefer the other method I posted. Yeah, you can't get to the gun immediately if zombies are chasing you back to your car. That's a chance you take. Hey, you can't have it all with security that costs about $9.

Comments at Amazon said that the $30 lockbox is easily pried open with a screw driver or a little hand strength.
http://www.amazon.com/Secure-It-Secure-It®-Handgun-Storage-Safe/dp/B000HBB15U/ref=pd_bxgy_sg_img_c

 

[nalioth]

Yeah, you can't get to the gun immediately if zombies are chasing you back to your car.

This puzzles me.

Why you'd want a device that requires some modicum of skill to employ (especially under stress) when you'd be in a car. . .

 

[jakemccoy]

This puzzles me.

Why you'd want a device that requires some modicum of skill to employ (especially under stress) when you'd be in a car. . .

The idea is to unlock the gun after you get back into your car. This will take about 15 seconds. So, this device won't work if you're getting chased by zombies. Read the thread for reasons for using this cable device, or I'll summarize the reasons here:

-The guy from that other thread figured out that he needs to lock his gun after it got stolen from his truck that doesn't have a trunk.
-Like him, you may have figured out that you need to lock your gun today.
-The $30 lockbox from Amazon can be pried open with a screw driver or a little hand strength.
-You can't spend a grip of money right now, but you do have about $10 in your wallet.
-The method in pic 2 seems like it would stop a thief that doesn't have a cable cutter.
-You may need to lock your gun before going into court, prison or Post Office.
-You may need a portable security system that you can take with you to different cars.

 

[HardShell]

... This will take about 15 seconds. So, this device won't work if you're getting chased by zombies...

Nah, you'll be fine with any of the zombies from the classics -- they were all very slow.

Don't get me started on these new-fangled movies and their fast-moving zombies. Heresy, I say!

 

[nalioth]

To cut through the clouds of confusion. . .

You use your car to run the zombies over (or escape [or both at the same time])

Perhaps you meant goblins instead of zombies

 

[mgkdrgn]

A person could also cut right through that trigger guard in seconds.

Or put the whole car on a flatbed ....

If someone wants something of yours bad enough, they ARE going to get it.

Your job is to make it easier to steal the same thing from someone else.

 

[Superlite27]

You have a floor lamp in your car?

 

[hmphargh]

Looked like a paper towel holder to me.

 

[DMK]

I believe this method keeps the gun about as secure, or more secure, than that lock box you can find at Amazon.com for $30.

http://www.amazon.com/Secure-It-Secu..._bxgy_sg_img_c

Comments at Amazon said that the $30 lockbox is easily pried open with a screw driver or a little hand strength.
http://www.amazon.com/Secure-It-Secu..._bxgy_sg_img_c

I have one of those lock boxes. I believe the method in the second pic, with the heavy cable through the magwell is significantly more secure. The cable that comes with the lock box is a thin little thing that looks like those cheap gun lock cables that you get for free. I'll bet you could cut it with a good set of linesman's pliers.

I bought it more for concealment rather than security.

 

[sohcgt2]

before I had a safe mounted in my vehicle I used the cable locks that are furnished with most new firearms these days to lock a pistol to a welded loop in the trunk. I always try to use the three lock method I learned in the military.

 

[sohcgt2]

Not too sure I agree.

That Glock is especially dangerous in that condition, picture 1, (as others have posted), a tug on the cable and it could fire.

Picture 2, it's going to take quite a while to get that gun into operation.

This puzzles me.

Why you'd want a device that requires some modicum of skill to employ (especially under stress) when you'd be in a car. .

You people do realize this is for storage when going someplace where carrying the gun is prohibited, like court or a federal bldg. If there is a situation where you feel the need to run a zig zag line to your vehicle to arm yourself you might be better advised to seek cover and call for back-up. Under those circumstances I don't think 5 to 15 round of small arms fire is going to help you much.

 

[RP88]

you can cut through the trigger guard

you can cut through the cable

you can pick the lock

you can unfasten the seat

there are a lot of things you can do to get the gun out if cabled like this, and just about all of those could work more or less on a small lockbox as well: cut through, rip off, pry open, pick the lock... It isn't meant for long-term storage; it's just meant for, say, that fifteen minute window of time where the man's gun got swiped, or for an hour at the gym or something. Besides, I doubt that the criminals likely to hit your car are from a Tom Clancey book, so therefore will unlikely be prepared to do anything that it would take to get the gun out of the car - probably not even pick the lock.

If you're worried about something in your car getting stolen, then either get a very nice trunk safe, or don't carry or leave guns in the car. Ever.

 

[SaxonPig]

In a perfect world you could keep your gun with you all the time. If you don't live in a perfect world and you have leave the gun in the car at times then you secure it as best you can.

I would put the lock behind the trigger. Doubles as a trigger lock.

 

[harmonic]

Looked like a paper towel holder to me.

He has a kitchen in his car?

 

[doc540]

I've chosen the "cheap-gun-no-big-deal-if-it-gets-stolen" method that has the added "loaded-and-instantly-available" feature.

I keep it out of sight but within reach.

And if my cheap car gun gets stolen it will not significantly add to the masses of guns already on the street here locally.

I always lock my car and have a highend alarm system.

 

[SSN Vet]

I'm not a big fan of constantly unloading and loading handguns in parking lots

I subscribe to the KISS principle.... the less unnecessary handling, the better off you are.

If someone is willing and able to break into your locked car.... I don't think these ideas will be much deterrent.

 

[HardShell]

I've chosen the "cheap-gun-no-big-deal-if-it-gets-stolen" method that has the added "loaded-and-instantly-available" feature...

I used to subscribe to the same method, and did so for years... until I decided that my life was worth a lot more to me than the potential costs of a gun loss.

If I'm potentially going to defend my (or a loved one's) life with it, then I want it to be the same platform that I have been through formal training with/practice with/shoot the most/shoot the best. Thus what I have in my vehicles is functionally the same as what I primarily carry. (Glocks in my case, FWIW.)

Not throwing any stones at your method, just offering a different perspective. Many people I know and respect approach this issue just as you do.