Truck gun? Yes or no

I have truck guns. Car guns, horse guns, bicycle guns, even walking guns.

It’s not always a good idea to have one on you but when it’s legal, it’s not a bad idea.

i would but in new york you have to have your gun in a locked case with a trigger lock on and your ammo in another locked case

I currently only have the gun and ammo that is always on me.

Law around me is kind of grey on carrying loaded long guns in the vehicle.

Ideally I'd have at least a loaded 12g pump, or preferably a AR pistol.

I have two handguns in my car.

And it’s a good idea in accordance with state and local laws.

Yep. Always a pistol with a couple spare mags on me.

But in my state, long guns can't be kept loaded in the vehicle. Depending upon how far I am from home, either an AR with a couple loaded 30-round P-mags on hand or a Marlin 336 with a box o' good .30-30 nearby ...

I actually modified two shotguns specifically for carrying in my Jeep and pickup. A .410 for the Jeep and a 20 ga for the pickup.

Both break down for easy storage., assemble quickly and can be cable locked to the seat frame.

So, to summarize, depending on where and what, yes. Clear as mud, right?

It’s just not easy to answer such a general question in our nuanced world.

I generally have whatever is in season’s weapon in my every day driver in case I get a chance to go hunting. Also, if there’s a load I need to test at the range I’ll put those rounds, some targets, and the weapon I want to test with them in the vehicle in case I get a window in my schedule open enough that I can get to the range. So there’s almost always a rifle or handgun in my vehicle. Sometimes it’s a bow, though. During bear season the marlin 336 is as much a part of my suv as the Nissan emblem on the front.

At one point I had a dedicated truck gun, but two things happened. First, we had a humid summer and one got some rust on it. Second, my boy got big enough to grab things. Now I don’t keep a specific gun in the vehicle at all times.

troy fairweather said:

i would but in new york you have to have your gun in a locked case with a trigger lock on and your ammo in another locked case

Click to expand...

No you don't, only has to be unloaded. Not a bad idea if you have to make a stop along the way. If I were of a mind to carry a long arm in mine, you bet it'd be in a locked case. But I don't, one less thing to worry about at night.

Basic AR in the vehicle. Iron sights. Buttstock mag carrier so I have a quick way to load the rifle that must be unloaded for transport.

If you can't afford to not have a gun when you need one and you can also afford to lose it if it's stolen, it's a great idea.

If you can't afford to lose it and you don't need anything more than your carry gun, it's not a good idea.

I keep a kahr 45 acp in my car. Dont like the gun at all, its cheap, kind of unreliable and miserable to shoot. I keep it with the spare tire equipment cause you just never know. If it were to be lost, stolen or otherwise i wouldnt really care. Never needed it and its been there several years. I do carry a proper gun on my person though so likely will never need to try to use it. I dont recomend leaving a gun in your car you care about.

I normally have 1-4 guns in my truck at any given time. I basically always have a single shot .410. I may also have a hunting gun, either rifle or shotgun depending on the game in season. I very frequently have a smaller pistol that I’ll use a BUG on occasion. And sometimes I’ll have some other random gun that I’ve been shooting a good bit lately. All that said I don’t have a dedicated “truck gun”

Is it a good idea, different strokes for different folks. A lot of that depends on where you live.

Aint no trucks here but Snowgo and boat guns.
I carry one for all occasions, usually a Mosin and a shotgun or Mosin and a .22lr, just depends on what Im riding for.

Depends, if you have some acreage, and drive the property a lot, you should have something.
Probably be good to unload it and lock it up, when you go to town, or depending where you live,
leave it home.
Right now I use a mini-14, not that it's optimal for everybody. As to leaving it in the truck, no, not
a good idea.

I am generally against the idea of truck guns. But that is a reflection of where I live and where I go with my vehicle. In largely urban areas, I believe the firearm should be on your person, far too many guns were stolen out of vehicles in my old neighborhood. People would target vehicles specifically looking for guns. In an area like that, keeping an inexpensive gun in the vehicle with the thought that "if it gets stolen...no big deal" is a bad idea. If someone is stealing a gun, they shouldn't have a gun, and that type of thinking has now provided them with a firearm...that is a big deal.
In a largely rural area, I think having reddy access to a higher power handgun or long arm that stays with the vehicle starts to make more sense

Obturation writes:

I keep a kahr 45 acp in my car. Dont like the gun at all, its cheap, kind of unreliable and miserable to shoot. I keep it with the spare tire equipment cause you just never know.

Click to expand...

I'd been thinking of putting my Hi-Point C9 there in my Jeep. After trying out my CW45 the other day for the first time, the Kahr may be going there instead (though I did find it easier to shoot than you did, but no more reliable.)

Since the only truck I drive is my grandfather's ancient Chevy that never leaves the farm my little Winchester carbine is usually in the front seat. In the car I settled for my carry pistol.

Then again on the farm, I may have to take a shot at a coyote outside of pistol range and need the rifle. In the car, since I am unlikely to be jumping any trenches or repelling mass attacks my handgun ought to be sufficient for whatever situation might occur.

Your car is not a holster. Your car is not a safe. Don’t keep a gun in there permanently.

Are we talking about "storing" a gun in your vehicle 24/7? If so a lot of criminals would like to take this opportunity to thank you........

I think having a rifle in the vehicle, that could be put into action in a moment's notice, is a great idea.

I also think my vehicle is more likely to be buglarized, than I am to ever use that gun.

So I compromise. A handgun and a takedown .22 rifle are locked up and locked down out of sight and insulated from the harshest of temperature changes. Not easy to quickly access, but not easy to quickly steal either. And yet, wherever I go, there they are.

Properly stored and hidden a “truck gun” is a very good idea. Especially if you live where you can’t carry a handgun.

In North Carolina and in Oregon I carried a Winchester 94 30-30 Carbine as a truck gun. I also carried handguns much of the time. In California I carried a Mossberg 500 with a pistol grip and 5 in the magazine, chamber unloaded. (Long guns in CA fall under DFG regs. not DOJ - look it up before going lawyer)

Having that shotgun saved my butt twice and I never had to fire it.
Having the Winchester was a comfort and luckily was never needed.

Nope. I'm currently working out of a small city where there were zero in-car SD incidents last year but dozens of guns stolen out of cars by criminals. I have no desire to help enable the death of a neighbor, so my guns are either on me or secured from unauthorized access.

If I still lived rural I might change my mind, but as an urban dweller a car gun would be irresponsible IMO.

As to whether you should, or need, to keep a gun in your truck, I can't tell you what to do. Assuming you live in a free state, it's entirely up to you. Do you think there's a high probablility of danger? Where I frequently drive there's a high probability that there's a tree or large branch blocking the road. So I keep a chainsaw in my jeep. It seems to me to be a handy thing to do, so I never put it up to a vote on an internet forum.

I have a Glock 17 (shortened to take 19 mags) w/ 2 spare mags in my jeep, along with a H&R pardner pump 12 ga. In my truck, I have an old Glock 19 w/ 2 spare mags, currently looking for a cheap 12 gauge for the truck. These are in addition to my CCW piece (S&W shield 9).