Storing a carry gun in the vehicle

There are ways to store a gun more safely in a vehicle but no way to secure it in a way that someone couldn't get it in a minute or two. Heck, they can steal the whole car in under a minute and that includes everything inside. So the guy who has all kinds of lock boxes and cables is just hoping that the crook is dumb (most are) and unprepared (most are ). It's silly to think a cable to a seat frame can keep anything safe- seats are bolted down, loosen bolt and remove cable.
Even a safe bolted to the floor can slow down a crook but I've never seen a portable safe that couldn't be opened with a screw driver in 5 seconds, it's just the way it is.
You should not leave your gun at home and you should attempt to secure it but you must fully realize if someone wants it, they'll get it. Just do your best and use good judgment .

Jbird45 said:

I am expecting some responses like that. I definitely am going to rethink how I store it.

A cabled lock box is a good idea. That wouldn't be hard to do. Then again maybe I should just leave it home in the safe.

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In car safes/lock boxes is going to be the most popular answer.

I use a lock box and I would strongly suggest that you do nothing to give any of your co-workers reason to think there might be a gun in your car

Alex Clayton said:

I also do NOT keep any guns in the vehicle that would bring tears to my eye's if they were lost. I keep stuff that works and I know works but, would be no great loss if they were a loss.

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I wonder if the third shift clerk at 7-Eleven who ends up looking down the business end of that gun after it's stolen from your car would agree with you.

Melt a Hershey bar into a baby diaper. Leave it exposed on the passenger seat with a formula bottle next to it. Place pistol under diaper. Very doubtful anyone would touch that.

Seriously, I really don't worry about my vehicle being burglarized but I would be a fool not to think it couldn't happen to me. Being retired my vehicle stays in my enclosed garage 90% of the time. Being a disabled veteran I get to park in the designated spaces near the entrance where the vehicle is exposed to all coming and going plus my anti theft alarm is loud loud.

The only place I regularly visit that I can't carry is the hospital. For that I have a bicycle type cable attached to the temporary spare in my trunk. I clear the action & unload the pistol, put the magazine in my pocket, open the trunk, lift the carpet and fiberglass shield and run the cable through the trigger guard and lock it down. Kind of a PIA but only takes about 30 seconds.

Double tap.

Obturation said:

It's silly to think a cable to a seat frame can keep anything safe- seats are bolted down, loosen bolt and remove cable.

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With what?

Thieves look for an easy mark. Making it harder means that you will probably not get it stolen BUT, I'd lock it TO something, maybe using the gun lock..

bdickens said:

With what?

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Tools. I'd imagine loosenening a seat frame would be easier than chopping off a catalytic converter rolling around on the ground. Crooks are crafty, they strip copper pipes out of homes when people leave for the day- seems it's easier to just get a job but there are some strange folks out there.
It is pretty simple to have an electric impact wrench and a rail of sockets though , I keep one in my van if I'll be driving any distance - but it is a tool I have/use for work.
You could be right , might be convoluted. They'd probably just snip the cable.

I carry a shield 9 on my body, and a Glock 19 with 2 reloads lives in my jeep. I live in a very low crime area, for lack of a better term. However, I do have 3 different lockboxes in my jeep that I can secure firearms or other objects in if the need should arise should I find myself in other circumstances. In my experience, people who intend to constantly reconfigure a weapon in such a way as you described (unload, secure, remove from box, reload and place in carry configuration, repeat) at some point and in some way will in some way not stick to the routine because it is such a PITA, not to mention the repeated excessive handling of the firearm . This will invariably lead to the firearm either being "unsecure" or inaccessible. Its just human nature.

Alex Clayton said:

Yes assuming no tint so people can look in it's a good idea to not have anything that "looks" like a temptation. A crap load of broken windows are due to people leaving something on the seat that looks like a laptop bag. Often the bag has nothing of value but, it gets the attention of the thief to break the window. When I had a gun box on the floor of one vehicle it had a folded blanket on top of it. To a causal look they could not see anything that looked like anything worth stealing.

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When I used to drive a convertible Mustang, I never kept anything in it of value, and I never locked the doors. I also lived in Fayetteville, NC- a place where property crimes run rampant. By leaving the doors unlocked, the thief could just open the doors and glove box instead of cutting my top or breaking a window, and they would not have to damage the glove box prying it open with a screwdriver. He could then look for the non-existent valuables, and please close the door on your way out. If I had to leave a pistol in the car for some reason, I would stash it in the trunk under the spare a block or so away from wherever I was going, then retrieve it before I departed. The car didn't have a trunk release- you needed a key to get in it.

Alte Schule said:

The only place I regularly visit that I can't carry is the hospital. For that I have a bicycle type cable attached to the temporary spare in my trunk.

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Lucky you. Of the three major medical centers in town, one is a state university med school, and state law specifically designates the entire property complex by name as firearm-prohibited. This includes all roads and parking areas.
And, of course, we have the federal law making Post Offices firearm-prohibited, including associated parking areas if solely part of the USPS building complex.

That said, I keep a small single-pistol size lockbox cabled to a front seat pillar and tucked out of sight under the seat. I only use it when I have to go into a prohibited space, like a clinic (but not the med school). It's purpose is to hide and delay pilfering; I do not expect it to resist persistent attack with basic tools.

I live in a major city. My car’s been broken into a couple times and rifled through by casual criminals looking for drugs/money/guns. At least once it was because I was an idiot and forgot to lock my doors. I have never been frisked or mugged. So, to me, storing a firearm in my car feels very risky. I wouldn’t do it unless I was darn sure my hiding spot was very good. And if it’s that good, it’s probably also going to be hard to access in a timely fashion. Criminals aren’t the sharpest usually, but they also tend to have lots of practical experience with things like hiding their drug stash in their car. So I’d be very hesitant to store a firearm in my vehicle anywhere there might be real risk.

In a peaceful suburb or small town? Whole different story.

JDeere said:

I Pair of LE hand cuffs works as well locked to the seat frame and through the trigger guard under the seat...

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Handcuff keys are all the same, and every other crook has one for his imagined great escape.

I wouldn't include handcuffs as a security device.

Locks are pretty much a joke unless you spend a LOT of money for a Medeco or other high security lock. The locks on a pair of handcuffs are child's play, trust me. The vast majority of locks can be picked quickly with the right pick and some skill once you understand how they work.

I have a console vault that's custom fit to lock inside the center console of my truck where I leave my gun. My company also has their own private parking garage with locked gates and doors, and there's always an attendant on site and security guards are stationed at the entrances during peak hours to make sure nobody walks in while the gates are open.

Depending on what make and model you own, there are lock box companies that make specific boxes that fit into the vehicle that bolt it to the vehicle itself. Not just a little cable wrapped around the seat frame. Im a Jeep tech at a dealer and I know they make ones specifically for jeeps themselves. Some take place of the center console or hide under a seat that is bolted and held down by the seat frame.

I've also seen universal styles that you have fabricate a way to bolt it somewhere in the interior. Some vehicles might have an easy and logical spot to put one, others you might need to make your own brackets to it will mount cleanly and work easily when you need access.

Drail said:

The vast majority of locks can be picked quickly with the right pick and some skill once you understand how they work.

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If you want to learn how very easy, consider looking around at TOOOL, The Open Organization Of Lockpickers.
I've been to a bunch of their open teaching sessions, and did learn a lot. Fun to practice, too.

Speedo66 said:

Handcuff keys are all the same, and every other crook has one for his imagined great escape.

I wouldn't include handcuffs as a security device.

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Funny a lot of LEO's will recommend this. I don't care what you use. The point is to slow them down and move on to easier pickings. Do you know for a fact that all crooks carry a handcuff key on their key chain?

JDeere said:

Funny a lot of LEO's will recommend this. I don't care what you use. The point is to slow them down and move on to easier pickings. Do you know for a fact that all crooks carry a handcuff key on their key chain?

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Yes any locking device is like any safe for the home. Always tell people who compare many gun safes this way. Yes many show video of how easy it can be to get into many of them but, few will invest in something like a bank vault. So any safe is better than the guns in a drawer or on the wall. Same with vehicle. Anything to slow them down. If i had nothing else with me a set of my cuffs would beat nothing but, for the price of a decent pair of cuffs you can buy a bike cable lock that would be "better". Still of course the #1 thing to do is do something to make your stuff a little harder on the smash and grab dope head type. Hopefully they will move on to lower hanging fruit.

Jbird45 said:

I don't flaunt it. My boss knows it's there and that's it.

Walk softly and carry a big stick right?

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It's water over the damn at this point. It's been my experience that if you tell one person it's only a matter of time before everybody in the company knows.

I don't discuss my private life with my co-workers, that's just me and certainly wouldn't have told anyone that there was a gun in my car.

YMM(and very likely does) V

Consider removing the slide and locking it to a seat support with the cable lock, with the frame locked under the passenger seat with another cable lock.

I personally am VERY reluctant to leave a firearm in a car -- that's how guns "fall into the wrong hands."