Why a "truck gun"?

My truck is a 350 utility bed so I have lots of places to put a firearm if I have to leave it. I keep an "M" style SKS with extra mags behind the seat.

I agree with Deep South. This is much more of a country boy practice than a city habit. My truck gun is a 44mag bolt action rifle, Ruger, and it isn't really intended towards a criminal threat. When you're driving alone in the woods things come up. That's why I carry a firearm. A short range, capable rifle seems to make sense to me. I do carry a handgun most of the time, but I never leave home without that rifle.

Why a truck gun?

Because shooting a truck with a car gun would be AC (automobile cruelty).

Weak joke I know.

Friend of mine who served in Afghanistan told me he shot a truck with a .50 Barretts and recommended nothing lighter. Every time I hear the phrase "truck gun" I think of his story.

Seriously though, I do keep a spare gun and ammo in the truck in case I break down in the mountains, or have to spend the night there for some unforeseen reason. Nothing fancy, just a beat up but servicable "pawn shop orphan" Marlin 60 or Nylon 66 .22. Nothing like being hemmed in by a pack of feral dogs, or hearing of calves or deer savaged by coyotes, to convince you that a truck gun might be comforting to have whether you use it or not.

What if you were leaving the state fair and rioters were pulling people out of their cars and beating them? That is the time that you need an AR behind the seat that you can grab without opening the door.

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A pistol would be just fine, maybe even better.

That's funny. Should make for an excellent headline to aid the liberal agenda:

"Protest at County Fair Turns Deadly When Armed Man Fires into Crowd in 'Self Defense'."

Bottom line here is if you have the ability to retrieve a gun from your vehicle, you could have driven off in it too. Whether you start out in your car or not is irrelevant.

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What I find funny is making a potentially life or death decision based on how a liberal paper may spin the story when you defend yourself. If you are that worried about that you may as well sell your firearms

If guns were not meant to be kept in a truck they wouldn't have invented rifle racks. I understand in the city theres probably not much use for one but here in the country my truck gun sees the most use. It's just always there if I need to shoot something from critters to being bored at a friends house to most recently a young boy who always wanted to shoot but never had a rifle available. If it wouldn't have been in the truck who knows when he would have gotten the chance. I wasn't going to drive 150 miles round trip to go fetch a gun.

It's just handy, i'd like to also find a handgun to keep in there but to me thats just a luxury

When I intend to spend time in the city I throw a handgun in the mix also, I do not have a chl so it's my only legal option until I remedy that issue. A handgun in the center consol is also easier to get to than one in your waistband.

I would bet theres more .22's in trucks than any other caliber, i'd like to upgrade to .22 mag though.

A handgun in the center consol is also easier to get to than one in your waistband.

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I find the opposite to be true. For example...do you use a holster for it while in the console or do you have it unchambered? In either case drawing and making ready to fire with only one hand is a lot more difficult than pulling a loaded gun out of a holster that is on your belt.

The difference is even bigger when I carry openly OWB. I can draw very quickly and easily while seated and belted in. I realize most Texas are afraid of seeing holstered handguns so you cannot carry openly, though

My truck gun(s) are there simply to have something available if I want to sneak away from the office for a little stress relief at the range. Right now it's an S&W MP15-22, but that changes up every now and then.

Carry method and body shape- size play into that alot. So does the chambered not chambered arguement.

My truck doesn't have a console but her car does, I find it quicker. My truck has a pocket in the door that works the best for me. To each his own, the trick is to try everything you can think of and than pick some more brains and try those too. Than settle on what works best for U.

You can open carry? You suck Maybe someday we'll have the choice......I hope.

From the riots, assaults, carjackings, drive-by's, etc that I see in the news, it makes more sense to be "heavily" armed in the city than in the country. At least for the purpose of self defense or the defense of others.

The last time I used my vehicle gun was to dispatch a road injured deer.

While that was perhaps not legal in my state, I was not going to sit around and watch the deer suffer like the other folks who had gathered near. You never know to what event your day brings you. I try to be prepared rather than helpless & overwhelmed .

"One anecdotal story I'd add... When my wife and I were on our first date, back in college, my car got broken into and the thieves stole a couple things. Her purse was in the floorboard, and her coat was covering it up. They grabbed her coat and fled, leaving her purse right there. It was obviously out of their sight, and so I suppose out of their thoughts as well."

A tactic of thieves breaking in and leaving the purse is that they just take something else and a few credit cards from the purse. In the time that it takes one to figure out that the credit cards are gone, they've already racked up a stash at someone else's expense.

I recently bought an old Star Super for $179. It's my truck gun. It's hidden in a place that is instantly accessible to me, but wouldn't be found unless the vehicle was stripped. I chose a cheap gun because the climate here is rough on a gun kept in the car.

It's cocked and locked and ready for instant use.

After a day dealing with idiots, I can stop by the range on the way home from work. Instant therapy.

My Ruger LC9 goes from my left shorts/pants pocket to the driver door pocket when I drive. Being left-handed, those are the natural places to carry a firearm. My Uncle Mike's pocket holster works great in both places.

Warp, I fixed your last sentence for you:

I realize most politicians are afraid of seeing holstered handguns so you cannot carry openly, though

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A "truck gun" (car gun in my case) is there to deal with any issues too big for my pistol to deal with. Right now it's an 16" AR, CavArms lower, iron sights.

For the longest time I thought a truck gun was a rural thing. My dad always kept an old 12 gauge in his pick-up for whatever he might have needed it for, usually in addition to a revolver of some sort.
But if you urban dwellers feel the need to follow suit, more power to you.

Warp said:

What I find funny is making a potentially life or death decision based on how a liberal paper may spin the story when you defend yourself. If you are that worried about that you may as well sell your firearms

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My sarcasm went undetected, and I'll admit fault for that.

I have absolutely no problem with people carrying weapons on their person to protect themselves, as long as laws are obeyed. That being said, I also believe people are looking for every excuse they can find to keep guns in as many places as possible, and to me, that's just dumb. One is none, two is one, right? Why not stash guns in all the places you visit each day? Work, school, church, wherever. Statistically, a gun would serve a far greater purpose (as far as SD) in any of those places.

If road hunting is your kind of thing, that's another story. Even there though, I disagree with it, but at least it can be rationalized.

EDIT: And yes, there are going to be exceptions to this. I'm not intending to suggest that nobodyshould ever carry a rifle or shotgun in their vehicle. However, I strongly feel that for most people, a dedicated 'truck gun' is a poor idea.

If you carry on your person, which is undoubtedly the most responsible way to carry, you don't need to keep any firearm in your vehicle.

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A handgun is typically a compromise. While a handgun is convenient to carry on my person, I like having a rifle available to me when I travel. Thus the "truck gun" concept.

If you carry on your person, which is undoubtedly the most responsible way to carry, you don't need to keep any firearm in your vehicle.

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In my case this wasn't an option. Neither my employer nor the property owner where I worked allowed firearms on your person nor in your vehicle while at work. I commuted 90 miles round trip at night through the worst suburbs of Birmingham. It was either leave my gun in my truck(discreetly) or leave it at home. What works for you or seems reasonable to you just won't work for everyone.

WNC Seabee said:

My truck gun(s) are there simply to have something available if I want to sneak away from the office for a little stress relief at the range. Right now it's an S&W MP15-22, but that changes up every now and then.

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Ditto ... sometimes the opportunity presents itself unexpectedly!
Mine are a Browning HP clone and a Marlin 39A

(besides it better to have and not need than to need and not have)

I had to travel thorough parts of the tornado damaged South last spring to get gas to my brother because he was stranded in an area where the power was off and the gas pumps did not work. I really did not expect trouble but I took a 6.8 AR and three spare magazines just in case.

Better to have it and not need it...