Vehicle 'Carry'

I for one am not strong enough to carry my vehicles (har har) Usually I just keep it in my IWB as I can still get to it if need be which I have had to atleast once when I noticed I was being followed by unsavory characters but thats another story. If not holstered I may put it in the center console or on passenger seat but that is a rarity. The only time a gun is left unattended in the car is while at work and it is stored under the seat with the magazine with me or cylinder unloaded and ammo with me if its a revolver. Everywhere except work the gun is on my person. Not a fan of having a gun stolen from my vehicle if avoidable.

Mad Wheeler,

In Florida the gun must be "securely encased" thus what is ok is subjective to a point.

Quite possibly that FHP trooper that does stop you for speeding or a tail light out might not consider a pizza box as "securely encased". Argueing the point with Officer friendly as he takes your gun could be a bad thing. The local assistant states attorney might well consider such not only not securely encased, but concealed.

A recent Florida event that ticked me off was when my wife.....who the NRA recommended folks ask questions about our CWL.... got stopped for speeding. She could not find her Vehicle registration and so had to open the glove box to look for it and so informed the LEO that she had a CWL and that their was a loaded revolver in the locked glove box. He had her un lock the box remove the gun and holster it was snapped in from the box left handed (she felt that was not the time to point out that she and the holster were left handed) and unload the gun while he stood there with his hand on his holstered gun WITH MY KIDS IN THE CAR. He then took the gun and ammo and trotted back to his car where he ran the numbers on the gun to "ensure it was not stolen" seeing how it was suspiciously in a locked glovebox and snapped holster of a family van driven by a CWL holding member of the bar and middle aged mother.

So much for the 35 year ago private sale keeping that revolver's existence "private" BTW.

Laws change and interpitations change. If you are an old FLorida cracker you might even remember when any Law abiding citizen could carry in the car......as long as the gun was readily visable as in out on the dash or plainly on the seat and not under anything. Now it most definitely ain't that way, but it was.

Most folks would not consider a pizza boxed securely encased.

-kBob

Retention is good.

Torian said:

In the car, if I'm wearing a shoulder rig, I leave it there, as it is still accessible with a seatbelt on.

Otherwise, I put it on the passenger seat with a newspaper or similar item over it. For a duty rig in a vehicle, I actually preferred the hard blackhawk holster that sits on the thigh.

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I would advise some kind of retention system vs putting in the seat.
An agent in the '86 Miami FBI shootout lost his firearm during a vehicle collision because it was on the seat. He placed it on the seat to have easier access then lost it during the crash.
Not saying you are doing anything wrong, just making a suggestion to try and help a fellow member of THR.

Safe Travels

In Ohio, my CHL most certainly does cover concealed carry in the vehicle as well as on my person. It is that way in many states.

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It's that way here in Alabama too...at least until August 1st.

Here in Colorado having a permit has no bering on how you carry or transport in your vehicle, the same goes for NM. I would just be guessing but with a fair certainty that the rest of the intermountain states were the same with the possible exception of NV, pretty sure UT changed theirs a few yrs ago.

Have any of you guys tried one of the "car vault" gun cases? I'm leery of them because they seem to be a magnet for "come break me open" but at the same time, some of them seem pretty tough. I know that locks only keep honest people honest, but I'm interested in this same topic, as long as the car vault has some cable or means to be securely locked to something sturdy in the car like the seat.

I keep one locked to my seat frame and slid under the seat. It has a G32 with two mags in it. It stays in the vehicle that is my primary driver and is in addition to what gun I may be carrying.
I keep my trucks locked and stuff out of sight and don't worry anymore about a gun being stolen than I do from my home.
At home there are almost always a couple guns left out of the safe and it is no more secure than my truck, probably less in the summer when elevated windows and doors are left open.

I only carry on my person. I use a dedicated driving holster that is designed to rotate up to a vertical crossdraw position for when I exit the vehicle. It is the holster I use the most.

kBob writes:

Mad Wheeler,

In Florida the gun must be "securely encased" thus what is ok is subjective to a point.

Quite possibly that FHP trooper that does stop you for speeding or a tail light out might not consider a pizza box as "securely encased". Argueing the point with Officer friendly as he takes your gun could be a bad thing. The local assistant states attorney might well consider such not only not securely encased, but concealed.

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KBob, the definition of "securely encased", as required by Florida law, is clearly spelled out in the law itself. From 790.001, which deals with definitions, here is item 17: 

“Securely encased” means in a glove compartment, whether or not locked; snapped in a holster; in a gun case, whether or not locked; in a zippered gun case; or in a closed box or container which requires a lid or cover to be opened for access.

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(Also, my user name here is "MedWheeler", which comes from my profession. I'm not a "rabid motorist.")

Med Wheeler,

Sorry about the Mad/med, it was not intentional.

I said subjective to a point. I am pretty familure with the FL CWL Laws and read that the same way you do......but Officer Friendless might not think a pizza box makes the cut. That is part of police discression, the field interpitation of the law regardless of its actual text and legislative intent.

Having been involved in gun cases I thought as clear cut as this law appears when a FL states attourney was looking for felony charges, I tend to be more cautious and more understanding of the potential for both officers in the field and states attourneys to see things different than you or I.

I am just trying to keep folks out of trouble.

-kBob

Nothing wrong with caution, kBob, but the thread-topic was regarding the "letter of the law", so to speak, and that's where I was trying to stay.

To base every move or practice on what someone else might "interpret" the law to read would open up so many variables in discussion as to warrant an entire board, not just a thread or two.

By the way, I, too, was once "Officer Friendly" (and never was "friendless"), before entering my current profession. I never knew any of us to interpret a closed container holding a firearm (and not on the "person" of an unlicensed individual) to be outside the limit of the law.

MedWheeler said:

Nothing wrong with caution, kBob, but the thread-topic was regarding the "letter of the law", so to speak, and that's where I was trying to stay.

To base every move or practice on what someone else might "interpret" the law to read would open up so many variables in discussion as to warrant an entire board, not just a thread or two.

By the way, I, too, was once "Officer Friendly" (and never was "friendless"), before entering my current profession. I never knew any of us to interpret a closed container holding a firearm (and not on the "person" of an unlicensed individual) to be outside the limit of the law.

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"...or in a closed box or container which requires a lid or cover to be opened for access."

I laughed while catching up on this string...by the letter of the law, a closed pizza box IS "a closed box or container which requires a lid or cover to be opened for access." No extrapolation of meaning required!

Just struck me a funny...I'm silly that way.

OptimusPrime said:

Have any of you guys tried one of the "car vault" gun cases? I'm leery of them because they seem to be a magnet for "come break me open" but at the same time, some of them seem pretty tough. I know that locks only keep honest people honest, but I'm interested in this same topic, as long as the car vault has some cable or means to be securely locked to something sturdy in the car like the seat.

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Have one. The ones wth a key work well. The combination version shown had issues with the lock failing and getting stuvk locked, with your firearm inside.

Sent from my SCH-I925 using Tapatalk HD

why would one has their gun in a pizza box to begin with?

OptimusPrime said:

Have any of you guys tried one of the "car vault" gun cases? I'm leery of them because they seem to be a magnet for "come break me open" but at the same time, some of them seem pretty tough. I know that locks only keep honest people honest, but I'm interested in this same topic, as long as the car vault has some cable or means to be securely locked to something sturdy in the car like the seat.

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I have the keyed version in a couple vehicles locked to the seat rails. I figure the box is mostly a time delay if someone breaks in. The boxes cannot be seen from outside the vehicles and i do not access them very often in public places.

My daughter went to college in St. louis. Here car was broken into several times. The police told her the robbers were probably looking for firearms due to her Tennessee license plate.

Uncle Mike's #36 (IWB, clip, at 11 or 1 o'clock, or 4:30/7:30), and return the LCP to your pocket before you exit the car.

why would one has their gun in a pizza box to begin with?

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From the looks of things... to be within the letter of the law!

(at least in some states)

In Colorado it's legal to have a loaded handgun anywhere in your vehicle, without a permit, for self defense. I drive a 2000 Chevy Silverado, which has a drivers seat, small center seat, and a passenger seat, all separate. So when I'm driving, I take whatever pistol I have with me and wedge it between the drivers seat and the center seat, right in the gap, right up against my thigh. Can't get much handier than that.

Last time I got a speeding ticket, I was on my way to the gun club range. I had a .38 snubbie wedged in that gap, and there were more guns in the cab than I can even count, plus the back was full of all kinds of other shooting stuff like target frames, Caldwell bags, ammo cans, all kinds of stuff. Pretty obvious where I was going. Officer just gave me my ticket, never asked any questions, I never offered any details, we just exchanged pleasantries and parted ways.

BTW - I never leave a gun in my truck overnight! Sometimes when I'm in a store or prohibited building, but I never just "keep a gun in my vehicle". Even though I live in a very safe neighborhood.

Recently moved to Las Vegas and am still waiting my cwp. While it is legal to have a loaded hand gun in a vehicle, but not concealed on your person, I will wait for the cwp as I do not like having a gun that is not on me. In the pas there was a gun stolen from my truck and am not comfortable with that ever happing again.

This is one of the few times it pays to be LH like me. I normally pocket carry as I wear shorts 99% of the time, so I put the gun and pocket holster in the map pocket on the driver's door. Keeps it out of sight, easy to access and works well for me

I carry mine only when driving and it's in my pocket. I carry it on my motorcycle in my pocket. When I leave the vehicle, I put it in my pocket. When I go in the house to type on the computer, it's in my pocket. When I take a shower, I put in on the counter by the shower, only time it leaves my pocket.

Those of you that pocket carry, or put it in the door pocket - how quickly could you get it out if an ugly with a knife suddenly appeared at your window while you were stopped at a light? Can you reach your piece quickly while you're leaning away from him in terror and he's yelling and waving a knife at you?

This is why I wedge mine in between the seats next to my leg, I don't want to be scrambling for it. Can't do that in all vehicles, I realize, but I'd sure be finding me an easy to reach spot. I've tried the pocket thing, way to slow and hard to get to. I've tried the door pouch thing too, not interested in leaning towards the danger at the window thankyouverymuch.

Just sayin'.....

I took a holster I wasn't using, glued a Velcro strip to it and the inside of the center console of my car, and came up with this:



While driving I mostly leave the console lid up, but it can close on the gun if necessary.

Note that this is for carry of the handgun while driving, not storage in the car. If I have to go for a short time into a place with a "gunbuster" sign I will leave the gun in the car, but no more than that.

Those of you that pocket carry, or put it in the door pocket - how quickly could you get it out if an ugly with a knife suddenly appeared at your window while you were stopped at a light? Can you reach your piece quickly while you're leaning away from him in terror and he's yelling and waving a knife at you?

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I can get at it quicker than he can break the safety glass to get at ME, I can tell ya that. Doors locked, windows up, AC on. Don't really worry about that too much, ain't a traffic light within 20 miles of the house, more deer than people in this county by a long shot. If I have to go to Houston, I add to my armament by carrying either a .45ACP Ruger KP90DC or a 3" Taurus 66 .357 magnum OWB strong side. I don't walk around Houston with just two guns, I carry 3. I don't particularly feel vulnerable to carjacks in El Campo (40 miles), Hallettsville (20 miles), or Columbus (20 miles). Even in Victoria (60 miles), a town of 60K, I can't recall a car jacking in 30 years. Houston or San Antonio are the only towns I go to that I risk such behavior and I'm armed well enough to make Harry Callahan proud when I do go there.

Those of you that pocket carry, or put it in the door pocket - how quickly could you get it out if an ugly with a knife suddenly appeared at your window while you were stopped at a light? Can you reach your piece quickly while you're leaning away from him in terror and he's yelling and waving a knife at you?

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My doors auto lock when the car is in gear, my windows are always up because it is too hot not to use the A/C; so no issues getting it from the door pocket