How do you carry in your car? Photographs...

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On the issue of engaging in activities which are highly likely to result in a cop drawing a gun and pointing it at my head, i stand firmly on the "no" side. Legal or not, having a gun openly visible, within hand's reach, seems like a whole lot of problems waiting to unfold if pulled over.

I've been pulled over more times than I could count (over many years of course) with a visible, yet discrete, pistol in the vehicle. The closest I've ever come to an incident is once I was if that was a weapon, I replied "yes ma'am" she replied "what kind" I replied "a Sig P220" she was silent and gave me back my insurance information.

Thats the only time I can remember even being asked about it (the visible one) directly, I guess they either don't care or aren't observant. They have asked if I'm armed, at which point I'll tell them the type and location of every weapon in the vehicle. And again it's a nonissue nearly all the time. My conclusion is that, in my location with our officers, the "likely result" is nothing to be concerned with.

The potential for a LEO to act irresponsibly isn't a good enough reason for me to change my behavior.

I believe you can either live in as much freedom as is legally granted, or you can live in fear of what could happen. I chose not to live in fear, but to each their own.
 
In my case the holster is as secure as the transmission tunnel. The gun isn't going anywhere unless I pull it. If it's legal then there is no issue with being pulled over. The most attention it ever drew was the question: Is that loaded? and the answer was: Yes it is.
 
I live in Florida and summer in ohio, I have a steering column holster I use in Florida but I know ohio has some different laws than Florida on how you can keep the gun in the car. I have a cc permit , does any one here know the ohio law?
 
Evil-Twin said:
Personally I think it pretty petty and immature to stick your finger in someone's eye about carrying in your car and asking for photographs so we can share ideas, and you point out what appears to be some petty jealousy... always find some childish people in a gun forum who I question their age and actually ability to have a driver's license let alone own a gun...
I own a Corvette, IM sorry, I own a Kimber.. IM sorry they upset you so much. I'll Be glad when school is back in session and the Kids can get off the internet so us adults can discuss adult things.
Relax man. The comment I made was said in jest. Not pokin ya in the eye, just in the ribs a little. I couldnt fit my face through the 'net for you to see my expression.

"Grown up", does not have to also mean "humorless". Hahaha?

That is a nice ride and a cool rig. (Not joking)
 
Evil-Twin, your picture almost made me go ahead and draw the account suspension for what I said out loud and wanted to type, including the profanity.

Sexy. That 'vette and Kimber pic is just a whole lot of sexy.



To answer your question, I'm in agreement with most folks on here with saying that the piece stays on my person whether I'm walking, sitting in a chair, or sitting in the car. Too much hassle to move it around and shift it here and there and back and oops I forgot it and where did I put it....
 
I just drop it in the center console between the seats. I can't carry into work, and the leather seats of my Cadillac wrap around all snug which tends to press the gun uncomfortably into my hip. So it resides in the console from the time I sit down, until I get home at the end of my shift. Nothing fancy. Gun stays there, while my vehicle documents ride in the owners manual in the glove box. Almost had a slip up when I was last pulled over.

No, it's not very secure, and if someone ever did break into the car, they'd probably get the gun.

I've considered the map pocket in the door, but it's such a small space I don't think I'd be able to grab it if I needed it. In the event of an attempted car jacking, I think the V8 under the hood would be my best weapon.
 
I am with the crowd that says gun in plain sight is a terrible idea for multiple reasons. I keep my carry gun holstered because I am out and about. The only time it is in the console is if I'm on a road trip.

For those who remove the gun from your body to put in the car, what do you do when you get gas or run to the store? Holster/unholster repeatedly?


I think the chances of getting pulled over and having some splaining to do OR shooting yourself in the leg reholstering 10x a day are much higher than any chance of needing it in self defense.

The only dangerous part of carrying a firearm is touching it too much. Leave it in your holster, in your pants.

HB
 
Like I said... Ive been carrying as a civilian for 35 years.. armed every single day.. if IM in the car, the weapon is within a few inches of deployment. a car jacking or a bump and rob situation happens in seconds.. IN 35 years I've had one attempted car jacking...and one street attempt to rob... IM still here... no legal issues and never lost a car of a penny to a robber. when you are seventy years old... not only do you have tenured experience. but you have gathered 70 years of research in the best personal protection profile that world for you over anything else you have done in the past... At this point in my life.. I would never carrry anything smaller than a 45 ACP. I would never carry any other way than with a pocket carry. and when in the car. I want the weapon at my finger tips... if I go into a store the weapon goes in my pocket...if I go to get gas, the weapon goes in my pocket.. It not inconvenient, because if Im in the store or the gas station , why would I leave the weapon somewhere where I could ne use it to defend myself... I'm not asking anyone to do what I do... for me, there is absolutely no negatives about my weapon, or the way I carry it.. IM more ready instantly than anyone who uses a holster attached to a waist band

I can tell you all the negatives about any other type of holster.. I have them all but for the last six years, its in the pocket, and IM happy its there over any of my other holsters..
 
In a case, in the trunk, inside a container with a resealable lid, back and forth from the gun range.
:p
 
I carry in the vehicle the same way I carry out of it. Theres also generally a rifle of some sort, most often a 94 Winchester, unless I'm going in the mountains, when it gets swapped for something heavier. The 94 mostly lays against the passenger seat, with a belt of shells coiled on the tunnel. It gets covered up when I'm in a town.
 
I would never carrry anything smaller than a 45 ACP. I would never carry any other way than with a pocket carry.
Having 1911's in every available size I find pocket carry an amazing feat. At least in any pockets I have. Do you carry in a pocket holster as well?
 
If your sidearm is not strapped securely to your person all of the time there is a good chance that when you need it desperately - it will be somewhere else.
 
Having 1911's in every available size I find pocket carry an amazing feat. At least in any pockets I have. Do you carry in a pocket holster as well?
I've posted a few pictures in another thread but IM not bashful about posting pictures. Always in a #3 Mikes Pocket holster that I have modified to actually stay in there even on an aggressive draw.

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I'm the perfect body type for pocket carry..

Summer time cargo shorts...in the left pocket....

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IN the jeans.. IM left handed. ( I pulled the gun up to show the grip to show the Kimber is in there )

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" Hand " In the pocket around the Kimber and at the ready.. but looking like an old guy with his hand in his pocket.. so natural yet no one knows IM already at the ready to draw stage. Perfect stealth position to quickly draw the weapon with out telegraphing that I am indeed ready to draw.

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Deployment:

You can see the Mikes Pocket holster edge. in this shot...
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For me, the Kimber and the pocket carry, trumps any weapon or holster I've used in the last 50 years of personal carry..... 35 of those years as a civilian.

Bill aka ET
 
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The gun is very noticeable to me in those pictures, or at least a large shape I would assume to be a gun. I would think bad guys and observant LEOs would know you are carrying. LEOs wouldn't bother me, but observant bad guys would.
 
The gun is very noticeable to me in those pictures, or at least a large shape I would assume to be a gun. I would think bad guys and observant LEOs would know you are carrying. LEOs wouldn't bother me, but observant bad guys would.

That looks like a standard bulge when pocket carrying. My pockets look the same even with smaller guns. They bulge, but they don't leave outlines of a gun shape.

So, if someone is actually looking near my frontal pants area they can decide for themselves, is it a smartphone, knife, multitool, or other? In my experience in carrying 99% every day over the last 7 years no one has said or done anything about the bulges in my pockets.

Should someone checking out my appearance assume I have a gun? Sure.
I assume the same for everyone that has a bulged out pocket or waistband that I see out in public. It really hasn't seemed to slow down day to day living for anyone.
 
I just can't get used to the idea of carrying a gun in my pants or shorts pocket. For whatever reason, I don't like stuff in my pockets, I even don't like putting my keys in my pockets, too much clumsy/bulkiness. No woman would ever think I'm a rich man because my wallet is not fat and bulging out of my back pocket (I do what I can to keep a minimum of stuff in my wallet). I'm just a guy who likes streamlined, neat, efficient looks. That being said, I always do an IWB carry at my 1 o'clock position. My belt snugs gun/holster up tight to my lower abdomen and the gun/holster is in a position that does not impede the use of my front pocket--but I don't use pockets, right, lol?. Yes, I do use my pockets and I also put my hands in my pockets like any other guy. My EDC is not a particularly small pistol either, it's a G23. But I wear two shirts, on tucked in t-shirt, and then one outer shirt that does not hug my body, concealing my gun perfectly.

Furthermore, I like my gun at my 1 o'clock because when I'm driving, the seatbelt straps right across the gun, so it's not going anywhere. Now, if I have to draw the gun out while in the car, that might get a little tricky, but I seriously doubt that will ever happen and IF I'm in a situation where I think I might have to draw it out, I probably shouldn't be driving there anyway (time to get the heck out of there, right?).

One other thing about why I carry my gun the way I carry it: If I have to run, move quickly, GTHO of there, then my gun is pretty well strapped in. I don't have a problem fleeing a situation that I'm not comfortable in. I also don't plan on carrying in shorts unless said shorts have big loops for my EDC belts, then all the same stuff applies.
 
I've been pulled over more times than I could count (over many years of course) with a visible, yet discrete, pistol in the vehicle. The closest I've ever come to an incident is once I was if that was a weapon, I replied "yes ma'am" she replied "what kind" I replied "a Sig P220" she was silent and gave me back my insurance information.

Thats the only time I can remember even being asked about it (the visible one) directly, I guess they either don't care or aren't observant. They have asked if I'm armed, at which point I'll tell them the type and location of every weapon in the vehicle. And again it's a nonissue nearly all the time. My conclusion is that, in my location with our officers, the "likely result" is nothing to be concerned with.

All my encounters have been perfectly cordial as well on both sides but i've always informed the cop that i was armed while stating i posses a permit in the same sentence. I expect for many cops seeing a gun within hands reach before any conversation can ensue is likely to result in a "better safe than sorry" defensive reaction. A number of friends have relayed stories in which cops have engaged in guns drawn, felony style stops for far less than a visible gun within hands reach.

The potential for a LEO to act irresponsibly isn't a good enough reason for me to change my behavior.

Ideals are nice but practical considerations need consideration as well. Personally, if i were a cop walking up on a vehicle and i saw a gun inches from a person's hand i would draw my weapon as well. A cop can't just magically know if the person with the means to end his or her life in a split second is a threat or not.

I believe you can either live in as much freedom as is legally granted, or you can live in fear of what could happen. I chose not to live in fear, but to each their own.

Again, its about being practical. Not having an exposed gun inches from my hand when it can be kept via other means which don't hinder security or subject me to additional risks hardly seems an infringement to my freedom to begin with.
 
Of the many people I know that keep a firearm in their vehicle, I don't know any that keep their hand with in inches of it during a traffic stop, or any other time for that matter.
They rather keep it holstered, in a secured place (as in not on tossed on the dash, or laying in the passenger seat) , with hands on the wheel a couple feet or more from the gun.
If a someone gets upset and draws on someone over that, they may want to consider a different line of work.
 
Of the many people I know that keep a firearm in their vehicle, I don't know any that keep their hand with in inches of it during a traffic stop, or any other time for that matter.
They rather keep it holstered, in a secured place (as in not on tossed on the dash, or laying in the passenger seat) , with hands on the wheel a couple feet or more from the gun.
If a someone gets upset and draws on someone over that, they may want to consider a different line of work.

I suspect for many cops its more a matter of seeing a gun before any interaction occurs by which they can try to ascertain the threat potential that is the issue, not proximity alone. Its also a matter of the scenario, alone and exposed, during many traffic stops that is understandably going to put one in a defensive mindset.
 
I'll get a photo in a bit, but in short, I have a velcro strip on the center console. Have another strip on a cheapie Glock holster that I cut the "ears" off of, and I just keep the gun in that. When I go in a store, I move the gun to a hidden/secured location. No evidence of a holster, no visible gun, and no unholstering/re-holstering.
 
First things first

You Drive a corvette, you carry a $1200 Kimber, and the best you can do is stuff it in a $20 holster attached to your console.:eek: Get a custom red and black holster made and attach that to your console.:evil: That would look sweet. I always carry a Kimber 1911 on my belt and I have a spare in my console.
 
The Kimber was 1631.00, 50 dollars for Bud's Preferred customer membership...This was one of the first ten offered by Kimber with the ( CDP ) Combat defense package... no one had them at the time. Buds had 2 but only for their preferred VIP members. Both gun went in one day, The Mikes # 3 holster was 8 dollars... its attached, Torque Tube Tunnel.. and does the job... I really did not buy the Kimber for you, or the car ... my choice of Car , gun and holster are my choice... what might look sweet to you would probobly look like the horses ass to me... I didn't ask for your approval or disapproval.. just opened a thread on what " Other People " use... not a critique of what you don't like about someone's choice...
 
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