Disabling your gun when leaving it in your vehicle

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goColt

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When I am forced to places that it is illegal to enter with a gun, I usually pull the slide off of my Colt Defender, put it in my holster along with the magazine and leave the receiver hidden somewhere in my truck. That way if it is stolen (or my truck is stolen and my gun along with it) it will be all but useless to the perp, at least for the moment. I guess they could always get a new slide but I doubt most perps would go that far or have the brain-power to think of that. Also, I cannot be arrested for taking a gun into the place.

I realize that disabling it makes it useless to me also, at least until I reassemble it but I cannot think of a better way to obey the law and reduce the chance of my gun being stolen and used against me or in another crime. Besides, if I left it in the car assembled and a BG got the jump on me I'd probably not be able to get to it in time anyway. It doesn't take too long to put the slide back on anyway. It would be even faster on a more modern link-less barreled gun.

This whole thing would be a mute point if it were legal to carry everywhere!!! I always say: The safest place to keep your gun, is on your person.

Anyone else do this or something different to disable your gun?
 
I don't leave a handgun in my vehicle, no matter where I go. On the other hand, I don't hang out in bars anymore, go to sporting events, churches or places that are restricted. And I practise don't ask, don't tell on a regular basis!

There are nice little safes that you can secure to the bodywork that will work better than taking the gun apart.
 
I've never taken the slide off, but I have taken the mag with me. My carry has a magazine disconnect, won't shoot without a magazine. I think new mags are $40 so I don't think it would be used soon. Maybe sold to someone quick and they go buy one.

I'd not like to be sitting in a parking lot, putting my gun back together. You're concentrating on task and not watching your surroundings. I know it only takes a minuets,but, bad stuff happens fast.

Mark.
 
hagar, you've never had to go to a Police Dept, Post Office or other .gov building or even a park? Huh . . . good for you.

If your vehicle is stolen, believe me the "nice little safe" WILL be defeated and your gun will be theirs, as well as if you leave it in there without the magazine. Mags are cheap and readily available. I don't want a BG to use my gun, at least not easily.

It takes seconds, not minutes to reattach a slide. I just think this is the best alternative to leaving a ready-to-go gun in your vehicle or breaking the law and risk being a convicted felon.
 
Great Idea!

public buildings should be forced to provide safe storage if they do not allow firearms.
If no metal detector, I'll carry anyway.
 
No one questions you when you walk into the court house wearing a holster with a slide and ammo in it?
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So? What's your point? Even if they did, I don't have a firearm, they cannot do anything but tell me to leave or detain me or whatever. They can't arrest me. I am just avoiding breaking the law and becoming a felon, thereby losing my right to own a firearm as well as trying prevent my handgun from becoming a BG's weapon.


public buildings should be forced to provide safe storage if they do not allow firearms.
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I agree, sorta. I wouldn't trust them not to keep my name and the gun's serial number. Shabang . . . de facto gun registration every time you go into a .gov building. Besides, what about a federal park?

If no metal detector, I'll carry anyway.
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Too risky for me. Again, I don't want to break any laws that would A) Put my rump in Club Fed and B) take away one of my rights.
 
So? What's your point? Even if they did, I don't have a firearm, they cannot do anything but tell me to leave or detain me or whatever. They can't arrest me. I am just avoiding breaking the law and becoming a felon, thereby losing my right to own a firearm as well as trying prevent my handgun from becoming a BG's weapon.
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So my point is your suggestion solves no problem.

If I have to turn around and leave because I am carrying a holster with a slide and ammo in it what has been accomplished? I'll have to leave all that stuff in the car anyway so what good does it do?

Sounds like an answer in search of a question.

And I'm not sure how leaving a firearm in your car makes you a felon either.
 
hagar, you've never had to go to a Police Dept, Post Office or other .gov building or even a park? Huh . . . good for you.

If your vehicle is stolen, believe me the "nice little safe" WILL be defeated and your gun will be theirs, as well as if you leave it in there without the magazine. Mags are cheap and readily available. I don't want a BG to use my gun, at least not easily.

It takes seconds, not minutes to reattach a slide. I just think this is the best alternative to leaving a ready-to-go gun in your vehicle or breaking the law and risk being a convicted felon.
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So what exactly is your point? That your method is the best and only way to secure a firearm in a vehicle, thereby making any other method used by anyone else inadequate? Well, thank you Captain Safety! I suppose locking my guns in a gun safe at home isn't good enough either. So ya know what I'm going to do from now on? I'm going to hire 24 hour armed guards to sit in my truck when I'm away from it, and to stand by my safe when I'm not home. How's that add up for safety? And hell, I won't even need to carry a gun anymore. Think how safe that will be. Oh, one last question for ya, Captain. How do you suggest I disable my REVOLVER when I'm forced to leave it in my truck? Take the cylander off? :banghead:

Peace and God bless, Wolfsong.
 
goColt said:
Also, I cannot be arrested for taking a gun into the place.
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Unless, of course, the people in that place get the idea that your accomplice is bringing the other nonfunctional parts in on their person so you can reassemble it inside and commit a crime. Using your reasoning, we should all be able to carry parts on airplanes, right? :neener:

Every choice we make is a compromise of the ideal. There is always a risk that something will go wrong, and you need to decide what the acceptable level of risk is.
 
Sounds like one of the situations the "lawyer locks", that most everyone denigrates here, were designed for. If the locked gun was stolen would the maker replace a "lost key" without proof of lawful purchase?

--wally.
 
Sounds like one of the situations the "lawyer locks", that most everyone denigrates here, were designed for. If the locked gun was stolen would the maker replace a "lost key" without proof of lawful purchase?
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I hate to say it, but that's a really good point.
 
When I first started to carry, I'd run a cable lock through the barrel, then lock the gun itself to the seat brackets, then lock the doors.

Now I toss it in the glove box, and lock the doors.
 
Some of these methods sound like too much handling of a loaded weapon in a public place. That is, some of you are putting yourselves in unnecessary danger of negligent discharge. Putting the weapon in a Gunvault-type of box, secured to the vehicle, would be one way of securing the weapon without pawing all over it (disassembly, loading and unloading, retracting the slide to insert a cable lock, etc).

Of course, there doesn't seem to be much risk from just dropping and re-inserting a magazine, provided the slide isn't cycled. But this isn't much good if you carry cocked & locked with a 1911 or similar.

A good point of the revolver is that it would be pretty safe to swing out the cylinder and cable-lock it through the barrel. Just don't lose your cartridges. :)
 
Wolfy, take it easy friend. If I thought mine was the only way, would I have asked if anyone did anything different? Please read my original post. Good point on the revolver though. I guess that is another reason I don't carry one. I like 'em, I just don't carry one.

And of course I think my method is the best, otherwise I'd do something different. This is the same answer I give my wife when she says I think I am alway right. If I knew I was wrong, wouldn't I change my mind? I am open for other suggestions. Jeez, that's why I asked for other opinions from you all. And thanks for calling me Captain Safety, I think that is a good thing for a gun-owner to be called.

Leaving a gun in a vehicle is not a illegal/felonious but trying to take one into a PD, courthouse or other .gov building is. And I think leaving one in the vehicle is an easy way for it to be stolen. Both of which I am trying to avoid.
 
And I think leaving one in the vehicle is an easy way for it to be stolen.
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Well is the rate of car theft high where you are?
Maybe so, but not where i am.

I have had my Mini-14 in every vehicle I've owned since the mid 1980's.

It's still there. Not stolen. Beat to crap maybe, but it's still there.

As for handguns, I just toss it in the glove box when I go into someplace I can't carry it.

Might it be stolen sometime? Sure. Am I worried about it? Apparantly not.

I'm not worried someone is going to steal my car to get the gun that's for sure.

The main reason I am not worried is that no one knows the gun is there. If they steal the car then well, they get a free gun, but the vehicle is not any more a target just because it has a gun in it.
 
Done it before. That's one of the beauties of little blowback pocket pistols. The CZ 70 of mine can be stripped easy. Drop mag, clear chamber, pull slide off. Stick the mag in the sun visor. Stick the slide in the ashtray. Stick the receiver anywere you please. Under the seat, amidst the mechanics of the moving seat, glove box, console box, in an old shoe.
Don't care to do it on anything like a regular basis... that was a special event. Maintenance was coming to my place when I wasn't gonna be there.
 
My approach to similar concerns was to have a small safe (WalMart) bolted to the floor of my car trunk. The gun when stashed is typically still ready to fire. All I need is the trunk and safe key to retrieve it. I don't know how it would be a particularly good idea in any vehicle with no trunk.
 
I started doing that disassembly thing when I started carrying.
Didn't do it for long.
Fumbling with the parts of a sometimes-live gun while in cramped, dark, visible and/or otherwise uncomfortable & unprivate location seems a bad idea - just too much that can go wrong.

I once disabled a Glock for a flight (yes, checked baggage properly) by removing the barrel. Imagine my embarrassment when, weeks and long story later, I find there is no barrel in what I'm carrying.

Even if they did, I don't have a firearm, they cannot do anything but tell me to leave or detain me or whatever.
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They can still make things miserable for you. Metal-detector-level security checkpoints have a mandate to freak when anything "gun" is found. Bullets & magazines you MIGHT be able to have merely confiscated, but a slide, barrel or (you're screwed if they find this) receiver is just too much "gun" for them to decide on - better to toss you in a cage and let a judge figure that one out.
 
When I first started to carry, I'd run a cable lock through the barrel, then lock the gun itself to the seat brackets, then lock the doors.

Now I toss it in the glove box, and lock the doors.
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Now that is the only good idea I heard on this thread. If taking a magazine or slide into work will get you fired or arrested than don't risk it. Also eventually you will get sick of disassembling and reassembling your weapon and you will stop doing it. Keeping a loaded active firearm in a car is a risky, especially if a lot of cars get broken into in your lot. Best thing to do is to lock it to something. I have a friend that keeps a loaded revolver padlocked to the frame under the passenger seat. Its too hard to reach with a good pair of boltcutters or a hacksaw, so it would take a long time for someone to get it out. He carries the key with his car keys. It only takes him a second to reach down and unlock the lock and retrieve his gun.
 
No, that requires unloading/loading and handling the gun outside of the holster.

I have a lock box chained to the underside of the passenger seat.
 
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