How safe is to keep a pistol in your car?

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Fellow Nevada resident here. You will have no problems from the heat affecting your gun. There have been some occasions where I have left my gun in my truck. I drive a black truck on top of that. No issues. I do rotate carry ammo on a regular basis though and don't leave any ammo in the truck for extended periods of time. Not that the ammo will cook off, but to keep it fresh.
Safety of keeping a gun in the car depends on what part of Nevada you live in. There are some parts of Vegas I would never leave a gun in the truck due to the high level of crime in the areas. If you are out in the rural areas in may be a different story.
 
640400 said:
Here is a thought.

Do Not Leave a Gun In Your Car!
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And a good thought it is, but it should not be a blanket statement. There are times when you may need to leave a gun in your car for short periods. My earlier statement refers more to long term storage.
 
I keep a Makarov in my work truck in the pocket at the bottom of the door and that's where it's going to stay. I never have to worry with it till I want to.

I live in a semi rural low risk/crime area. If I lived in an urban environment with gangstas around I would probably feel different.
 
I keep a Glock 19 in my car. When it's parked in my garage or in my company's parking garage, the G19 and an extra mag are stowed in a old empty daytimer. When I park in public, the weapon goes in a Center of Mass safe that is cable-locked to the frame of my passenger seat.
 
Same here in Virginia. We have a lot of freedom, but when it comes to cars, they are a bit odd. WITHOUT a CCW, I can open carry loaded all day long. I can even walk into a bar, but when I get in the car I must unload it and place the gun in full view if an officer were to stop me and walk up on EITHER side of the car.
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IIRC, Alabama also allows OC on foot but not in a car. It's very strange and I can't imagine the reason why.
 
So, I'm still waiting for someone to furnish a story where someone has been prosecuted for having their legal gun stolen from their locked vehicle.
 
how safe is carrying a pistol in a holster on your side, keeping one in a safe, in a closet, on a table next to your bed, at a range, in a gun shop within 3 feet of the ammunition that goes with the gun... there is no answer for this question... guns, when handled responsibly are very safe, but in some circumstances, things happen... now that that is over... to your question, it depends on far to many factors... my suggestion is having enough forethought to know where you will be and whether or not you can carry inside or must leave the weapon in the car.... if that is the case, I recommend carrying something that, though dependable, is inexpensive enough to not break your heart in the event of a break in.... old 9X18's and .380's seem to be a dependable inexpensive option....
 
While waiting on my CCW paperwork to clear, I carry my XD9 in my truck at all times. When I'm home, I bring it in with me. Once I get my license, well, it'll go wherever I go.
 
Hidden Vehicle gun safe

In most states it's illegal to leave a gun in the glove compartment specifically.
(PD pulls you over, asks for Registration, you unlock the glove box to get it...) (A buddy of mine got charged that way...)
And cops get nervous about glove box guns.

Get a lockable pushbutton safe. (Titan gun safe, or Wall Mart drawer safe) and Bolt It Down! Under the Passenger seat, to the rear wall of a truck etc.
Then disguise it as something else. Paint it the color of the truck plastic, hang a 'car trash bag. over it and put an old McDonalds up over it so it looks like trash but is fast draw. Get a section of carpet or vehicle flooring and cover the box and keypad. Whatever, as long as it hides from a quick search.
If your ammo has to be separate camo that too. I found a Snickers King Size wrapper fits perfectly around my Glock 22 mag. I have 2 "snickers bars" in my truck and a concealed box (somewhere) in my truck. If a thief or the wrong PD looks they'll never know I own or carry. (Not required to tell unless they ask, then i'm headed out of state to hunt gophers.)

Make sure nothing in or on you vehicle advertises "Guns here!"
Sadly gone are the days of pickup gun racks, now even a bumper sticker makes us targets for thieves.

Another tip, Leave something a thief does want as a diversion. (an envelope of $1's and paper, and some fake jewelry and a dead cell phone) in the glove box. A flush thief is likely to quit looking.)

Oh, and a lock box in the truck is a good place to leave some bug out cash and spare paperwork. (Remember one of the most common causes to Bug Out is a house fire...)
 
The temperature inside the car will not harm the gun in any way. The biggest concern is theft.
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+1. i bolted a small gun storage box to the interior of my truck for such a purpose. if i can not bring my ccw into somewhere, i lock it in the lockbox. if someone breaks in and destroys the box to get the firearm, at least libility wise i should be ok. i have ammo in the truck almost all of the time, and i lock it up tight. of course i live in michigan, so it is not as hot as az. but ammo has to get pretty hot to ignite from just heat.
 
Just don't store your ammo in the oven!

http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/46869/stored_bullets_explode_in_wis_oven/

And even in states that do not allow CCW in vehicle, Federal statue allows "transport" in a vehicle in a locked case with separate ammunition. Some states want it in the trunk or not.
A bolted, locked box in the back seat, under the rear passenger seat could still be construed as 'too available' but it meets the overriding Federal statute.
 
And even in states that do not allow CCW in vehicle, Federal statue allows "transport" in a vehicle in a locked case with separate ammunition. Some states want it in the trunk or not.
A bolted, locked box in the back seat, under the rear passenger seat could still be construed as 'too available' but it meets the overriding Federal statute.
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McClure-Volkmer overrides state and local laws only in the case of people traveling interstate. It has no effect on intrastate travelers.
 
I work in a government building that doesn't allow CC. That means that I lock my gun and one magazine in the car. I use up the in-car ammo often and replace it from fresh. All of the rest of the ammo and mags go in the briefcase.

High heat does bad things to ammo.
 
High heat does bad things to ammo.
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In Arizona, it can get hot enough in a closed car to warp and deform some plastics. Years ago, I left a cassette tape on the dash of my car all day during the summer and it was ruined. Anyway, lead has a pretty low melting point and it wouldn't surprise me if it could also deform lead bullets. I'm pretty sure it's not hot enough to damage a gun, though.
 
I was in Charlotte last year at a sales meeting.Two of the guys there had their trucks broken into right outside the hotel managers office window. Perps popped the passenger door windows with a screwdriver. Guys had nothing in plain sight in their trucks.


Charlotte Metro police said perps target trucks for the red-neck factor. They expect to find a gun in a truck much more than a car.

A Volvo with a rainbow sticker on the back window and an Obama/Biden bumper sticker is the last thing they'd break into to get a gun.

All the Best,
D. White
 
wyocarp
So, I'm still waiting for someone to furnish a story where someone has been prosecuted for having their legal gun stolen from their locked vehicle.
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Why don't you just furnish all the criminals in your area a handgun and let the rest of us do what we can to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. As far as I know there is no law that says you can't store your guns in a cabinet on the front porch but even in the "quiet" community where I live I would consider that stupid. Keeping guns secure is not about the value of the guns its about the danger they represent in the wrong hands. How are you going to feel if someone steals your gun from your truck and shoots your family member with your ammo? My guess is not good.
 
It is legal for me to have a gun in the car at work, but not to leave the car with it. If I want to be armed when i come, i've got to leave it in the car.
I have a gun vault.
 
I'm with sohcgt2...I could never understand why someone would leave a gun in their car.

I lived in NYC for many years and I have seen many cars broken into and stolen, even watched it happen a few times. Car thieves can be in your car and out with all valuables in seconds. They are very quick. Glove boxes are simple to break into and a bolted down safe = the possibility of a bigger score. Most thieves I know would just steal the damn car and drive it to a place where they have the privacy to work on the safe and get it open. Believe me, they can make it happen very quickly.


Why set up a situation where there is the possibility of allowing a criminal to get your gun and harm someone else with it? It just doesn't make any sense.
 
geniusiknowit..........priceless! I had my truck broken into twice in the last year. Had I left mine in the truck, I would have surely wept. I feel like I have left my kids in the car when I am forced to leave my pistol. Not a good feeling.
 
Console Safe

I bought this online from Costco for when I cannot carry in a building. Bolts to the floor and works nice in my Tacoma. They custom make them for many vehicles
 

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Console Safe

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I bought this online from Costco for when I cannot carry in a building. Bolts to the floor and works nice in my Tacoma. They custom make them for many vehicles
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Console Not As Safe As You Thought.
Seven seconds with the same crowbar I used to break your window and I have your console and the safe inside it. The thief doesn't care in what condition he leaves your vehicle and when he opens the console and sees a lock box the whole thing is coming with him so he can open it at his leasure. If you bolted it through the floor with a backing plate to spread the load over a large area then your fine, but sheet metal tears, plastic breaks, and wires can be cut with a pocket tool like the one you carry.
 
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