Thoughts on leaving loaded guns in the house and car when not occupied

[MrToad]

The key factor is that they would not be available to anyone unless they entered illegally. Something that happens all to often. I won't leave my gun in the car loaded or not.
Leaving a loaded one in house or car serves no purpose if you aren't there to use it, except to say, "Here, Merry Christmas", to anyone that does breadk in.

 

[ar10]

Perfect alarm system, and she bites. Guy tried to steal my truck, 14 stiches. Then someone tried to steal my scooter, don't know what happened to him/her/them, but I did see some blood on the garage floor and it wasn't the dog.

 

[wrs840]

My 442 is in my pocket. When it's not in my pocket, it's locked in one of my three gun vaults. There's a loaded Winchester 1300 behind the seat of my daily driver pickup, and an unloaded 30-30 locked with a stainless cable in my pasture truck... but I live on 110 acres in the sticks of NC nowhere. If I leave town, the 30-30 gets locked in a vault, and the shotgun does too if I'm going to leave my daily driver at an airport or something.

Is this negligent or OK?

Les

 

[Guitargod1985]

how about the ole' nursing home answer................ Depends

:d rofl

 

[threefeathers]

I do leave a loaded gun in my hidden pocket in the car. I unload them in the house unless I am carrying it.

 

[Rockwell1]

Is this negligent or OK?

What steps,if any, are taken to secure the 1300?

 

[akodo]

I disagree with that. It seems your guns are secured, but leaving a loaded gun out is stupid. If they get it, they now have your gun! This means they can shoot somebody or you if you come home at the wrong time (or a cop comes to the report from a neighbor.) Just lock it up, and load it when you get home. A loaded gun does you no good if you aren't there to use it.

I disagree with your disagree. The only way to totally eliminate the threats you list is to NEVER OWN A GUN.

How many locks are 'sufficient' before you aren't considered negligent? 1? 3? a $300 gun locker is not acceptable? what about a midline safe? anything short of a top line safe?

No. I don't buy that line of logic. If the criminal gets my gun, it is the CRIMINAL who is at fault...unless i do something totally beyond the pale like hide a loaded gun under a rock at the front of the driveway...in broad daylight.

 

[wrs840]

What steps,if any, are taken to secure the 1300?

None. Other than that the truck is habitually locked, factory alarm, and 90% of the time it's parked locked at my secluded home spread (dog and motion lights), or parked locked at work (secure lot, 70 people, and I'm parked in full view of office windows).

Like I said, It comes out and is left in a vault if I'm going to drive and leave the vehicle at an airport, or on the rare occasions that I have to visit a public school (we home-school)... but restaurant, church, shopping... uh... It's laying behind the seat, with a 22" bore-barrel w/ iron sights, loaded but unchambered, with 00 magnum buck... in a locked crew-cab F250. I'm fully receptive to criticism from anyone who would like to opine that this is a bad idea.

Les

 

[Rockwell1]

I think PTK hit it as long as you take reasonable steps to secure the weapon you are not negligent.

The question then becomes one of what level of security is the weapon worth to you? it appears that your's is worth

he truck is habitually locked, factory alarm, and 90% of the time it's parked locked at my secluded home spread (dog and motion lights), or parked locked at work (secure lot,

To you

Personally, I don't feel comfortable leaving a firearm unsecured in my vehicle ( like you secure fenced lot) at work so I don't .

 

[Hoppy590]

all my guns are in a "locked container" its called a "house". Stay the F out of it.

 

[sailortoo]

I'm curious about the comments about "I never leave a gun, loaded or empty. in the car". There are endless scenarios where I - in NM and when traveling - need to normally be armed, but cannot legally carry in the post office, or a restaurant serving alcohol, for instance. I either have to go unarmed full time, or lock up in the steel safe in either car. If it, or the whole car, is stolen, so be it - I did the logical and prudent thing. There is a limit to trying to be perfect!
sailortoo

 

[Duke of Doubt]

If I had to load and unload all my guns when I entered and left my home or vehicle, I'd spend my life loading and unloading firearms. Not all are kept loaded, but plenty are, and they are spread out around my dwelling, some cleverly hidden. If I return to find my home broken into (this happened once; no guns were taken), it's time to call the police and arm myself against possible assault, not enter and search my home. Let the cops clear the place.

 

[cliffy]

An Empty Gun is a disaster waiting to happen

Yea, I have a gun safe where I store my guns, but some guns don't belong in it. The gun under my pillow does not belong locked and unloaded within my "safe." I doubt I'd ever require a GUN during my slumber, BUT if it were locked within my safe, I'd have to rely upon my knife tucked under my pillow. It's so difficult to hide a strung bow under my pillow, but protection is paramount to the inconvenience during the first few precious seconds of saving my life. I'd call "911" but I'd be dead before they answered in many cases. I don't want to die before my "time," so I really don't feel I can count on "governmental" intervention prior to my actual demise. I hope I don't come-off as paranoid, but untimely deaths do occur. Tongue-in-cheek, maybe, but home invasions are serious problems worthy of some-sort-of self-protection. cliffy

 

[Rockwell1]

If the bad guy is in your bedroom before you wake up you're dead.

Quoted from m1911thesight.com

 

[Kind of Blued]

What's wrong with hiding a loaded gun under a fake rock in my front yard?

I answered that "it depends". This is usually my answer to any question in which it is applicable, if for no other reason, because I'm imaginative.

Example: I usually have a rifle in my trunk, but I'm usually within line of sight of my car, and if not, I could still get to my car in under 10 seconds. Leaving my car parked unattended for hours on end is a different story, and I've removed the rifle until I don't have to leave the car unattended for long periods of time.

As far as the house goes, a thief will get your guns if he has two things:
A) Time
B) The will to steal them

A dash of common sense will help him get the guns before he accidentally commits grievous bodily harm to himself in the effort and flees, but it isn't always necessary.

 

[Mr. Bojangles]

We should never have loaded guns, ever, because we are responsible for what a criminal might do with one if he steals it, right?? We shouldn't even be allowed to have a loaded gun at a gun range.

 

[Deanimator]

In Ohio, I HAVE to either leave my gun in the car or commit a crime by eating in a restaurant with a liquor license, whether I drink alcohol or not. I guarantee you that few people spend the time to unload a 15 round magazine (or two) in such a circumstance.

 

[bhk]

It depends. I think those of us that live in urban/suburban areas look at this differently than those us in the country where gun sightings are as common as corn stalks. Any 'bad guy' wanting a gun here in the rural areas would probably just take Dad's or Grandpa's. Everybody has a gun.

Me? I live in the boonies and it would take a 'bad guy' significant work to even find my house or truck. Sure can't see them from the road and most friends need repeated, detailed instructions to come here. My drive/road has a motion sensor on it. This is less for security than it is to simply let us know when someone is coming to visit.

I have a loaded Glock in my truck and an unloaded .22 auto rifle behind its rear seat (and sometimes a coyote rifle on the passenger seat in plain view). They pretty much stay there unless we leave the truck behind to visit somewhere else for a day or two, or we are going to be driving to a city and must leave the truck unattended.

My house guns are kept in a safe when I am not at home. Most are unloaded, but my carry guns are loaded and holstered on the top safe shelf. The safe door is open when we are at home and locked when we are gone.

 

[Floppy_D]

Yup, in the top of my closet. Get through the locks, alarm and dog, and you can have 'em.

 

[expvideo]

My guns are always loaded.

I disagree with that. It seems your guns are secured, but leaving a loaded gun out is stupid. If they get it, they now have your gun! This means they can shoot somebody or you if you come home at the wrong time (or a cop comes to the report from a neighbor.) Just lock it up, and load it when you get home. A loaded gun does you no good if you aren't there to use it.

Unless you have an extremely exotic caliber, whether or not the gun is loaded has zero effect on whether or not the thief will be able to use it in a crime.

 

[wyocarp]

Wow, I'm way out in left field on this one. It seems most people on here are paronoid about someone breaking into their car or home. I wonder how often this actually happens to most of you. There is never a day that passes that I don't have numerous loaded guns in my vehicle and I usually have a number of different loaded guns around our house.

Yeah, most of them are in a safe, but I'm not responsible for what someone else might do with my gun if they break in and steal it. If you are worried about that much, people sell insurance for these types of worries. As far as someone having a loaded gun, heck, they can get one of those almost anywhere. There's nothing special about my gun. A criminal isn't going to act any different with my collection than he would with any other. The only exception is that they might not know how to exactly handle the big .500.

 

[rbernie]

You shouldn't leave guns lying around at home for a few reasons. If somebody breaks in, they get a loaded gun.

I am not responsible for, and refuse to take responsibility for, the criminal actions of those outside of my control. I will secure my belongings (all of them - not just firearms). That does not mean bunkering them. It means placing a locked barrier between my posessions and the public. Those that are locked inside a container (safe) that is within another locked container (my house or car) are usually secured in that fashion because of their value, not because they may or may not be loaded.

The most important reason to lock up loaded firearms when they're not on your person is to prevent inadvertant access by those that I invite into my house and who I do not trust to respect a loaded firearm. Examples include my kids' friends and certain co-workers.

 

[wyocarp]

Unless you have an extremely exotic caliber, whether or not the gun is loaded has zero effect on whether or not the thief will be able to use it in a crime.

That's an interesting comment. I have a brother who grew up around guns and hunting the same as me. He's not stupid, has numerous guns, but never knows what caliber they are or what they shoot. Just yesterday he said he had a new pistol of some sort. He didn't know what it was. Told me he needed me to look at and help him get some ammo for it.

He brought a pistol to the range to meet up with me once and he had never shot it and didn't know what ammo to buy for it. I looked around and found some .45 ammo and fired it for the first time.

Maybe he is the exception, but I find that many guys are lost when it comes to the right ammo for guns. I can't believe criminals are much different.

 

[wyocarp]

i am not responsible for, and refuse to take responsibility for, the criminal actions of those outside of my control. I will secure my belongings (all of them - not just firearms). That does not mean bunkering them. It means placing a locked barrier between the object and the public. Those that are locked inside a container (safe) that is locked within another container (my house or car) are usually secured in that fashion because of their value, not because they may or may not be loaded.

The most important reason to lock up loaded firearms when they're not on your person is to prevent inadvertant access by those that i invite into my house.

very well said.

 

[dirt_j00]

Doesn't suggesting that firearms should be kept more secure than any other personal property imply that they are inherently more dangerous than any other tool?

Should we also have to keep chainsaws, circular saws, pepper spray, baseball bats, crow bars, etc under lock & key?