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I'd like some input on what to do when I'm going somewhere I know I'm not going to be able to carry my weapon, such as a courthouse or even if I go golfing (I'm not going to have my gun on my hip for 18 holes). Do you guys leave the gun at home or do you disarm in your car and leave it in the glove box or center console?

I've noticed a lot of negativity towards leaving your weapon in your locked vehicle by a lot of people on this forum. So do you just leave the gun at home and not carry on the way to those off-limits destinations or places it's not easy to conceal, such as a gym when you're going for a workout?

Just looking for some feedback for a soon-to-be CHLer. Thanks!

I bought a little car safe that you can either hard mount inside your car or attach using an aircraft cable. I got mine from http://www.center-of-mass.com . They're fairly cheap.

I keep my gun in my golf bag with my wallet. There were several golf course robberies in my area last summer. I am sure there will be more this year as it gets warmer.

foodawg wrote:I bought a little car safe that you can either hard mount inside your car or attach using an aircraft cable.

Carrying some of the time is better than carrying none of the time.

Thanks for the advice. I'll probably buy one of those compact safes for when I have to leave my CCW in the car.

Yep. IMHO, a safe of some sort in the car is essential...I think for most CHLers, and certainly for my personal situation (workplace is 30.06 posted).The bad news is that if your car is stolen, your gun is stolen along with it. If you have OnStar or Lojack and the vehicle can be recovered quickly, the thief may not have time to tinker with the stuff that will take time to open, and your gun may be recovered. On that thought, I'd recommend the most secure safe you can afford or that will fit in your vehicle. Something like this http://www.truckstuffusa.com/consolevaults.html or this http://www.center-of-mass.com/Store_ConsoleVault.htm would be my first choice if I had one of the specific model trucks they fit. The downside to the locking cable concept is that a hefty bolt cutter can make short work of the cable, letting a thief remove the case itself and take his time later drilling out the lock.

The good news is that many car break-ins are smash-and-grabs. The thief is after stuff he can quickly put his hands on and run away. A safe that's secured with a cable and hidden from view (like under the driver's seat) would be an unlikely target for this type of theft.

Skiprr wrote: ....The downside to the locking cable concept is that a hefty bolt cutter can make short work of the cable, letting a thief remove the case itself and take his time later drilling out the lock.

The good news is that many car break-ins are smash-and-grabs. The thief is after stuff he can quickly put his hands on and run away. A safe that's secured with a cable and hidden from view (like under the driver's seat) would be an unlikely target for this type of theft.

True on the bolt cutters. I actually bought two car gun safes, but when I first got them, I thought they looked fairly cheap made so I decided that I would use one for "testing" to see how hard it would be to break into them or break the cable.

I dead dropped nearly 500 lbs attached to a tree and the cable from the length of the cable a couple of times and it didn't break. So my seats are probably coming out before the cable breaks.

I also tried to pry open the case under the premise that a big screw driver is commonly used by car thiefs. I dented the case up pretty bad and could bend a corner back, but not enough to get something out.

So I tried attacking the hing using a pin punch an hammer. You could get it to move, but you can't really get it out in a timely fashion. It would probably take you more than 15 or 20 minutes.

I tried punching the lock out, but the case isn't really deep enough. You could probably drill it and let the pins fall out though.

Needless to say that case was pretty messed up and it's probably a good thing my wife didn't know I bought two of them.

I the good case I had left, I thought why not just pick the lock? It doesn't have a lot of pins.

That I could do! I used a couple of pieces of flat steel spring that I've used to pick some Master pad locks and it worked like a champ. It took about two or three minutes. Just to make sure that it wasn't a fluke, I did it a couple of more times. But...I've had a little practice (my dad went to lock smith school after he retired and I used to play around with his stuff. The skill came in handy a couple of times, especially in the Navy. And you should see peoples faces when I do it at the office when someone can't find a key to cabinet. )

Anyway, I thought I would give my experience with the case. And keeping out of sight is definately the second best thing you could do. The first is to have a truck that one of the center console safes will work in, which I don't have.

Cheers

I'm not a big fan of the car vaults. Instead of the thief going for your car stereo or shopping bags, now you give him/her another item in the car to attack.

HighVelocity once mentioned that if he has to disarm, he clears the pistol and leaves it in the car but brings the magazine with him. That reduces the chances that if he catches the thief red-handed, the thief won't shoot him with his own gun.

I'm actually not to keen on leaving the gun in my car at all. But I also don't want to leave it at home on the way to a "gun-free" destination, such as my daughter's after-school activities and such, or like I said before, some sort of outdoor activity where I don't want the gun on my hip the whole time -- golf, working out, etc.

Clearing the weapon, putting it in one of those cable-attached safes, and keeping the ammunition with me seems like a better idea than anything. At least the safe will make it a LITTLE harder for the thief to get to it.

I carry a Wilson Combat Protector and this gun is over 2,000.00 retail! I am definitely NOT going to leave it in my car FOR ANY REASON.
And anyone who thinks a 40.00 piece of tin with a cable is gonna protect your Kimber needs to have their head examined.

AEA wrote:I carry a Wilson Combat Protector and this gun is over 2,000.00 retail! I am definitely NOT going to leave it in my car FOR ANY REASON.
And anyone who thinks a 40.00 piece of tin with a cable is gonna protect your Kimber needs to have their head examined.

Okay. Great. So then do you just not carry to and from, let's say, a high-school football game where it's illegal to carry? I think of this situation because I'll go watch my daughter perform her dance routine at a football game and then maybe we'll all go out to eat afterwards.

So if you had a similar situation, would you just leave your weapon at home and hope nothing happens when you're out and about where you are allowed to carry after said football game or whatever?

I'm more inclined to leave my gun in my car out of sight and locked up and be able to carry when I leave these gun-free zones and go somewhere else. I'm not so much worried about protecting my gun from a car thief as I am about having it available for my protection if the need arises later after I've left a gun-free zone. I don't know... maybe I'm becoming overly attached to my sidearm already, and I haven't even started carrying out in public yet!

arod757 wrote: Okay. Great. So then do you just not carry to and from, let's say, a high-school football game where it's illegal to carry? I think of this situation because I'll go watch my daughter perform her dance routine at a football game and then maybe we'll all go out to eat afterwards.

So if you had a similar situation, would you just leave your weapon at home and hope nothing happens when you're out and about where you are allowed to carry after said football game or whatever?

Fortunately, all those activities you mention above do not apply to me.
I simply go everywhere armed, or, I don't go at all........that's pretty simple.

My suggestion to you is if you want to carry your gun with you to those places and leave it in the car, then by all means get yourself a car safe. But, please do not get one of those cheap 40.00 specials........

Invest in a good quality pistol safe and mount it with bolts to the floor of your trunk. Here is a good example of what I am talking about:

http://www.buyasafe.com/Fingerprint_pis ... biobox.htm

[/quote]

Fortunately, all those activities you mention above do not apply to me.
I simply go everywhere armed, or, I don't go at all........that's pretty simple.

My suggestion to you is if you want to carry your gun with you to those places and leave it in the car, then by all means get yourself a car safe. But, please do not get one of those cheap 40.00 specials........

Invest in a good quality pistol safe and mount it with bolts to the floor of your trunk. Here is a good example of what I am talking about:

http://www.buyasafe.com/Fingerprint_pis ... biobox.htm[/quote]

Well, I'm not one to skimp when it comes to quality. I'll definitely get a safe I feel comfortable with. After I leave my gun in the car the first time, I'll make sure and go get my head examined to see if I'm still sane.

AEA wrote:My suggestion to you is if you want to carry your gun with you to those places and leave it in the car, then by all means get yourself a car safe. But, please do not get one of those cheap 40.00 specials........

Invest in a good quality pistol safe and mount it with bolts to the floor of your trunk. Here is a good example of what I am talking about:

http://www.buyasafe.com/Fingerprint_pis ... biobox.htm

Biometrics are cool and all but it doesn't look like the metal is any thicker or the biobox is any more secure than the $40 keyed boxes.

This is what I intend to use:
http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/conten ... _x_14_quot_

I plan to use a steel cable wrapped around the case and padlocked to the car seat frame.