If you have to leave your home with a gun — say, you’re traveling to the shooting range — you must secure it in your vehicle in some way. It’s not enough to simply hide the gun in the console or glove box, and many states require that drivers keep the gun locked in a container so it is not “readily accessible” in the hopes of preventing violent road-rage incidents.
At the same time, you should only ever store your gun in your vehicle temporarily. More firearms are stolen from vehicles than anywhere else. In fact, at least one gun is stolen from a car every nine minutes in the United States. Worse yet, most guns are stolen from cars parked at residences — when the car is parked in the driveway or on the street outside the home. And in the past decade, the rate of gun thefts from cars has tripled.
So if you might have to leave your vehicle unattended for any real length of time, keep your gun secured at home.
Secure Vehicle Storage
Start by learning the state and local gun laws where you live to make sure you’re in compliance when it comes to having a firearm in your vehicle. Next, to truly prevent your gun from being stolen or misused, consider investing in a dedicated gun safe for your vehicle.
There are plenty of options on the market today in terms of gun safes. The safe should come with mounting hardware or a cable that you can use to secure it under the passenger or back seat, or in the trunk of your vehicle. This will help keep the gun secured out of sight and out of reach. It’s not enough to simply hide the gun. You’ll want to look for a steel safe with pry-resistant features, like a gun safe you’d keep at home.
Because handguns are smaller, they are generally easier to secure in a safe under a seat. Long guns — rifles and shotguns — will probably need to be secured in the trunk. In the end, you’ll need to find what works for you. Think about your vehicle from the perspective of a burglar. How can they break in and gain access to your gun?
Things to Avoid
If you’re considering a “console vault,” just remember that the gun will still be very easy to access — which could become a problem in a road-rage incident — and would-be thieves will probably look there first.
A few companies sell magnets that allow you to mount a gun under your vehicle’s dashboard. But as you can probably guess, these devices should be avoided because they do nothing to secure your gun or even conceal it. They’re an accident waiting to happen.
Finally, avoid any decals or bumper stickers that might tell a thief that you have a gun in your car. You want your vehicle to blend in with everyone else’s. Make it less of a target.