If you carry a heater – no matter how gun-friendly a state you live in – there will always be places (post office, bank, hospital, yadda, yadda) with the dreaded red slash through the Beretta 92 silhouette prominently displayed on the front door. If you wanna stay legal, you’re going to have to leave your peacemaker behind from time to time.

That means stowing it in your ride when you enter a free-fire zone. Fortunately, a decent car safe is cheap. You can get one that connects to a seat mount via steel cable for only about $30. But some (and you know who you are) prefer to stick with the iron clad security of the glove compartment. Or center console. Or maybe you just slide your pistol under a seat. So tell us…

Where do you stow your gun in your car when you have to?

53 COMMENTS

    • Yes, it is a pretty little revolver.

      My revolver stay under my arm, in its holster no matter what building I am in or what stupid little sticker they have on windows, I don’t read them anyways.

      If I have to go into a federal building then I will let them check my gun, and have a nice conversation with security about firearms.

      I have a conceal carry permit so I would fight in a court of law over that issue!

      The police did a background check on, ran my name, talked to the FBI, and passed my name over their tarot cards and I can back as being able to carry in their opinion.

      Now, if the police says Im good to go then who the hell do they think they are telling me I have to dis-arm myself because of their fears?

      That’s why you carry concealed in the first place, so all those gun-o-phobics out there don’t bust-a-nut as soon as they see your packing heat.

      • While I might disagree with their opinion, I respect it and their property. If that means having to leave my gun in a car, that’s what I’ll do.

        • -1 I would never disarm unless they have a metal detector at the entrance of the building. Concealed means concealed.

          • THANK YOU Mr. Joe Zip!!!!

            Out of the 30+ comments here yours is the ONLY one that reflects mine.

            If you are going to get a CCW permit, then the ONLY thing that should make you dis-arm yourself would be a scanner, and even then, maybe!

            I mean, what’s the point of going through all the hassle & cost for a CCW permit if every asshole with a sticker on their window can force you to become defensless after the police and the government have said your A- O.K. in their book to carry concealed?

            nope.

            from my cold dead hands…..

      • If you set off the metal detector at one of the local hospitals, you will end up with a hefty fine, a short time in jail, and the loss of your right to ever carry a gun again. Seems to me like the classic definintion of “not worth the risk.”

      • I envy you in that you have the spare time and money for lawyers. Most people like me just don’t.

        With that said, even if I did, it just seems to me to be a monumental waste of time and money.

        And for what, bragging rights on TTAC.

        • Yeah…it’s a waste of time and money…until you become a victim. Somehow the term ‘lazy cheapskate’ comes to mind.

        • “aldematt57 says:
          May 29, 2012 at 17:39
          Yeah…it’s a waste of time and money…until you become a victim. Somehow the term ‘lazy cheapskate’ comes to mind.”

          I refuse to engage in name calling.

          Life is full of choices. Back in the day before I could legally carry a conceal firearm, it was always a debate as to what is the greater risk. If the risk of needing it is above that of being busted by the law, then the question is why in the heck am I going there anyway.

          Ya’ all can do what you want, but I prefer to be more on the law abiding side of the coin.

          BTW, in my book, not wasting time does not equal lazy.

  1. There are very few places I ever have to go where I can’t legally carry. Mostly those are US Federal buildings.

    If a state, county, or city building bans firearms, by state law they have to provide lockers or check your sidearm for you.

    If I did have to leave it in the car I’d leave it in the driver’s side door map pocket.

  2. Since I don’t carry a Beretta 92 , those Red Slash signs don’t matter. 😉

    In all seriousness, I carry a firearm equipped with a magazine disconnect partly for just these kinds of occasions. Most banks and no carry buildings here don’t have a ban against a *magazine*, so I leave the inert handgun in one of the storage boxes in the car and go on with the day packing the loaded mag in the pocket. When coming back, insert magazine and go on my armed merry.

    I worked in a repair garage once, so trust me when I say that a car isn’t secure no matter who makes it.The only advantage a car offers compared to just leaving your piece in the street is concealment. A car seat can be taken off the track after only minutes of work with a socket wrench, and no consumer grade car window is immune to a “Key to the City” (AKA a brick) .If I leave a weapon in my vehicle, a vital part of its operating components will be staying on my person.

  3. Center Console but dammit, guess I need to get one of those “safes” in the pic.

  4. I work at an institution of higher learning so by state law am prohibited from carrying at work as is my wife. We have matching Gun Vaults bolted to the floorboard and steel frame under the dash of each of our trucks.

    • I hope that STATE LAW that prevents you from protecting yourself and others keeps you alive when some nut decides to go on a shooting rampage at your school buddy.

      • Why are you attacking him about the law? Presumably he isn’t a member of the Texas legislature, since he mentioned having an actual job. 😛

  5. Well, only place I go to is the Post Office where there would be a problem.

    In my neck of the woods, I could just toss it into the bed of my pick-em-up truck and no body would care, much less notice.

    What I do is open the door, and put it near where my feet would be.

    • I don’t really give 2 turds about the post office, hospital, welfare, SS office, HHS, DHS, food banks, or bingo at the bank!

      Carry concealed means exactly that, CONCEALED.

      even the police station is off limits now??!? the very ones who issue to you the carry conceal permit in the first place. how freakin stupid is that?

    • The problem is that it is illegal to carry on federal property. And that includes your USPS parking lot.

      • Yea when ever are they going to search your car? I’ve been working at the post office for 12 years and every day i keep my gun in the car.

      • “The problem is that it is illegal to carry on federal property. And that includes your USPS parking lot.”

        For me, our PO is on a public street so that is no problem.

  6. I know the few cases where I can’t carry and avoid them like the plague. Otherwise, I leave my piece at home, go, do my thing and hustle straight home.

  7. I actually use the exact same car. safe pictured above. It fits perfectly under the center console of my truck. I don’t have that revolver. Yet.

    • +1

      I’ve got that safe too, I stuff it under my seat. It’ll do for a short run into a building I can’t carry in.

  8. why would i post where i leave a firearm (if i do) in my car. why on earth would i do that? nothing is private on the web once posted. c’mon people…..some things need to be kept private….use your head.

    • Console Vault. Screws into the console and has a combination lock. Magic!!

  9. I’ve been looking for a quality safe for my car and I’d like one for the trunk and one inside. I want them both installed by a body shop so that anyone who tries to steal them better have some serious tools and a lot of spare time. I’m open to any suggestions.

  10. Sentry safe AS-1 is a very decent safe,,, stronger than the bulldog cases.

    Lightly padded interior and better than average construction are to its merit.

    It has mount holes on the base and if you know a decent welder they can spot weld 2 matching threaded studs under a seat or out of the way area and it can mount to those or use its supplied heavy cable.

    It makes a great gun locker and small valuables store place when on the road staying in a hotel room.

    One drawback however,, it will not Hold a full size Firearm. CZ 75 Pcr compact fits very tight but you can fit a sig 238 and a CZ 83 in it at once.

  11. When are we going to start a concerted effort to stop all “gun free zones”? If my pistol stays in my holster on my hip, it poses no danger to anyone (except a criminal) and no one is going to steal it.

    I know some people will shout the whole “private property rights” bit. Private property rights refers to the owner’s ability to retain ownership of their private property and manage its use. Private property rights do not confer a right to harm guests or subject guests to dangerous conditions such as slippery floors. Another dangerous condition is ordering guests to be unarmed — especially when the property is a business open to the public.

    Just as many people fail to understand our inalienable right to keep and bear arms, many people fail to understand private property rights.

    • You fail to understand that you don’t need to be on my property if you don;t like my conditions.

      • “You fail to understand that you don’t need to be on my property if you don;t like my conditions.”

        That concept requires maturity to comprehend.

  12. As much as possible I keep my EDC on my person! On rare occasions, like an occasional trip to the county courthouse, I’ll sometimes put it in the car’s trunk – but, only for a limited amount of time.

  13. The Gun Rack in the back window of my pickup same as everyone else out here in the boonies…

  14. I am just amazed at how many people seem to think they need a gun to feel safe in the US. I mean yes, women but are guys afraid of getting raped or something? I have never experienced any situation in the US that required a gun. I have lived and travelled all over the world, often in real shit holes where it seemed every kid over 12 had an AK-47 and most of the time I was unarmed and even armed I never once had to use a firearm in a self-defense situation. Not once. And yes there were some sticky situations but I was able to talk my way out them rather than shoot my way out which is a much better way to do things. Yet there are people here that won’t leave home without a gun! They have no concept of reality. These people either have no idea of the statistical unreality of a situation requiring a gun coming up and probably invest in lotto tickets on weekly basis or they are dreamers, day dreaming about becoming a hero and saving the day with their trusty weapon. Then again maybe they are just afraid of the world. I can’t think of any other reason a man needs to carry a gun on a daily basis let alone take it where it is forbidden to do so.

    Oh, for those that say they are going to bring a gun onto property even though there are signs that say they cannot, well you are really upstanding citizens! That is great example of obeying the law and respecting the rights of others. Model citizens you are, shinning examples of gun owners! What an attitude! I hope you get busted and your gun confiscated. The laws are there for a reason and if a private party doesn’t want guns in their home or on their property a responsible person respects their rights. You’re exactly the type that shouldn’t have guns and give gun owners a bad name.

    • You should have more to justify your opinion than just personal experience. The FACTS are that guns on average are used 2.5 million times a year in self defence.You might be able to talk your way out of some situations but if someone is out to do harm to you or your loved ones they don’t care what you have to say. Of these 2.5 MILLION reports of self-defence they were all found reasonable in using deadly force in protecting themselves or others from eminent danger since, that is the only time you can use deadly force. But, only 8% of these incidents were deadly the rest of the time the victim was able to brandish there firearm or fire a warning shot. These people were not hoping to be a heroes they were simply protecting themselves since they were not able to talk there way out of a situation, there lives were threatened but THANKFULLY they were PREPARED (not scared). Obviously you haven’t lived in a high crime area where a criminal would rather bash your head in as listen to reason. Don’t be ignorant just because you haven’t seen violent crime doesn’t mean its not out there; do some research. What reality do you live in? Statistically, the total of crime victims in U.S.A. is 21.1% as of 2011 that is out of the total population of 311,705,000 i would assume by looking at your uninformed comment you are probably not good at math either so let me work that out for you as well it is 65,769,755 crime victims. So, is your concept of reality that 66 million victims a year is not bad odds. Bahahaha give me a brake! One day you might thank one of these PREPARED gun owners for saving your ass when talking isn’t an option.

    • I was shot in an attempted car jacking leaving me with a screwed up shoulder, limited use of my arm, and a paralyzed hand! You would think much differently if this would happen to you!!! Needless to say, I now carry a pistol with me EVERYWHERE I go!

  15. Just because I don’t agree with a person’s request that I am not armed when on their premises doesn’t mean I won’t respect their wishes. I keep my pistol in the console when driving in states where I can carry. I have a small pistol safe with a cable that sits in the backseat floorboards when I am somewhere I cannot carry. I plan on getting a vehicle safe with a keypad when I can, the key lock is not convenient at all.

    • I’m sorry? This is a post asking us to describe how we store our weapons in our car when the bad laws prevent us from carrying into a building and the building owners/management has been negligent enough to not provide a safe, guarded place to store our weapons nor any way to ensure Actual Criminals don’t enter the building.

      How are we ignoring or breaking ANY laws?

      • Leaving a gun in a car is irresponsible and unsafe. Haven’t I read it here that the only safe places for your gun are on your person or in the gun safe at home?

        If you’re going to a gun-free place leave the gun at home in the safe.

        And while you’re at it stop blaming the bad laws for your little dilemmas. Make proper decisions and take responsibility for them.

        • ““Bad laws be damned,” say the hidden criminals. It makes me wonder what other laws they’d be willing to ignore or break.”

          How are we ignoring or breaking ANY laws?

          • What are you talking about. A dozen or so Armed Intelligentsia commenters admitted they carry in Chicago, or would if they worked there.

            Imagine what’s not talked about.

            What laws do you disregard, Dan?

  16. So here is my question being a novice gun owner. What issues are there with leaving your gun in the car? I ask because here in Texas, an unopened Coke left in the center console will explode in the afternoon sun. Is there any issue with heat from a safety or a “ruin my gun” perspective with a gun in a car safe in 110 degree heat?

    • My recommendation. You need badly a gun training. Don’t harm yourself by owning a gun and have no idea what that thing does.

  17. For me as a European “was” it unthinkable to buy me a weapon. In Germany protected by a police that is every second of your life around you and supervises you into your underwear and socks, I became never the Idea for the need to protect myself.
    WOM. Fast forward. Now I live in Texas surroundet from gods’ good folks I never thought I need a gun.
    Yea and than one Saturday Morning on the WalMart-Parking-lot two guys with knifes ask me for my car keys, waiving nicely in Walmart security cameras. Te car was found totaled and the little green Geico paid for it in full, but I had to be fixed with 9 stitches on my left leg. Police – WoW that would be a different story. Than 2 male hide behind my Garage. When we parked thy jumped out. We could escape with the car by shooting in reverse into the highway. Lucky us, we where not hit by another car. Police – Well, the Constable believed we must have pissed off some people, they normally do not come in this neighborhood. Aha!! Than November 10 p.m. glass is breaking heavy noise from Utility room. Shoot fired in the kitchen. Someone shouts in the kitchen we shall stay calm if we comply nothing will happen. Glass breaks in the bedroom to. We escaped through the frach doors into the garden. Lucky us. They knew we were home and they came prepaired. How to talk those people down.
    Well – since than I have gun training, and weapons (plural). My litte s&m SD9VE is allway6s and I mean allways on me.

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