Purpose of The Car Gun?

[SLG]

Serious question, coming from a guy who has already agreed that car guns are not the best idea: how far are we willing to take the logic that risk of theft makes it irresponsible to have a car gun, compared to having guns at home?

Is a guy who keeps a j frame in his car that might be stolen more irresponsible than someone who keeps dozens of guns at home that might also be stolen? Even if the risk of theft from one's home is theoretically less, if the theft did occur, so many more guns would be "out on the street."

Your thinking is absolutely correct. The issue is, you can spend a little or a lot of money to make your home harder to break into. You can in addition, make your guns harder still to steal.

A car is just not even close to the same as a home in regards to hardening, but many people dont properly harden their homes either.

Hardening your home is no garantee that it wont be broken into, but it is a solid step in the right direction.

[farscott]

Referencing the stolen gun thread, i carry several guns in my work car at all times. They are all locked up per sop, and range from very fast to access, to very slow to access. These are the tools of my trade, and my employer understands that even with good locks and an alarm, guns can and will be stolen from time to time.

On my own time, i refuse to leave a gun in my personal cars. The trade offmis absolutely not worth it to me. I carry every moment I have clothing on, and any car i get into will have at least the gun on me available. The risk, and consequences, of n having a personal gun stolen from my personal vehicle is just not worth it.

In the other thread, some people seemed to think that an agent who loses a work gun in the course of his work should somehow be punished for it. No state that I'm aware of, that allows a gun to be kept in a car, will punish a civilian for having that gun stolen. I dont care, i dont want to be the guy whose stolen gun gets used in a crime. I think that absent serious rural living, like I used to, or that Malamute or GJM might today, a gun in a car is a bad idea, that is mostly shtf fantasy. The only reason i excuse the extreme rural living, is that self sufficency, especially in regards to big animals, is a real thing out there. I have had to,put down more than a couple of large, injured animals over the years, and a handgun is not always the right tool.

Others obviously will disagree, and thats fine. If you can live with the consequences of what a stolen gun can do, have at it. I can't, or at least, not for the trade off here.

My car gun is a Remington 870P, and I have used it twice. Both times were to provide a humane end to the suffering of large animals.

[flyrodr]

My car gun is a Remington 870P, and I have used it twice. Both times were to provide a humane end to the suffering of large animals.

Years ago, my wife and I were on the way from the house to some place, and came upon a town policeman, standing in the grass median of a four-lane parkway, looking down at a doe, that had just been hit by a car. The thing was alive, struggling to get up. I pulled over, got out and asked the officer if he was going to put the deer out of its misery, or wanted me to. I might not have said it delicately enough, as he sort of looked at me trying to decide if I was merely crazy or an actual threat. I then explained I was a former biologist, had my CCW permit, and was just concerned with the animal. He said he'd take care of it, and suggested I continue on. So I did.

In a separate incident (both within a mile of our house, and both in the city limits of a town of around 135,000), we passed two police cars stopped at yet another deer incident. We had to stop at a traffic light about 300 yards away, and within a few seconds heard 3-4 shots (sounded like a handgun). Not sure for the multiple rounds apparently needed.

Nothing like a "suburbanized" city to become a wildlife haven, and provide a booming business for the animal control officers to deal with raccoons, possums, foxes, etc. (and, yes, the occasional rabid one).

Interestingly, I expect a citizen dispatching the injured deer or any of the other critters in this situation would have a lot of explaining to do, as our fair city has an ordinance against discharging a firearm in the city limits. Said ordinance ". . . includes air guns, paintball guns, BB guns or pistols, or any spring gun, pistol, or other similar device that impels with force any projectile, shot or pellet of any kind."

Otherwise, it's a nice place to live.

[ranger]

I have never had the benefit of working for an employer who would allow personal firearms of any sort on the work premises including the parking lots - that includes Fortune 500 companies plus the Department of Defense. Since I spent 5 days per week at a civilian employer and many weekends at a DOD site of some form, I spend most of my life in NPE or transiting to and from NPE. I suspect most Americans are in a similar situation. I suspect those that can carry ALL the time is the exception. Yes, I needed the job so I went by the rules.

[SeriousStudent]

That's good to hear.

I wasn't trying to make you feel bad. I was waiting for Chuck Haggard to do that when he came along and told you about how one if his officers, Cpl. Jason Harwood, was killed by a POS armed with a gun stolen in a burglary.

http://www.odmp.org/officer/22176-co...eugene-harwood

Agreed.



Another t-shirt I own, but was saddened to purchase.

[nalesq]

Your thinking is absolutely correct. The issue is, you can spend a little or a lot of money to make your home harder to break into. You can in addition, make your guns harder still to steal.

A car is just not even close to the same as a home in regards to hardening, but many people dont properly harden their homes either.

Hardening your home is no garantee that it wont be broken into, but it is a solid step in the right direction.

Logically, I came to the same conclusions, although honestly, for me it took having a family to take hardening my home (and access to weapons) seriously enough to actually DO it.

[SLG]

Logically, I came to the same conclusions, although honestly, for me it took having a family to take hardening my home (and access to weapons) seriously enough to actually DO it.

Just to be clear, if a gun gets stolen from you, from anywhere, the moral responsibility is on the thief. OTOH, I want to make it as hard as possible for that to happen. It is a fair trade in the home, since I have to own guns, and I think all free people should. In the car though, the trade off's (easy to steal, not tremendously useful compared to CCW) are not worth it to me.

[ImNobody]

Last year there were 7 stolen firearms in my neighborhood - all out of unlocked cars......

For Christ sake, if you are going to keep a gun in a vehicle, at least have enough common sense to lock the damn car.....

:Facepalm:

[farscott]

Years ago, my wife and I were on the way from the house to some place, and came upon a town policeman, standing in the grass median of a four-lane parkway, looking down at a doe, that had just been hit by a car. The thing was alive, struggling to get up. I pulled over, got out and asked the officer if he was going to put the deer out of its misery, or wanted me to. I might not have said it delicately enough, as he sort of looked at me trying to decide if I was merely crazy or an actual threat. I then explained I was a former biologist, had my CCW permit, and was just concerned with the animal. He said he'd take care of it, and suggested I continue on. So I did.

In a separate incident (both within a mile of our house, and both in the city limits of a town of around 135,000), we passed two police cars stopped at yet another deer incident. We had to stop at a traffic light about 300 yards away, and within a few seconds heard 3-4 shots (sounded like a handgun). Not sure for the multiple rounds apparently needed.

Nothing like a "suburbanized" city to become a wildlife haven, and provide a booming business for the animal control officers to deal with raccoons, possums, foxes, etc. (and, yes, the occasional rabid one).

Interestingly, I expect a citizen dispatching the injured deer or any of the other critters in this situation would have a lot of explaining to do, as our fair city has an ordinance against discharging a firearm in the city limits. Said ordinance ". . . includes air guns, paintball guns, BB guns or pistols, or any spring gun, pistol, or other similar device that impels with force any projectile, shot or pellet of any kind."

Otherwise, it's a nice place to live.

My main residence is in a rural area of a county best known for farming. My other residence is a farm that is even more remote. In other words, I can drive for miles without entering a city limit, finding a traffic light, or having a mobile phone signal. The sheriff has personally told me that his department's response time to my home is about thirty minutes (even though the one time my wife called, we had a deputy on property within ten minutes), so I better be prepared to take care of things myself. In addition, where I live, there is no law concerning the discharge of firearms, and I can often hear reports unless I am shooting in my own backyard.

The 870P makes for a decent car gun. As it is locked in the trunk of my vehicle in a case with a loaded magazine tube, empty chamber, and locked action, it is not exactly a quick-response firearm. But it is well suited for what a rural dweller can most expect to find, an issue with an animal that should be dealt with as soon as practical. The versatility of a shotgun is well suited for that kind of work. I have a few slugs and a fair amount of #4 buck. That 870P is not a car gun in the sense of a self-defense against two-legged predators; it is a tool of rural living.