If you drive and carry a gun, you need to know about the best gun hiding places in your car. Gun owners and law enforcement officers alike always tell stories of leaving guns in their cars for a few hours, only to find their windows smashed and their guns stolen when they return. This means that unless you have a gun safe bolted to the floor of your car, you're always at risk of having your firearm getting discovered. This is especially true when you leave it in the usual hiding spots: the glove box, the center console storage or under the seat. In fact, thieves should still have no problem locating it even if you stash it in a toolkit in your trunk, under the jack or alongside the spare tire.
Best Gun Hiding Places in Your Car
Great Gun Hiding Places Thieves Don't Expect
Leaving your concealed carry weapon (CCW) unattended in your car is like leaving an invitation out for burglars. This is why even if you're just going to the coffee shop, convenience store or gas station bathroom for a couple of minutes, it's still important to keep your gun safely hidden. After all, a couple of minutes is all it takes for a resourceful crook to get the job done.
There are times where you may not be able to bring your CCW into an establishment because of legal or logistical restrictions, so you have no choice but to leave it in your vehicle.
Don't worry if you don't have a small gun safe in your car. All it takes to secure your firearm is a little creativity. My threat assessment colleague, Gary Hickox, from STARR Systems, in Broomfield, Colorado, recently gave a great workshop on hidden weapons. In his presentation, he not only talked about what we can learn from how crooks about hiding weapons, but also what we can do to hide our own firearms from them.
Hide Your Guns In Trash
Mom got me a miniature trash bin for my car. Anyone who's ever been in my car knows the importance of this gift pic.twitter.com/4YGWMjQh5y
— Elliot (@diablito_21er) December 27, 2016
If you're like most people, you probably already have a lot of unexpected gun hiding spots in your car in the form of garbage. All you really have to do is hide your gun in something that an in-a-big-hurry thief wouldn't bother to check. Examples would be an old pizza box, a big crumpled empty box of candy or even one of those huge Big Gulp soda cups, with the straw still inside the lid.
Fast food bags also work great for this purpose. As a general rule, the dumber the idea sounds as a hiding place, the better it is at keeping your guns safe. In fact, some people even use bags filled with seemingly used (i.e., squirted with chocolate sauce) diapers. Using props like this effectively provides camouflage for your firearms as they create an environment no thief would bother looking into—unlike your bag, suitcase or blazer pocket.
Long story short, pretty much anything that doesn’t look valuable will get the job done. As a matter of fact, we’ve seen plenty of “stash cans” that are made to look like soda containers, salt jars and even bags of chips. There are also people who cut out gun storage holes in books like the Bible.
What To Remember About Gun Hiding Places In Your Car
There are two things to keep in mind when using either homemade or store-bought gun storage devices. First, always use the same item. Second, don't forget that your gun is in it. The last thing you want is to end up throwing a $600 handgun away because you forgot that you hid it inside an old pizza box.
Also, be sure to not hide your guns in places that can cause them to go off—even if you're storing them at home. You wouldn't want to end up like former Madison, Wisconsin Police Chief Richard Williams, would you? He forgot that he kept a Glock in the oven, turned it on and was surprised when the gun went off, putting a bullet through his kitchen wall. Other places to avoid storing your firearms are anywhere people can accidentally sit on them or anywhere they can fall off of.
A Final Word On Hiding Your Concealed Carry Weapon
Of course, all these tips only work if no one else—especially children—has access to your car. Keep in mind that given enough time, people would still be able to find your gun, no matter how well hidden it is. This is why you also need complete control over your keys and the locks on your car at all times if you want to keep your guns safe. The good news is that we are creatures of habit. As long as we follow the exact same routine every time when it comes to hiding our guns in the car, our risk of forgetting to secure them (and the car itself) becomes significantly lower.
Do you have any unexpected gun hiding places to share? Let us know in the comments section below!
Contact Steve at DrSteve@DrSteveAlbrecht.com or on Twitter @DrSteveAlbrecht