Securing your firearm in vehicles warrants some essential safety tips for gun owners. Designed chiefly for function and mobility, security in an automobile can easily be overlooked, making vulnerable owners a primary target for thieves. During the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s Gun Storage Check Week, firearm owners and vehicles must be hard targets that promote safety and control.
Ruger pro-staffer Kristy Titus brings vehicle and firearms safety front and center during Gun Storage Check Week as a growing number of automobiles are rolling armed. As opposed to conventionally static means of safe gun storage, firearm security in a vehicle designed for comfort and mobility often requires more deliberate planning.
Glove boxes and center consoles do not deter the most serious of offenders. Responsible owners must consider more secure forms of storage, like a lockbox or case specifically designed for firearm security, down to long versus short-term storage analysis. The days of gun racks and steering column air vents are long gone.
But it’s not all 2A, ’79 hunting Bronco, doom and gloom. The NSSF’s Real Solutions and Project ChildSafe are available to help keep long and short-term positive control of firearms at all times. Apart from some genuine legal trouble that can slither into the garden, keeping guns out of children’s hands is a serious concern.
Partnerships with law enforcement across the country has made gun locks more accessible to firearm owners and has reduced gun misuse, like accidental injury and suicide.
Firearm owners should be cautious, but resist being discouraged altogether from carrying and storing inside of a vehicle. Passive security measures, such as a safe tethered to a vehicle, buys an owner time and discourages targets of opportunity. Active security measures, such as not leaving firearms unattended for long periods of time, also has its rightful place among safe, easy and “real solutions.”
Note: Gun Storage Check Week will repeat September 1–7, during National Suicide Prevention Month.
Be sure to visit GunStorageCheck.org during the first week of June to enter the Gun Storage Check Week Sweepstakes to win a B.O.S. Lock Fusion — a firearm safety device that mounts to a handgun’s accessory rail, combining a biometric slide lock with an integrated tactical light and green laser.
Those who enter the sweepstakes will have an opportunity to improve their chances of winning by earning bonus entries after watching up to two firearm safety videos. The Sweepstakes runs June 1–7.
The Women's Outdoor News, aka The WON, features news, reviews and stories about women who are shooting, hunting, fishing and actively engaging in outdoor adventure. This publication is for women, by women. View all posts by The WON
