I used to commute to DC every other week and took the train from Rocky Mount to Alexandria VA. My truck would usually be there 2-3 nights.

To give that some context, Rocky Mount straddles a county line and one of those counties is really poor. Rocky Mount itself has the highest poverty rate of any metropolitan area in NC and the murder rate hovers around 45 per 100,000 - twice that of DC and the crime rate overall is comparable.

I commuted that way for 7 years and never had a break in. A large part of that is that I kept my vehicle interior like I'd just picked it up from a rental car agency.

The first thing to remember is smash and grab thieves are opportunistic. If they see something in a vehicle worth stealing they'll break in and grab it. Conversely, if there is nothing visible to indicate there is anything worth stealing, they won't waste their time, they'll just find a more lucrative target.

That said, I have a console safe in my truck for the purpose of putting my concealed carry handgun when I can't take it into a gun free zone.

If someone does break in, there's no reason to make it easy for them, and since time is a factor, they usually won't bother. For example we had a brief rash of cars being broken into in our neighborhood. Rather than risk someone popping a window and doing $2K or so damage to the window and door, I elected to just leave my car unlocked. Both my truck and my wife's car were "broken" into, but as they were unlocked there was no damage. We noticed because the doors were left open and they had obviously looked in the glove box, console etc, leaving them all open. They obviously saw the console safe, but made no effort to open it beyond (I assume) checking to see if it was locked.

The console safe cost me $275 and took about 30 minutes to install, but it's cheap insurance.






The same strategy applies to your home. Don't advertise with one of those stupid "This house protected by Smith and Wesson" signs or any other sign that more or less advertises you probably have easy to pawn or sell firearms in the house.

It's also worth having a security company sign displayed near the front and back doors. They do serve as a deterrent against thieves who are just driving through the neighborhood. If you have a security system and your neighbor doesn't, guess which house they'll hit.

Once they get it, don't make it easy for a burglar. Most burglars will hit the living room and master bedroom as that's where the consumer electronics and the jewelry tend to be. They are far less likely to spend time going through a kids bedroom, or a bathroom, especially if an alarm is sounding and they know the clock is ticking. You can't break into a safe you didn't find, so put them where they are least likely to look.

People worry about fire and focus on a fire safe, but the fact is unless you spend a **** load of money on a very high end safe, the average fire safe will not protect your guns from a fully involved house fire. Theft is a far bigger threat, and an easier to conceal safe is a better choice than a large bulky fire safe out in the open - especially if you do not have an alarm system, giving them lots of time to break into your safe in the privacy of your home.