When I was in high school in a farming community many years ago, people had gun racks with shotguns and rifles in their old pickup trucks at my school. Mostly unlocked. Two years ago, Deputy Robert Kunze at my local sheriff's department investigated a theft from a pickup of a Glock .40 cal in the morning. Later the same day he was shot and killed by the meth head that had stolen the gun. In my now larger community, hundreds of cars are stolen or broken into. Many guns go into the wrong hands as a result. So I’m on a mission to remind fellow legal concealed carry guys that we need to be be responsible about guns in our cars. If your car has a sticker that says Protected by S&W or NRA Member, or a personalized tag that says 44MAG, I believe your car is a likely target. I saw this photo the other day on the second anniversary of the Kunze death. Thought I’d share a little food for thought with the CCW folks on the Forum

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SWCA 3255 SWHF 615

My vehicle displays a standard license plate, a state vehicle safety inspection window sticker, and an old, faded FOP window sticker. No other stickers or ornaments, no fancy paint job, clear coat has even faded and peeled.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

No gun or political statements on mine or wife's vehicle. Kind of like open carry for us......why advertise?

I had a Browning license plate frame, which I always remembered to remove whenever I drove east of Indiana. The paint started to fade and peel off, so it’s hanging on a nail in the garage.

If I have a gun in my locked car overnight, car in the garage (also locked), where I live I’m pretty secure. The real problem is these ridiculous gun-free areas where one has no choice but to leave the weapon in the car. (Naturally, the single worst offender here is the federal government, which is supposed to protect and defend our rights - ALL of them. ) Pretty annoying, but I do understand your appeal. I always hate to abandon a loaded gun in a car out in public.

I have a piece of blue duct tape and my most recent "I voted" sticker on my truck. Joe

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Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

In the early 70's ,, we would hunt before school and leave guns in our cars on the school lot....My how things have changed! I agree with the OP,however, we all need to take a real look into the root of these changes...

No pro gun decals on my truck and firearm is holstered , carried in range bag or rifle case. I ordered Blue Line decals but seems the very efficient USPS has lost my mail again.

USMC sticker and a Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officer sticker on all my rigs. But, then I live in different world than most people live in. I still see guns in cars, unlocked cars, cars with the keys in them, empty cars idling in the parking lot of the store. One car actually got stolen in our county last year. Guy is sitting in the state pen too. Wasn't that long ago that they hung horse thieves around here.

Not a fan of leaving guns in cars. I do keep a small lockbox hidden/secured in my car in the unlikely event I go somewhere and have to disarm. I generally know ahead of time if guns are not allowed, in which case I leave my guns at home. In the several years I've had the lockbox in there, I think I've used it once, maybe twice.

The only stickers on my car are whatever parking permits I've needed. Don't wear any kind of gun paraphernalia, either, except for a NRA ball cap I only wear at the range to keep ejected brass from landing between my forehead and glasses, and it stays in my range bag when not being used.

Be the gray man and fly under the radar.

Like "Op", I have a safe in the 4Runner for temporary storage of a firearm if necessary.

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642-1, M&P15 TS

It was more unusual to see a truck without a gun rack and a gun than one with a gun rack in the 70's and 80's around here. I don't have any gun related or political stickers on my vehicles and never have. I only have to worry about nasty Seminole or Bulldog fans vandalizing my truck.

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An American flag sticker on the rear window.

After becoming an amateur radio operator, someone said to me I should get a special HAM license plate the DMV offers with my call sign on it. My reply was anyone that knows your call sign can easily look up your address, not something I want to advertise while driving around.

I worked 35 years part time in two different gun shops. I was totally amazed how many people would buy something usually used and say this is my car/truck gun. That would drive me crazy! Can’t count the number of times people would come back and want their serial number because the gun was stolen from their vehicle that was usually unlocked.Totally irresponsible, last one l recall was a probation officer who said he left it in the car over night while at a girlfriends. I got tired of preaching when you are not in your vehicle neither is the gun. There are rare exceptions but very few IMO.

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SWCA#2288
SWHF#407

One more brief thought. Kids with a name on their backpack are in danger.

“Hey Brian, I’m a friend of your Mommy.”

Sad commentary on our society.

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SWCA 3255 SWHF 615

I don't even talk about guns at work and I stay away from people who do.

The way it should be.

I have never been comfortable leaving firearms in my vehicles, even when they are locked up as securely as possible. I have a small 1.8 cu. ft. office safe bolted into the floor of my truck and I keep a cable lock to secure long guns, but I really don't like to leave anything in an unattended vehicle.

However, there are quite a few places where firearms simply are not allowed (post offices, courthouses, and others), so there are times when it is necessary to lock up my pistol while I conduct some business or errand. I do so in the best manner I find reasonably possible.

There is a slippery slope in these discussions, and that is when the word "responsibility" comes into the discussion. There are those who want to make individual gun owners legally responsible for crimes committed with stolen firearms, either by criminal charges or by lawsuits. I have a problem with the concept that I should be held accountable for the criminal acts of others. Those who break into automobiles are committing crimes (here in Colorado it is a felony), and those who use stolen firearms to harm others are committing serious crimes.

My point is that the individual must be responsible, but only within a standard of reasonable and prudent behavior, not an iron-clad strict liability standard that presumes fault.

First its your in trouble if you leave a gun in a unlocked car, then its a locked car, then tits if its not locked up in your home, then in a approved gun safe. Then safe manufactures will have to submit a safe of every model for destructive testing. It would never ever end.

My reasonable isn't everyone else and some people the only reasonable thing is for guns to be encased in 6 of of steel reinforced concrete.

I do have a cable lock box for in the Montana cities and I do lock my cars when I visit them. Mostly my gun stays with me. During hunting season there are guns in rigs by the thousands in this state though. There are also people who will shoot you for breaking into their rig and not many county attorneys that will charge them. Why would they? They could never find a jury that would convict. In my hunting camp I sometimes leave a gun or 2 in the rack in my tent. I have a chain with a piece on one end that won't go through a welded ring on heavy wood stove (hot) then passes though the trigger guards and gets a good lock on the end. Bust the lock or the chains, or remove the trigger guards and pray nobody shows up while your doing it. You would have to know that the owner is armed. You can also figure your picture is on a game camera someplace nearby. Best of luck.

Somewhat off topic, but I've always been amazed at those back window stickers showing silhouettes of all the members of the family. Especially those who show a mom and a collection of kids, sometimes all little girls. Sorta of advertising for trouble.

Great reminder.
I still carry a pair of handcuffs only now they stay cuffed to my driver's seat rails which are bolted to the floorboard.
If and when I have to conduct business in a gun-free zone my pistol is cuffed there secured.
Even with this precaution, I'm aware that it's really not safe there. However, I have taken reasonable action to prevent theft. I'm like a cat on a hot tin roof until I retrieve it.

Other than the license sticker which you can't get without the inspection done in TX nothing at all showing.

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KM
S&WCA 3110 S&WHF 625

I have this sticker on my car. It’s Kunze’s badge number. That’s it. As for responsibility, it’s possible to have it without liability. Although I’m not a lawyer. Investigator Herrera in Lincoln Nebraska was just killed by a 17 year old with a gun that was reported stolen. Interestingly it was stolen from his crime spree associate’s mother. Can’t really hold her liable for her criminal kid either I guess. But she is part of the problem in my opinion.

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SWCA 3255 SWHF 615

I use a console safe when I am forced to leave my carry gun in the truck running errands. Looks like this...

Glad it's finally cooler, but we need rain..

I NEVER EVER NEVER EVER Leave a weapon in the Car...it goes where ever I go, When I come home its with me to the house. Way too many scumbags BE cars for weapons. As far a Stickers like NRA or FOP I quit it 30 years ago just as stated above it might attract a BE. My Lic Plate says "HOLNHAD".... From my ER days..ie...Hole in Head.

It's been my experience that the kind of people who need to be told it's not a good idea to keep an unsecured firearm in a vehicle usually don't listen. So I don't bother.

My car is 17 years old but the engine has been rebuilt so it runs line a top. We've had thieves break into every car in the parking lot BUT ours.

No bumper stickers of any kind, no clothing with logos, no discussion of my private life with any coworkers or neighbors or healthcare providers.

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Retired Career Security Guard

I like the ones with a blank space next to the mom that have a little arrow pointing down with “Position Available” inscribed above . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Nothing on any of my vehicles. I have no messages I wish to communicate to my fellow motorists.

Only when I go into the Post Office. I keep an eye on the truck while inside.

While it has been my practice for many years to not leave a gun in my vehicle that was not always the case. For many years I kept a Model 10 snubbie in a leather Bible case on the front seat or sometimes on the dashboard. Never had a problem. Sadly, years later, I had a nickel Model 15 snubbie in the console of my truck when my impossibly dumb headed law partner left a tote bag behind the front seat of my truck with a $3,000 laptop protruding from it when we all went out to our annual Christmas season lunch. The one time every year everyone knows that thieves are cruising around looking for gifts to steal from cars this genius leaves his brand new computer visible. Naturally, they rustled around in the truck and found that gun. Lesson learned.

My license plates always say US NAVY. State issued and they didn't add the word retired (those plates do exist) so I'm happy to have them. The only item on my car is a Masonic emblem. My truck's tailgate is covered in travel stickers, Masonic stickers, the rear window says US Navy Retired, and there are two very subtle shooting related stickers, one is a Browning buck trademark (just that silhouette that they use) on a side panel window and the other is a Single Action Shooting Society "Marshal" with the same of SASS removed so it's cute and says nothing important. But the truck is very old, looks terrible, and I virtually never go anywhere with it anymore except and unless I really need to load something. And no gun resides therein!

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Come and take it!!

Nothing but Veterans Licenses Plates.

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Smith, and Wesson, and Me.

am not nor have i been a Marine, but contribute to their organization. they send me USMC stickers and i put one in a prominent place on vehicle window. i live in a mostly crime free Western area. i do have a Console Vault in vehicle and keep a pistol in it at all times. my vehicle is locked at all times and stays in a garage when not in use. if my home were in crime infested area i'd do things differently. and i grew up in the era of a shotgun and rifle in a gun rack in pickups. better times.

I'm not as paranoid as some people about getting a gun stolen. I'm pretty sure the odds of having a wreck while driving somewhere is greater than having my truck broken into. I keep a shotgun and an assortment of shells in my truck all the time. If I have too go in a place that has metal detectors I put my pistol under the seat. If my locked truck gets broken into I'll have the door repaired and buy another gun. Larry

I said this in my first post in this discussion and I'm going to repeat it in my last post in this discussion.

The kind of people who you have to explain the concept that leaving a gun in a car isn't a good idea to are the kind of people who won't listen if you do.

I remember reading an article by Greg Ellefritz in which he stated that the number one way that criminals obtain guns is through theft. Either the criminal steals the gun or he/she buys a gun someone else stole.

I've also read numerous post by people identifying themselves as police officers who recount all the vehicle burglary calls they go on in which
1. The car wasn't even locked and
2. The crook got a gun out of the car.

If a crook breaks into your car and steals your gun, the thief is 100% responsible for their theft but you're (not directed at anyone specifically) an idiot for REFUSING to mitigate a known risk.

I have a lockbox in my car for those times I don't have a choice but I can't remember the last time I used it. I think when I had to go to the City Clerk's office to renew my security license. Most of the time all it has in it is 50 bucks emergency cash

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Retired Career Security Guard

Two gun in car stories come to mind: I recovered a bunch of property from a car burglar, all of which he admitted stealing, but most of which had never been reported. Part of the "deal" the DA made was for him drive around and show me what came from where. I wrote down plates and called the owners. I introduced myself to one man and asked if he owned a S&W .38. He launched into an indignant speech about how it was none of my blank blank business if he owned a gun. Took about 5 minutes to get him calmed down enough to confirm the burglars account and establish that he hadn't reported it because he knew we wouldn't do anything about it, but yes, he'd like it back.

Another time I took a report from a man who came out of a bar to find his car door hanging open. Asked whether anything was missing, he said "A Browning High Power and a 3 year old female bobcat". Thought I'd find a brown trail, but no.

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I need ammo, not a ride.

I grew up in a farming community where I was a teenager in the 70's. Dad kept a Speed6 in the glovebox and a 22 rifle and double barrel 12 gauge in the gun rack of the farm truck. The keys always stayed in the ignition. We never had a problem.

Now my truck is the "gray man" except for the veterans tag. Besides who would want anything out of a single cab 16 year old Ranger.

Good advice ... Never gave it a THOUGHT ...

We had a genius who had firearms stolen from his unlocked vehicle four times in two months!


Politician Blames Justice System When Gun Is Stolen From His Unlocked Car… Four Times
By Cover Wife On March 26, 2017

Politician Blames Justice System When Gun Is Stolen From His Unlocked Car... Four Times - Blue Lives Matter

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Thread Killer.

What does that even mean

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Retired Career Security Guard

As Texas kid in high school in the 60's rifle laden racks inside trucks in the school parking lot were ubiquitous and a status symbol. The trucks were rarely locked and the windows were down unless rain was forecast.

Times have changed. I have a locking pistol box grade 8 bolted to my truck which is only used whenever I go the doctor or bank.

On veterans day every year I go to one of the local high schools to field questions from the students. I leave everything in the home safe when I do this.

My truck has a USCG Retired chiefs anchor and cuttermans award decals. I would love to have S&W and Daniel Defense decals. But if some unsavory character is touring parking lots looking for targets I don't want to attract their attention.

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U.S. Coast Guard, retired CPO

Don't kid yourself, these are the same people who will go shopping in vehicles, any vehicle, to steal ANYTHING of value in order to sell and get a fix.

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Thread Killer.

A 3-year old female bobcat is about 35 lbs. of hell on wheels with claws and teeth capable of taking every inch of skin off your bones.

A brown trail is pretty much a brown trail, some smell worse than others.

It is this kind of irresponsibility and ignorance that makes responsible gun owners shake their heads in disbelief.

Replacing the gun is never the real issue. The use of the stolen gun by a criminal IS the issue, as in the story in the OP's post.

You can choose your behaviors but not always the consequences. If you through your laziness won't secure your firearms, they are stolen and someone gets badly injured or killed, its on you. I don't want that responsibility. If you don't care and think stolen firearms are a non-issue, well, I'll just stop there. As Smoke says, it's not worth talking to you.

And if I put double-cylinder deadbolt locks on the solid steel doors of my house and keep my firearms under lock and key, but some punk breaks my door down and steels my firearms, I am somehow to blame?

I keep a safe bolted into the floor of my truck in order to secure my handgun while I must enter places where firearms are not allowed, and the truck is kept locked up. If some bozo breaks in, or steals me truck, and my handgun is later used in a crime, I am somehow to blame?

I should be charged with a crime because my stolen property was used to commit a crime? I should be open to lawsuits because some ******-bag doper thief stole from me, and my stuff was later used in another crime?

Slippery slope.

Reasonable and prudent. Reasonable and prudent. Reasonable and prudent. It seems to bear repeating.

If his truck is locked his firearms are secure about as much like your house being locked is being secure. I see no laziness or lack of being responsible, but opinions do differ.

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KM
S&WCA 3110 S&WHF 625

Responsible and prudent yes. But many folks aren’t.

These are the same folks that don’t have the common sense to buy a gun safe. They throw their gun in the glove box.

I commend you for doing it the right way.

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

Stickers, vet plates, baby-on-board sign? No.

Rifle cable locked to seat mounts all the time? Yup.

Its still a free country. If its legal, its not your business.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

Say the name Ryan Hendrix, Ryan Hendrix.

Deputy Ryan Hendrix, End of Watch

Please, don't leave firearms in your vehicle.

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

I think some of you guys are giving common thieves to much credit for thinking any sticker you put on your vehicle could attract them, your assuming they can read. Their predator opportunist's, some are addicts, if they were smart enough to look at a sticker and connect the dots they wouldn't be the dregs of society. I live in a state where the crime rate is much lower than Montana (I know, unbelievable) and I wouldn't leave a gun in my truck. The one in a million chance that some dirt bag steals a gun out of my truck and kills someone with it is not something I'm prepared to live with.