biglos:
No, you're not crazy for asking your question. These days, even some LEOs I know aren't supposed to carry their firearms even when in uniform - such as when dropping their kids off at school. (When I asked them about this, they told me that the school principal "asked" them not to carry their duty weapons onto the school grounds.)
I don't think much of the small, portable gun safes. I bought one and had no difficulty defeating the lock with a large screwdriver. Also, I'm not impressed with the thin, braided steel cable you're supposed to use to secure the safe to part of the car. The upside is that they're affordable and better than nothing, but that's about it.
I've made my own gun safe out of a 7.62 mm Army surplus ammo can, a high security (Master lock brand) hasp and high security Master lock, and some very heavy steel chain. I'd guess I have about $40.00 invested in this "safe". I'm waiting for a local welding shop to weld the hasp onto the ammo box, and as soon as they've done this, I'll post photos. My hope is that even the well equipped "smash and grab" thief will take one look at my creation and won't even be tempted to try to hack into it.
By the way, I'm a federal employee and management has made it very clear to all hands that anyone bringing any firearm(s) in the building will be fired. We can leave them in our cars in the parking lot, but that's it.
Good luck,
Dave
That's a great idea, the ammo can thing! I'd love to see your creation!
I truly do appreciate everyone's input, perceptions are a learning curve for me and I do love getting the input. I do agree, I do not like leaving my firearm in my vehicle at all. This one situation is when I had to go into a establishment for an hour or so and had no safe in the car. Now there's a Gunvault NV300 I bought for times like that, but I would never leave my firearm there overnight.
Thanks for your input!