Why do so many people carry guns in the glovebox? Is personal safety really such a problem?

Better to have and not need than to need and not have. Simple rules in the real world "The strong survive" and being in possesion of a firearm without any doubt increases your ability to respond to threats. I dont know what country you live in but in the US anything can happen and often does.

A bit like carrying a spare DME relay.

However, the glovebox is not accessable quickly enough for a handgun. A doorpocket or a purpose made underdash holster is better.

Milu,

Agree and after I started carrying a spare DME relay and DME computer, no problems with the car ever again in this area.

Feel that the same situation is with carrying a weapon. If I have it, chances are that it will never be used but sure would rather not need it and have it, than need it and it be sitting confiscated in some police warehouse and not a cop in sight!

Joe

I live in Los Angeles. The handgun murder capital of the US.

I know how to operate and maintain a firearm, however I dont own any. I dont think I would ever buy one either.

Just my opinion, but I think the NRA and other right wing orginizations like them are doing nothing positive, and after hearing a lot of what the upper echelon has said, I don't think they are all that different from the gangbangers down in the inner city. The only difference is that these individuals have money and political influence. Besides, are things really bad enough that carrying a firearm to the donut shop has become a neccesity?

Are you kidding me? The NRA card-carrying bunch, despite their political incorrectness, are probably the most law-abiding segment of our society. Why do they have money and influence? Not because the NRA is some monolithic universal force. But because they have a huge, politically aware, well-informed, voting membership. The NRA has led the fight in most of the states, which now have "shall issue" concealed carry laws. And the NRA spends a ton of money lobbying for harsher punishments against those who use guns in the commission of a crime. That would obviously be counter-productive for membership drives, were NRA members criminals. Furthermore, they are THE authority on firearms safety, training, hunting safety and competition shooting. I don't think you'll find a cop or soldier in the US who was not trained by an NRA-certified instructor. Name some other group that spends millions of dollars a year going to schools and teaching children what to do when they come across a gun - something that happens a lot these days. Meanwhile other groups spend millions trying to scare people into thinking that CCW laws will make us like the wild west (has not happened). If you don't want a gun, don't buy one. If you don't like porn, don't watch it. If you think alcohol is evil, don't drink it. I'd love to know how many gang members in south central LA are card-carrying NRA members. My guess is zero. Guess how many of the 100,000 CCW holders in VA have had their permit revoked for a misuse of a gun. Zero.

Like I said before, this is merely my opinion.

Wow, I wish I discovered this thread earlier.

First, I must state that I am described as a Liberal, but I firmly believe in one's right to own firearms as a means of self-defense. If you take away the public's right to own handguns, then your situation changes from armed citizens and an armed crime component to unarmed citizens and an armed crime component.

I do have to admit that most of the people that own handguns are improperly trained in how to handle them. Hell, most cops are improperly trained...

...I grew up the son of a cop. Actually, to be fair, he was head of the Hartford County SWAT team for awhile and taught tactical firearms everywhere from the local Bristol Police Dept. to West Point Academy. To give you some idea of how respected he is in the weapons-training field, he is one of the handful of people that is still allowed to carry a concealed weapon onto an American commercial aircraft. I like to think of him as the real-life Jack Bauer, but not quite as cool.

Needless to say, my brother and I both got to handle some pretty impressive firearms. I personally own a Smith and Wesson .45 automatic and a Walther TPH .22 (not a very good gun, it jams even if you clean it every time), although I do not carry a firearm. My father actually used to administer the same tests to us that he administered to SWAT candidates. I can shoot in the 95 percentile.

My father has been shot once and shot at a number of times. A couple of those times he was off-duty and intervening in someone else's business. He was always lucky enough to have his trusty GLOCK model 27 9mm with him all those times.

Like I said, I don't carry right now. I don't have a permit, and where I live in CT is very safe. Where I live in Boston is another story, but my college campus isn't too much to worry about. There is the occasional shooting nearby (Ruggles station is nearby, and that particular station is on the Orange Line, which travels through Roxbury), but I feel pretty safe. The only time I felt threatened was once we "dropped" an empty can of beer out my friend's 2nd story window... and accidentially hit someone. The jock in question literally broke down the door and threatened us with a jackknife. I would have loved to see his face if he busted down the door and the first thing he saw was a shotgun pointed right at him. WhenI get my own place after school, however, I plan to buy a shotgun for the house and I will file for a weapons permit. I know my way around guns, I'm not jumpy with them, I respect the firearm. I was a Boy Scout, and Boy Scouts are always prepared.

That being said in my glove box is a CT/RI state map, a MA state map with a Boston sectional, a phillips srewdriver, a flathead screwdriver, a monkey wrench, a set of allen wrenches, a knife, my original throttle cam, a rearview mirror mounting kit, touch-up paint. In the door compartments are pens, and in the armrest are tapes by Pink Floyd, Radiohead, and Weezer. In the trunk are my not-yet-installed autocross springs.

Of course not Jared. Apparently a lot of folks are just to insecure to venture outside without the "protection" of a gun. I've read every post in this thread and still think its a case of "the sky's falling" mentality. I've lived in SoCal for 38 years and have never once felt like I needed a gun...even when I went to a Raiders game at the Coliseum back in the 80's. A gun only increases your odds of getting whacked and I doubt the crime rate would go up if we were not allowed to carry them. Just adjust the laws so that if you commit a crime with a gun then you're removed from society permanently. No fuss no muss.

I agree with you. I dont feel like I need a gun in L.A. either. It's more about being smart, for instance, if you are white, you DO NOT drive in South Central or East L.A. at night. It's basically common sense.

Maybe a lot of these people just don't like the idea of using common sense, "I'll drive when and where I want to", or "Say what I want, when I want, to who I want". A society of mixed cultures and religions cannot tolerate this kind of behavior. You get what's coming to you if you go looking for it. If you live in a high crime area, move. If instead you want to take a stand then put your gun down, make political waves and get the community behind your cause. If they don't want to then your only option is to find one that does.

Haha talking to myself now. Sure I never felt real secure at the game, who am I kidding, but toting a gun would be foolish. I used some common sense and was aware of what was going on around me. I pulled back and never drew attention to myself. Now had I gone in wearing a Fish jersey yelling at the locals with a beer in my hand I would have probably left in an ambulance. Sure its a free country, but there are limits to what you can expect to do. No amount of guns will ever change that. Some folks will probably see this as being meek or not standing up for my rights/respect, I just see it as reality.

I've found that people who need to carry a gun at all times, suffer from an extreme loss of common sense. I dont think most poeple realize it's very different in L.A. If these NRA pro-gun type people went down into the "bad" areas of L.A. they wouldnt be alive very long, regardless of what rights they are guaranteed by the constitution. It all boils down to common sense.

Listen folks owning firearms IS a constitutional right in this country and I doubt a time will ever come that its not. I don’t think the "SKY IS FALLING" I am just smart enough to be prepared for reality. My gun is like a spare tire in that in case of an emergency I have it. I am a concealed firearm permit holder and I have had to use my gun once back in 1989 and it saved my life and was a lawful shoot even though we had no conceal carry law back then. I don’t mix with rabble and I don’t go to bars or pick fights. If you try to do me harm or my family I will have the means to stop the threat within reach. If you don’t like guns don’t buy them and I hope you never run into the guy who intends to harm you or your family. I will never put my fate into the hands of liberals who claim we don’t need guns and shouldn’t have them. This is not the UK and guns are here to stay period legally or illegally. Do you doubt that? So I will have the means to match threats with equal force. On a side note I also enjoy shooting whenever I get a chance and by god it’s my RIGHT. So you liberals go back to reading your Rosy Odonald magazine and planning for your gay pride march this weekend, finish up figuring on how your going to spend the 48% tax you take from me to give to people who refuse to work and choose instead to rob me. I am going to go eat a big fat steak, drink a cold beer and smoke a cigarette while I clean my gun. J

Randy, I also have a right to express my opinion. If you lived in Los Angeles, I guarantee you that your views on gun control would be very different.

It is also my OPINION that your mentality and reasoning are incorrect.

This I agree might be true, South Carolina and LA are a long way apart and I am sure things are different. Im not angry I was just being silly, we all have our right to speak! take care.

Originally posted by dmoolenaar
"never once felt like I needed a gun...even when I went to a Raiders game at the Coliseum back in the 80's. "

I WOULD bring a gun to a game in certain situations... for example, if I were wearing a Jeter jersey in the bleachers at Fenway Park. Then again, they pretty much do everything short of strip-searching in good ol Friendly Fenway

Wow, so you would shoot and kill someone to defend your right to wear a jersey? If so then this is exactly why guns should be banned.

I must have missed the part where he said "I would kill someone to defend my jersey" or were you putting words in his mouth? I would expect this from the usual anti-gunner. Shoot someone to defend a jersey for god sakes get over it!

Randy you are right, I did assume that's what he meant. He mentioned wearing a particular jersey that would inflame the crowd to a point he would need his gun. How else should I read into that? Or is he going to do a movie stunt and just "flash" the gun? Then someone else pulls theirs and blows him away while his are still in his pants. Please! This is just common sense man.