How do you carry when you drive in your car

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When you drive your car do you take you gun out of the holster and place it in a spot to have quick access to it?I am asking because I feel I can't pull out quickly enough if Iever needed my gunas I sit in my car. I am thinking of making a rig to place my gun under my leg in a holster as I sit. How do you carry when you driveyour car?

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Yes, I remove my weapon from my holster and put it in a place where I have easy and quick access to it. I do this for two reasons. First and more important is to protect my leather seatback. I say more important because the chances of doing damage to this area are far greater than the chance I am likely to need my weapon to protect myself. Obviously if I do need my weapon, then its accessability becomes paramount. And second is the readiness of my weapon to my reach.

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Usually it is left holstered, seatbelt out of the way so I can access it. Sometimes though I put it in the center cup holder because it is the perfect place as far as availability goes and there is no way a cop could say it is concealed since half the pistol is sticking out in the middle of the car. When the cup holder is full I put it in the seat next to me.

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Southerenboy yeah I agree, there is a small chance that I will have to use my pistol from my car, and there is a small chance I will ever have to use my gun in PD. BUT with the way this world is I do not rule it out either. When i drive I sometimes place my J-framein the door, orin the cup holder, or my XD under my stereo.

NOObelt45do younot think there could be a problem with anyone lets say LEO or civilian Joe with seeing my gun in the open as i drive? Like someone calling the cops on me, and what would be the correct action to take if I ever get pulled over by the cops?

I have onlyjust started taking my gun out of the holster, I only did it a few times, because I just started OCingand I felt uncomfortable having it in public view while driving,I am speakingof before knowing about my state as being a OC state. So when I started to OC and read on OCDO someone said that in WA if I have a CPL I could basically carry my gun in the seat next to me in open view, So I started placing my gun in open places. Thats why I am making this poll to see what other people do while driving.

When I CC I use to place it in my door at times.

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keeping the gun holstered is the BEST option, just ask the FBI agents from the Miami Shootout.

An even better option is a BUG in an ankle holster. It's a lot easier to access in a seated position, such as driving.

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personally, if state law allows ( haven't really checked it too far) I would like to get a judge JUST for car carry. probably mount it in a dedicated holster under the dashboard. when I get ready to go in somewhere, I'll lock it in the glove box, and get it back out when I'm ready to drive.

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catass wrote:

keeping the gun holstered is the BEST option, just ask the FBI agents from the Miami Shootout.

An even better option is a BUG in an ankle holster. It's a lot easier to access in a seated position, such as driving.

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This is an excellent point. One of the agents had his sidearm on the seat and when the gunfight began, it slid off onto the floor out of his reach.

I keep mine secured when I remove if from my holster. I have two places from which to chose for this.

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Alwayspacking wrote:

Southerenboy yeah I agree, there is a small chance that I will have to use my pistol from my car, and there is a small chance I will ever have to use my gun in PD. BUT with the way this world is I do not rule it out either. When i drive I sometimes place my J-framein the door, orin the cup holder, or my XD under my stereo.

NOObelt45do younot think there could be a problem with anyone lets say LEO or civilian Joe with seeing my gun in the open as i drive? Like someone calling the cops on me, and what would be the correct action to take if I ever get pulled over by the cops?

I have onlyjust started taking my gun out of the holster, I only did it a few times, because I just started OCingand I felt uncomfortable having it in public view while driving,I am speakingof before knowing about my state as being a OC state. So when I started to OC and read on OCDO someone said that in WA if I have a CPL I could basically carry my gun in the seat next to me in open view, So I started placing my gun in open places. Thats why I am making this poll to see what other people do while driving.

When I CC I use to place it in my door at times.

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I want my weapon handy to me and not confined by a seatbelt or too close to a center console. I have managed to fine a few very good locations to put it when I remove it from my holster. The only thing I am really a little anal about is handling the gun several times during my travels. Not because I am in any way nervous or afraid of it but more along the lines of having something like a shirt tail or such getting caught in the trigger guard as I re-holster it before exiting the vehicle. I do pay very close attention to what I am doing at these times.

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I carry cross draw (left hip). Seat belt does not interfere... altho I have to adjust it or the holster at times... but I'm concious of doing that. I can draw the weapon (1911 or any of the others) easily in that position.

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If I'm wearing my shoulder harness I'll leave it there, but if I'm carrying IWB I'll take it out and set it under the radio where it is out of sight but easily accessible, here in Texas, car carry has to be concealed.

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I just carry it holstered and can reach it fine in my vehicles if I need it and it doesn't tear up the upholstery.

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Alwayspacking wrote:

NOObelt45do younot think there could be a problem with anyone lets say LEO or civilian Joe with seeing my gun in the open as i drive? Like someone calling the cops on me, and what would be the correct action to take if I ever get pulled over by the cops?

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I can only speak for Kentucky. Here, as long as it is in plain view or in the glove box it is not considered concealed. I don't worry about Joe Nobody calling the law on me. I'm not breaking the law so I've already won half the battle.

If I was pulled over I'm sure the officer would notice the firearm because it'd be in the front seat, on my hip, or in the center cup holder. I would comply with all lawful orders, and that's all I'm saying.

And just a note, holstered is not a big deal if you adjust the seatbelt so it doesn't obstruct the holster. The two holsters I use, one IWB and the other OWB, are not blocked by my seatbelt.

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I carry holstered. There is a very small chance I would ever have to fire from a car but things are possible. I hope that never happens because that is extremely dangerous. You are firing from a moving object to another moving object with other moving objects that could get in the way. I don't worry about having the seatbelt over the holster. In such an emergency, I would quickly take the seatbelt off and then draw and fire if needed. In that case, the seatbelt is not what is going to save your life anyway.

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I lay mine on the passenger seat, but if I have a passenger I keep it holstered.

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I will carry in mycenter consulunless I feel I'm heading into a bad area then I will place it between my seat and consul for easy acess.

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I keep my 9 mm on me, I can get to it quick enough, but I usually got my 357 mag. just under the seat in my truck. sometimes I have my .30-30 behind the seat, depending on where I am going and what I am doing at the time.

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Until I get my lock box for my car my gun rides in the trunk. Once I get my lock box it will sit in the lock box on the passenger seat so that I can lock it up easily when passing through aCA 626.9 school zone.

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I keep my Para in the holster when I drive. I have a NC CHP, so most of the states I regularly drive through recognize my permit, and I don't have to worry about whether the seatbelt or my clothing obscures it from view...

Unless I am unfortunate to be travelling through the state of MD, in which case, I have one of those little "GunVault" safes with a steel tether cable that I loop through one of the tie-downs in the trunk. I'll stop before I cross the border, unload and stow it, then get it out when I cross back out of MD.

I know people in NC who don't have CHP's and they set their firearms on the front seet so it's in "plain view". I've always thought that is problematic. I know I've had enough "close calls" where I've had to slam on the brakes in Raleigh, Fayetteville, and when shopping in Greenville, that setting it on the seat is just a recipe for my gun flying off the seat onto the floor.

Somebody needs to comeup with some sort of dashboard holster so it would be in plain view for LEO's, but it would also be accessible, secure and not flying around if you should have cause to stop or swerve suddenly because of some other inattentive driver.

I think I just gave away my next "million-dollar idea"...Darnit... I gotta quit doing that... :?

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In Oklahoma, I carry in my holster as it is still an concealed carry state, but there have been times when I have staged the gun sticking in the split seat, grip up, muzzle down.

As for shooting from a moving vehicle, my advanced tactical classes consider that a very bad thing. That said, we were taught to stop the vehicle, remove the seatbelt, open the door, then fire. As you can guess, there are specific steps to complete so you lessen the chance of shooting yourself in the foot/leg/thigh as the gun clears the holster and comes to ready-fire position.

As we have a private outdoor range here, we can practice firing from a vehicle.

Other considerations when firing from a vehicle:

• The engine block is great cover during a gunfight
• The doors are not good cover
• Prop the door open with foot to prevent bounce back
• When firing from the driver side as a righty, how far out do you need to lean to get a good aim?
• Same for passenger side if you fire left

For the last two bullets, good reason to learn to shoot offhand, also good reason to learn to sight with offside eye.

Eagerly awaiting OC in my state, but probably won't change the way I carry day-to-day.

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Alwayspacking wrote:

When you drive your car do you take you gun out of the holster and place it in a spot to have quick access to it?I am asking because I feel I can't pull out quickly enough if Iever needed my gunas I sit in my car. I am thinking of making a rig to place my gun under my leg in a holster as I sit. How do you carry when you driveyour car?

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First of all... when driving we all need to use self defense practices.. like being aware of more than just the car/cars around us and noting passerby/people walking/standing around.. and leaving enough room between our car and the car in front to allow a quick pull out/go around/get out of dodge maneuver.. after all, we can always go back and pay for fixing someone's lawn after driving over it... and not stopping at a convenience store that has people standing around outside.

There was another discussion on the forum about folks carrying multiple back up guns. One of the considerations presented was the issue of "accessibility".

All of my cars are little sports cars with bucket seats that, with the seat belt positioning, really restrict drawing from the hip... even when OCing. And carrying an ankle holster won't work for me with bad knees. But a Smith J frame in a shoulder holster, even when under my shirt, is very accessible when driving.

That J frame being accessible when seated also allows me to leave all guns holstered all the time cutting down on the amount of gun handling necessary.

So... if accostomed to carrying a strong side primary and a weak side backup gun.. but neither is accessible when driving perhaps another back up that is accessible would solve the problem?

Please remember that what others might think is "too much" should not have any bearing on what will work for you. After all.. there are some folks who think a 5 shot snub is more than enough... and some folks carry as much, or more, ammo than the average police officer. Some folks think one gun is plenty... one gun with extra mags is enough... and others who just carry more guns. Which is right? Which is wrong? You decide for yourself according to the factors you have to live with.

Edited for clarity.....