@Sean7 its gray man vs. declared opinion… because I teach, I do sport some stickers on my truck. If they smash a window looking for firearms related stuff, it will likely be because of the stickers, not the lap robe. We don’t worry a lot about theft from the vehicles on our property, we’re at the end of a dirt road and have 90 lb farm dogs.
The 2A, USCCA, and other stickers are not for everyone, and I get being gray man. But I also get speaking up, making 2A issues visible, and normalizing firearms ownership. My hubby and I have elected for the latter.
That being said, I could lose a window, if someone decides to do that, but they’d have an easier time getting the steering column out than the Jotto holster. While I haven’t used the Lock’er Down ones yet, they’ve gotten good reviews and look like they could be pretty solidly attached to the vehicle.
This is something HUGE to keep in mind for your legal self-defense, @Rebelcowboy32! If you ever have to legally defend yourself after a physical self-defense incident you’ll be asked why you didn’t train the way the experts suggest you train. Being able to articulate why you did exactly what you did is very important.
That’s easy for me to answer why I didn’t train the way experts suggest. I couldn’t afford to pay someone to train me like experts want. By the time I was able to afford to be trained the way experts suggest we train. The way I train is to guarantee that no one else gets hurt in the process except for the threat.
My main concern when I train is to protect the innocent bystanders even under stress. I don’t want to be like the few officers that shot several bystanders before shooting the actual threat. The one thing I listen to experts on which is most important, Train, Train, Train until you can’t get it wrong. It’s proven fact that your body and mind will resort back to your level of training in an emergency. If I react to a mass shooter on instinct because of how I train and no one gets hurt by my rounds but someone only gets a flesh wound by his round. Would you rather I train the way I do or would you rather listen to the experts training? @Dawn this is only a discussion and I enjoy the discussion. I have seen at times the way experts suggest is not always the best way for everyone. Everyone is different and has a different way that they need to learn different skills. Experts say simulate the adrenaline dump to get better and avoid getting tunnel vision. The way I train, I have to load a magazine, rack the slide, and begin to take aim. Already with the adrenaline dump going on, it’s not easy to do. It can be done, when I train using live fire. I start out not being able to think straight because I’ve caused the adrenaline dump to the point I’m not thinking straight. I can’t see my target clearly, I can only see the threat about to attack me. I don’t know about anyone else but if I’m going to be forced to defend myself and those around me. I can not have any mistakes on anything, I must be 100% in the right to be effective. We being responsible carriers are held at a higher level of accountability than everyone else even police. I train the way I do because I will be held accountable on every round I fire. I’m not going to allow myself to make mistakes that experts are saying is ok. We can not afford it being responsibly armed. If the reasonable person aspect can not be seen in our actions from witnesses then we are failing in our training. Yes we should cooperate after a self-defense incident and should be able to articulate everything we do in a self-defense situation. At the same time witnesses should be able to say what we did was justified and articulate it from all different views so we don’t have to.
I’m very glad you have thought through how you will articulate what you’ve done and how you train.
Do you also carry that way? I’m a huge believer in training the way you carry so that there’s no weird muscle memory.
I would suggest never counting on witnesses. Everyone will see something different and have a different opinion about firearms and self-defense. Someone may come around the corner as you’re shooting in self-defense and say that you murdered someone without knowing the full situation.
I agree but at the same time, we should hold ourselves at a higher level than Law Enforcement. So if we ever have to defend ourselves it will be extremely easy to articulate that we had no choice from witnesses accounts no matter how they feel about firearms. We as firearms carriers are being put in a general group of firearms owners. When there are two groups, trained and untrained.
I also believe in carrying in the way I train. I usually have an adrenaline dump going on before I get on the range so everything I’m doing is from draw, fire, reload, fire again. Due to safety I have to put the target up and send it to the distance I will be shooting from before I get the adrenaline dump.
It’s actually a little of both. I drive a truck for a living, so when I go to the range from time to time I have to walk. When I get to the range I already have my adrenaline going. After I set up my target, I go and get it flowing to the point I can’t concentrate on what I’m doing or even see fine details just like you would in a self-defense situation.
That’s a good thing to practice - train like you fight.
There’s also good reason to train - especially new skills - in a non-adrenaline state as you’ll get better absorption and tuning of the skills when your brain is clear and calm. Then once you’ve got them well burned in, turn up the chemistry to expand the range in which you can use those skills.
It may surprise you but I keep my training turned up. I use situational awareness all day long. I play games while working to keep it peaked at all times. I memorize at a glance everything I can see while driving, when I’m walking around I try to remember everything a person is wearing including hair color and eye color. I also try to remember heights, approximate weights and more. I’ve always trained like I fight and that’s why I pray every day that I will never be forced to defend myself against another person. I already know how I’ll react and the only good thing I can say is, I will forget about my firearm on being on me.
I’m never paranoid but after getting jumped by 4 kids in my very first fight and lost from it. I learned there’s no such thing as a fair fight and do as much damage as quickly as possible to end the threat. Ever since I’ve always been aware of what’s going on around me and there’s nothing about paranoia.
There are a number of quality car safes on the market so let me just say this, you want one that can be physically secured to the vehicle by a chain, cable or bolted to the frame.
You also want quick and easy access in case of emergency. The most secure are those that open with a thumb or finger print but I’m hesitant to bet my life on anything that relies on batteries.
Youtube is a great resource for gear reviews and I’d highly recommend using it to review any that you are considering buying.
Gear reviews on YouTube are great. I follow several that do gear reviews but at the same time, I drive for a living so a shoulder holster is my go to. I choose not to keep my firearms in the vehicle unless they are in a secured lot. If there’s not a secured lot my dogs are usually in the vehicle. I know there’s a safety issue when it comes to animals being left in a vehicle especially during summer months. I keep a fan and heater in my vehicles for the comfort of my dogs for that reason and I also keep a bigger battery so I can leave either run while I’m inside with them in the vehicle.
Thanks @Zee. From strictly a self defense perspective, I have taken the grey man approach thus far. In a defensive situation (God forbid), I’d like to have the element of surprise. In regards to bumper stickers on my car, I proudly fly an American Flag on my back window. I also WANT to post my USCCA sticker but, in my former line of work (healthcare publishing) I very reluctantly opted out. Many in healthcare are not fans of guns, nor was our HR director, and I wanted to avoid having “that conversation” with them. I was also often client facing (with medical technology and device manufacturers) and, again, “that conversation” could have been problematical for business. If anyone ever asked, or brought up guns and or 2A, I jumped right in however. Those I worked most closely with knew exactly where I stood, and who USCCA was. If my line of work were different (i.e. an organization like Delta Defense) that USCCA sticker would be proudly displayed on my vehicle. It’s a great looking logo and I believe in what it stands for.
@Sean7 it’s a choice every person has to make for themselves. As I get older I find I want more visible deterrent and and the tradeoff is less element of surprise. I want to win the fight by not having it… and the bad guy who walks away from me and goes elsewhere is a win for me.
I understand about the medical industry… I’m on the other side of it… I’m a medical device engineer. I’m all out there with my teaching firearms and 2A. Its surprising how many people get it, carry, or shoot… people you’d never guess. Most would never have said an opening word, but because I’m out there with it, they can, and do.
John150 and TexasEskimo
You asked about safes for the car and I had a Ford F150 before where I rigged up a safe and it fit perfectly. I now have an SUV and rigged up a new safe. This one is not as snug a fit, but I think it is working quite well. Someone determined to get at the safe could probably do it with tools, but you can’t see it from the windows so someone would have to know it is there and show up with a crowbar or something.
I would think anyone could rig up something that would work well. I would not trust the glove compartment or any place else. This set up is definitely more difficult to get at.
It is hard to see in the picture, but the top of the box has two eyebolts that prevent it from coming forward and the locks prevent it from going back. You would have to get tools in there to cut it up and it is a very tight spot with the front seats not giving you much room to maneuver.
Anyway, this is what I have done and it seems to be working for me so far. It is not fast and easy access, so it is mainly for safe storage.
A former local sheriff had his gun taken from his drive way, with cameras. Lock in down! Tethers can easily be cut. Keep out of sight. And don’t leave it in the vehicle unless you absolutely have too.
