You’re in your car and faced with an attacker. You are not licensed to carry a firearm, but have one in the glove box. What are you going to do?
In my business, you can imagine how many people I talk to about arming yourself with the proper tools to defend yourself. Having the proper credentials to carry a concealed firearm are often a part of those conversations. You would be surprised, though, how many people I talk to that do not have a concealed carry permit, but proudly tell me they keep a firearm in the glove box.
I am going to try to keep this post as short as possible. If you are part of the group that keeps one in the glove box without a permit, have you ever thought through how you would deploy it if you were to be attacked? Keep in mind that you can only use it while in the confines of your vehicle. Once you leave the vehicle, all bets are off; you are breaking the law at this point. So, let’s run through one of thousands of possible scenarios. You are stopped at a red light. You are not situationally aware because you are trying to send off that last minute text and are looking down at your phone. It’s night time. An attacker smashes the driver side glass and puts a knife to your throat demanding your wallet. Can you get to your gun?
Here’s another. A carjacker demands you get out of the car so he can steal it. Your two year-old is in the back secured in her carseat. Gun is in the glove box. This all happens in literally two seconds. Can you get to your gun? If so, is there a round in the chamber? The answer I get from most people in this camp is, no, I don’t keep a round in the chamber because of safety. So, in this scenario, the carjacker steels your car, unknowingly kidnaps your little girl, and gets your gun. Not good. I could go on at nauseam here, but I think you get the idea. The facts are these in most cases:
- Folks that keep guns in glove compartments without permits typically lack the training to make the proper decisions in this regard. They innocently believe they are doing the right thing. These are good people we are talking about here with good intentions.
- People with training have a hard enough time hitting their targets in these situations. You can only imagine their success rate for those without. You are responsible for the safe landing of every round fired.
- They don’t know the law. They may actually believe they can get out of the car with their gun.
- Being that they are good people with good intentions, they don’t know that keeping the chamber empty is generally a bad idea in the context of defense.
- They also probably don’t know that the primary reason for car break ins is to find firearms. Since they don’t have a permit, they must leave it in their glove box. Thugs know this.
- Permit-holders are more likely to have training than non permit-holders. Where you take your CWP class has a ton to do with this. This is why knowledgeable permit-holders know that the best place to keep their firearm is on their person.
Whether you have a permit or not, rethinking keeping a firearm in the glove box is probably a good idea.
If you’ve been putting off getting your permit and you keep a firearm in your glove box, now is definitely the time to just go ahead and get it.
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Until next week, be safe!
– Joe Shahoud
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