TexasCHLforum.com

Sangiovese wrote:

rdcrags wrote:Maybe I'm weird about this, but if one or more of my guns are taken from the house or car, it's just something else to put on the list to State Farm when reporting the break-in. I don't lock them up anywhere except at the airport when checking the suitcase. My guns are not ancient collector's items. Insurance money can replace them.

For me, it's about my responsibility to take reasonable measures to keep my guns out of the hands of criminals. Different people have different views on it... some think that we shouldn't have to do more than lock our doors - it's not our fault if a criminal breaks in and gets our guns. But the way I see it - we shouldn't have to carry weapons to protect ourselves and our families, but we do. Most of us do a lot that we "shouldn't have to do" in order to protect our families. Securing our weapons is just one more of those things.

While I agree that you should not have any civil or criminal liability if someone breaks into your car, steals your weapon, and uses it to kill someone... I do know that I personally would feel pretty lousy about it if I knew that I didn't take precautions that are very affordable and easy to implement. "Affordable and easy" varies for everyone, so I don't judge others by what works for me. I just wish that gun owners would all do what they can to safeguard their weapons. After all, if that dark day comes when a criminal attacks you or a family member, there is a good chance that they got their weapon from someone who did not do much to prevent them from stealing it - and instead took the stance that, "I shouldn't have to lock my stuff up - people should not break into my home/car."

Related to the original topic... before I got my car safe, I frequently took the slide off my pistol and put it in my pocket if I had to go somewhere I couldn't carry (like a properly posted hospital to visit a relative). The thought was that the BG might get most of my weapon, but he certainly wouldn't be able to use against anyone without the missing piece. Didn't cost a dime, but did require more handling of the weapon inside my vehicle than I liked.