Gun sales have been at record levels, many states across the United States are now allowing constitutional carry and we are seeing alarming numbers of guns being stolen from car and home burglaries because people do not practice safe storage of guns. Violent criminals are using these stolen guns against the cops and the public. A training issue and public crisis for everyone which is only getting worse in my opinion because the State of Utah no longer requires training on the safe storage and handling of handguns due to Utah’s new H.B 60 concealed carry law.
On October 20th, 2021 Salt Lake County Rosie Rivera and District attorney Sim Gill did a press conference regarding the rising violent gun crime and public crisis of lawful gun owners leaving their guns in unattended vehicles and having them stolen by violent criminals that are using them against the public and Utah law enforcement officers. There was a recent case in which a gun was stolen from an unlocked car and used against two Salt Lake County Sheriff’s deputies three days later during an arrest of the suspect.
While serving as a deputy sheriff for the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office I recovered three stolen firearms and ammunition that were stolen from an apartment in which the homeowner left the door unlocked to the apartment and the guns were easily stolen because they were not secured in a safe. The victim of the stolen guns even had a teenage son living in the apartment with him and had these guns readily available to steal. After tracking down and arresting the three juveniles and recovering the stolen guns, the juveniles confessed they had intended on bringing the stolen guns to school the next day to address threats from a bully at school.
I could tell you of similar police calls in which guns were stolen from unlocked vehicles, or were left out in plain view in someone’s unattended vehicles and found a lot of law abiding gun owners who were not practicing the safe storage of guns by leaving their guns in their cars overnight. This should not be happening, there are better ways to do this and what is the topic of discussion.
In our Utah Concealed Firearms courses part of the training curriculum required to get your Utah Concealed carry gun license is to provide in person training on the safe storage of guns including handguns and rifles in your homes and in your vehicles.
A good number of students in our Utah Concealed carry classes admit they are storing their guns in their cars, often overnight. Some reasons behind this are they don’t feel comfortable carrying their gun in a holster on their body, some say they travel a lot out of state and some even say it’s not always practical (or legal) to take their guns with them into certain businesses that restrict firearms being carried into the establishment.
There should be a balance between the need to carry a gun and leave it in your car and that of doing so responsibly in the name of public safety and common sense.
TIps for storing in vehicles:
- If you leave your gun in your car often, especially overnight, you can buy a gun safe, under 150.00 for a good quality one and have it mounted to the interior of your vehicle to ensure the safe storage of your guns and firearms. We can order you one and arrange to have one installed in your car.
- If buying a safe is not an option at this time, it’s better to store your gun in the trunk of your car out of view before you arrive at your destination so that a car burglar does not see you putting the gun in your trunk before you go into a business.
- Buy a holster and get used to carrying it on your body so you don’t have to leave it in your car to be stolen. The longer you carry on your body, the more comfortable you will be carrying your gun with you on your body vs leaving it in your car. Your gun used for protection will be worthless if it’s left in your car all the time and it’s not good tactical thinking to protect you and yours.
- There will be times when you may need to leave the gun in your car, such as going into a courthouse, at the airport going on a flight, etc but in those cases always lock up your vehicle and have the gun out of view of a passer by to minimize the chances of you being a target; don’t leave any valuables out in plain view, you are just looking to get robbed.
In the home:
If you own a gun, you need to have a gun safe, no exceptions especially if have children that come into the home, or have adults in the home that are risky and should not have access to guns, you need to get a safe!
You can get inexpensive gun safes for under 150.00 that have a keypad entry, and/or a biometric access with a back up key. Your guns should always be unloaded and ammunition stored separately when guns are not in use.
If you absolutely can not buy a gun safe, then to practice safe storage of guns in your home, at least hide the gun in an area that is hard to find by a burglar, and make sure that you have cable and trigger locks. These usually will come with your gun when you purchase it, and can also be purchased for about 5.00 each.
Suicides with guns are another issue, if you need to have a trusted friend take possession of your gun during these times, law enforcement agencies will also store your guns temporarily at no cost to you for safekeeping and even some gun stores will do that as well.
I have seen a number of children that have been either killed or injured by having access to a gun in a tragic accident, don’t be a statistic. There can be criminal and civil consequences if a child has access to a loaded gun in your car or home and you could be arrested for being negligent and reckless in this regard.
Utah law ( 34-45-103) allows landlords, K-12 schools and universities and preschool and child care facilities to ban a vehicle owner from leaving their guns in their cars when they are unattended. Check our local laws. Employers and other persons can make limited regulations and require gun owners to not leave guns out in plain view of the vehicle. They can also require a person to lock their vehicle, or lock guns in a secured lock box when you are not in your vehicle.
Please be a responsible gun owner in the name of public safety and secure your guns. Let’s not provide government excuses to attack our 2nd amendment and make more gun laws, we all need to do our part.Like Sheriff Rosie Rivera said in the press conference, a criminal that will use a stolen gun against a cop, will use it on members of the public as well and that is what we are seeing now.
You can call us for a free consultation on your specific carry needs as well. We can order holsters and gun vaults specific to your needs.
If you want to take the Utah Concealed Carry course and get a gun license to carry in 37 states, you can sign up here;
Phil Snyder
Unified Police Officer of Salt Lake (Retired)
Here is the link on the Sheriff’s and District attorneys appeal to the public to secure your guns.