Most of us conceal carriers understand the responsibilities of carrying a firearm on our person, but do you understand how those responsibilities change when you enter your vehicle and drive across town or across state lines? Have you practiced or even tried to draw your conceal carry pistol while seated behind the steering wheel and buckled in?
There was once a time in rural areas when it was common to see a rifle or shotgun in a rack on a pick-up truck’s rear window. But is it legal to carry a loaded rifle or shotgun in your state and county? Traveling with a firearm in your vehicle makes as much sense now as it did then.
Many of us commute daily or drive in isolated rural places. Needless to say we spend a good amount of our time behind the wheel. I recently rethought my compact 9mm pistol setup when I saw in the distance a big black dog on the side of the road at the border between Jones and Onslow counties. As I got closer to that “black dog,” I soon realized it was a North Carolina Black Bear.
If you break down on the side the road you could seem like easy pickings for a criminal. There may come a time when you are sitting in a parking lot of a big box department store or refueling at a gas station and that knock on the driver side window is the muzzle of gun held by a car jacker.
It only makes sense that we need to have a plan to defend our self when we are in our vehicle. That plan might mean more than the subcompact 9mm pistol you conceal carry in your IWB holster. It could mean a long gun like a rifle or shotgun being carried on board.
Clicking a seatbelt around my waist and chest prior to driving provides a level of safety, but it also literally ties you to that seat. How many of you practice shooting from the seated position? In the event of a gunfight that seatbelt, which is an asset when driving, instantly becomes a liability. Trying drawing your conceal-carry handgun from your IWB holster while strapped in behind the steering wheel. Its like trying to get out of a sleeping bag that has a stuck zipper.
Click Here to see the six tips on vehicle carrying strategies and defense tactics.
