Survey Highlights Millions of Americans Leaving Guns in Cars, but Also Tells Why

I’m not a big fan of the so-called research surrounding firearms in this country. Too much of it is built around trying to justify gun control, and it’s pretty damn obvious once you know what to look for. Then there are those studies we never see because the data is inconvenient.

But when someone gets it right…well, then it’s usually someone like John Lott.

This time, though, a survey makes the claim that millions of Americans leave guns “unattended” in cars, but also asks why.

About one in four American gun owners leaves a firearm unattended in a vehicle at least occasionally, according to new research published in Injury Epidemiology. The study suggests that concerns about personal safety, everyday convenience, and laws prohibiting guns inside public establishments frequently prompt owners to leave weapons in cars. Most of these firearms are handguns placed in easily accessible spots like center consoles and glove compartments rather than locked vehicle safes.

Over the past decade, carrying firearms outside the home has grown increasingly common across the United States. For instance, a 2022 study estimated that about 16 million American adults carried a loaded handgun on a monthly basis, roughly doubling estimates from just a few years earlier.

At the same time, personal safety concerns often guide how individuals transport and store their weapons. Evidence from a 2023 study across five states indicated that people who felt heightened personal threat or viewed their neighborhoods as unsafe carried firearms more often and were more prone to keeping them in accessible, unsecure places.

Big shock, I know, but after it makes the argument that around 21.8 million Americans leave a gun in the car sometimes, and get into demographic stuff, we get to the useful part, at least from my perspective.

As noted, they asked why.

When asked about their reasons, the most common primary motivation was encountering legal rules that prohibited carrying firearms into specific places, such as workplaces, schools, government buildings, or businesses that serve alcohol. Other leading reasons included wanting immediate access to a firearm for personal protection, having a designated storage spot in the vehicle, and everyday convenience.

“I’d emphasize that this is not about assigning blame to firearm owners,” Testa told PsyPost. “Many people who leave firearms in vehicles are doing so because they cannot bring them into workplaces or other gun-free locations. Only recently have safes and other devices designed to securely store a firearm in a vehicle become available for sale, and it is still not the norm to install these in your vehicle.”

“That’s exactly why practical solutions matter,” Testa added. “We still need to figure out best practices for how to reduce firearm thefts from vehicles, and doing so is a violence prevention strategy that firearm owners, law enforcement, and public health researchers can all agree on.”

In other words, they’re leaving guns in the cars because they can’t carry them inside.

That’s what’s missing from a lot of the official discussions about vehicle gun thefts. These aren’t people leaving guns in the car sitting in their driveways. They’re people who are going to work or going somewhere else where they can’t carry a firearm. It’s not irresponsibility driving this; it’s people trying to follow the law, even if it’s stupid or inconvenient.

So what’s the typical response? To create new legislation that punishes the gun owner, who appears to often be trying to do what’s right by the same laws that now seek to punish them.

And Testa making it clear that this isn’t the fault of gun owners, or that he’s not saying so, is a nice change of pace, because it doesn’t put me on the defensive. He seems to understand that you cannot fault someone for being victimized because they complied with the law. That’s just insane, really. 

I’m not a fan of having car guns, and I think that if you’re going to, get a vehicle safe that’s secured to the vehicle itself, but you have the right to do so and you’re still the victim if your gun gets stolen. Testa also seems to see it that way, too, based on these quotes.

I’d love it if lawmakers would sit down with gun owners to address the issue, rather than immediately trying to punish them for it. It would be a nice change of pace, kind of like this survey turned out to be, even if there are still issues with it. 

Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their extreme gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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