No Planes, No Trains, Just Automobiles – and Just Handguns

Okay, not really just automobiles, vans and boats too. Planes and trains will be addressed later.

I hear it all the time, "I can keep a concealed handgun in my car without a permit?" Heck yes. Your conveyance is considered an extension of your home. You don’t need a License to Carry a Concealed Weapon or Firearm there either.

I get a kick about just how many people don’t understand this law. It really isn’t complicated. To make life simple, I’m going to use the term “car”, but if you have a truck, van, boat, or motorcycle, this means you too. All of these are considered “private conveyances”. A bicycle doesn’t count.

If you don’t have a License to Carry a Concealed Weapon or Firearm, you should go get one. In the meantime, you are allowed to travel with a loaded firearm in your car if you keep it securely encased. You are allowed to keep it in a glove box or center console if the lid closes and stays closed on its own with a latch. It doesn’t need to lock (unless you have kids).

You can keep the firearm under your seat if you keep it in a holster with a thumb-snap, which is a personal favorite. You can keep it in a briefcase, purse, or anything similar. A garment bag or paper bag doesn’t qualify since you can still shoot the firearm without opening the bag. The law wants you to first remove, or at least open the bag and THEN discharge it. A shoebox may qualify, but that’s stupid. There are other options as well, but we can play that game for hours.

Use a bag or container that stays closed using a zipper (gun bag), Velcro (gun bag), flap with a clasp (holster), As always, I recommend you spend a few bucks and get something of decent quality and designed to hold a gun, although a purse or briefcase are both fine. If something happens, you want to be perceived as a firearms professional and they don’t use old Buster Brown shoe boxes, do they? Remember that just because something is legal doesn't make it a good idea.

Now without exaggeration I hear about the three-step rule at least once a week, and it still makes me laugh. It comes up regularly in my lectures or when talking to a client. People even seem surprised when I explain the law directly to them. Even my own bankruptcy paralegal didn’t know the rule and he works for me! Maybe I should rethink that hire. Anyway, I digress….

The three step rule, which is a load of crap, is that the gun can be kept anywhere providing you need to conduct three separate steps in order to get to the gun. Nonsense. Maybe we can also go to the replay booth to see if you also made a “football move” once you secured the gun. This law reminds me of the Skunk Ape. People talk about it all the time, but no one has ever really seen it first hand. I don’t know who started this three-step rule foolishness, but we need to forget it. If the gun is securely encased, you are good to go.

I really appreciate the idea of securing a holster to the left wall of a center console. The firearm slides in nicely and stays put, then the lid closes. When needed, it mimics a strong-side draw. There is uniformity in training when you practice, and this assists in muscle memory. It is important to practice your draw regularly. "You will not rise to the occasion, you will default to your level of training." Put some snap caps into the firearm and practice drawing from the console, or the glove box, or wherever you keep it.

If the secure case is not secure itself, you may find yourself adding a step as you remove the casing from the firearm. Where you keep your firearm is important. Think this through some. You pull up to a red light. Your gun is in your glove box. You reach for the gun, your right foot slips off the brake, you move forward.

Now if you have kids, they can’t be left in the car on their own unless the lid locks – and locks well because we NEVER leave kids alone anywhere they can get to a firearm. Once the gun is ready to be securely encased, it can be loaded and secured, and you are good to go.

One common error is made when an otherwise responsible, thinking, professional keeps their firearm in their purse, man bag, tactical bag, briefcase, or fanny pack. They get pulled over and forget that they can’t have the gun outside of their conveyance, loaded and concealed, without a License to carry a Concealed Weapon or Firearm. Oops. Leave it in the car if you get pulled over and you are asked to get out. This also means that while you are in your car, you cannot wear the gun in any manner at all.

Another common error that can result in custom ventilation by the police officer that pulls you over is if you forget that it is stupid to keep your firearm in the same place that you keep your registration and proof of insurance. Imagine Officer Friendly coming up to your car. It’s dark. He asks for your license, registration and insurance. You reach over into your glove box, flip the latch, the little light comes on and out slides a gun. You are now looking down the business end of a service weapon, and for good reason. Firearms professionals don’t make these kinds of errors. They are always aware of where their weapons are.

Now this leads us to the inevitable question, which once answered will end this chapter. Do I tell the officer that I have a gun in the car when he approaches? If Officer Friendly asks, by law you MUST tell the truth and let the officer know you have a gun. This being said, whether or not you should tell the officer you are armed in advance of being asked is a choice only you can make. Unless the officer asks, you have no legal obligation to disclose the information.

For years I’ve advised people to do what I did (note “did” is in the past tense), which was to have both hands on the steeling wheel with my Driver’s License, License to Carry a Concealed Weapon or Firearm, registration and proof of insurance in my left hand. Window open and once Officer Friendly came up to me, I told her that I have a License to Carry a Concealed Weapon or Firearm, a concealed firearm, and where it was.

A recent event with a poorly trained Officer Friendly put a prompt to that practice. To recap, if you wish to disclose the information upfront, that is your call. If you only want to disclose it is Officer Friendly asks, that is fine. Remember that if Officer Friendly does ask, you must tell the truth. As an aside, if the conversation isn’t going well, or it appears that Officer Friendly does not know what the law is, ask for a Supervisor.

Once the police officer learns you have a gun, he will likely ask you to step out of the car so he can get it himself. He will ask for the location of the firearm, and you will tell him. He should take the firearm to his patrol car, and secure it inside. If he unloads the firearm and sets the weapon and ammunition on the hood of his car, ask for a supervisor. Once his business with you is done, he should return the unloaded, open, firearm to you. He will walk away and then return with your ammunition. You are now free to leave.

Remember that most police officers in Florida receive only six months training. They may have been getting coffee when the chapter on guns in cars came up. Police Officers are not attorneys and are no more qualified to give you legal advice than your barber. They may not know the law themselves, so when you think you are correct and the police officer is mistaken, ask her to call for a supervisor. This request must be accommodated. It may take time, but I think it’s worth the wait.