Common Sense Isn't So Common

School is back in full-swing, traffic is insane, Saturdays are consumed by NCAA football, Sundays are for church and NFL; long story short, we are back to normal.….Or so a family a few streets down thought. They woke up to find someone had taken their sense of “normal”, their peace of mind and their belongings. The only thing to show for the effort of locking the car’s doors, was the shattered glass laying on the driveway. Talk about throwing a wrench in your plans, or in their case, a rock through the driver’s side window.

More disturbing than the smash and grab, was the fact that the individual had left his laptop and his PISTOL amongst other belongings in the car….overnight….unattended… We didn’t find out about it through the news or even our neighbors. No, the victim decided to publicly shame himself by printing flyers detailing the crime and what was stolen and then taped them to our front doors. The line from Forrest Gump ran through my head, “Stupid is as stupid does”, as I peeled the flyer from my door. Then the realization of the possibility that someone in MY neighborhood is breaking into cars and now, they are armed…... Awesome.

Stories like these are all too common, because common sense isn’t. Who knows why people leave their valuables unattended in the car, but the criminals aren’t complaining. When you leave something as tempting as a laptop, tablet, iPod or purse in plain view, you’re begging to have it stolen. It takes seconds for a thief to gain access to your car and ransack your stuff. Forget about your “good hiding spots”, they know where you hide things and they can get to them fast; it’s their profession, they’ve made a career of it and they know what they’re doing.

So what can you do? Well, for starters I’m going to state the obvious. DON’T LEAVE ANYTHING IN YOUR CAR THAT YOU DON’T WANT STOLEN. You can also install security motion lights and/or get a dog to help alert you to suspicious activity around the house. What about when your car is unattended at school, football games or the store? There’s not much you can do, other than park in well-lit areas and lock your doors. If someone wants to get into your car bad enough, they will. But, what about those of us with a CCW? We can’t carry everywhere, so what are you doing with your firearm while you go eat lunch with your kindergartener, stand in line for stamps or cheer the home team? Are you putting it in the console, inside the door, glove-box or under the seat? I can’t imagine the feeling of returning back to my car to see that it has been broken into, knowing I had my pistol in there.

NRA^® Jotto Gear has come up with a solution, it’s called the NRA^® Handgun Holster. It can be mounted almost anywhere. Made in the USA and designed to fit most semi-automatic handguns, it features a unique “Quick Flip Locking Bale” to lock the handgun in the holster. This holster actually mounts to your vehicle and locks your firearm up. It doesn’t keep your car from being broken into, but it will help deter a thief from taking your gun during a smash and grab type of situation. Thus, hopefully keeping you from publicly shaming yourself with door to door flyers.