You see an unsecured long gun, what do you do?

[Alamo]

The lesson of never leaving your weapon unattended should have been hammered home in basic. It was in my unit.

There were a lot of lessons that should have been, but weren't, hammered home with this particular individual, most of them before he even joined the service. That was just kind of the cherry on top of his FUBAR shake. His time in the AF after that was as short as the AF bureaucracy could make it.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I love all the "when I grew up, nobody would touch someone else's stuff" posts. It's just nostalgia for something that never was.

We didn't have a door key when I grew up. The front door had a lock on it but the back door didn't even have a knob, just a wooden latch on the inside. We never had a thing stolen. Where matters as much as when.

 

[printcraft]

Pull the trigger to see if it's loaded?

 

[BE Mike]

There were a lot of lessons that should have been, but weren't, hammered home with this particular individual, most of them before he even joined the service. That was just kind of the cherry on top of his FUBAR shake. His time in the AF after that was as short as the AF bureaucracy could make it.

Yet he rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant?

 

[jbombelli]

Bait gun?

I would leave it be.

 

[sloughfoot]

At the Nationals a few years ago, a Marine Reserve left his rifle behind in the pits as we all walked back to the firing line. When Wayne realized his horrible error, he dropped and started doing push-ups. Somebody brought his cased rifle up to him. Might have been me....He did a lot of push-ups. The NCO'S in the area were not happy with him.

As to the original question, I would never touch a firearm in a vehicle. I might stand off and watch until the owner of the vehicle got in and drove away. Maybe.

 

[MohawkSlim]

Yet he rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant?

It is the AF, after all.

 

[1775usmarine]

Attempt to sell it back to the owner and make some free money.

 

[Bill of Rights]

Coming out of the store today I saw the vehicle next to me with the front window down. In the back was a lot of camping gear in addition to a Bolt action long gun. No idea what it was.

What would you do if you saw an unsecured gun sitting in a car?

Depends on the store and my own situation at the time. If I had time to do so, I'd probably stand next to the front bumper of his car and wait. Just wait. Nowhere near the window.

Most people would look and see someone standing next to "their" car. The owner would return and see someone next to his own car and probably ask, "Can I help you?"

"No. I just thought I'd help you. See, with that window open, I didn't want someone to steal your gun. Have a nice day!" and walk off.

Again, this depends on the store. Some places, I'd sit back, at a distance, and just be a good witness, in case someone stole it. Maybe even record on my phone. Maybe.

If I didn't have time, I'd probably tell store security or maybe call police non-emergency.. Because SOMEone should be keeping an eye so it doesn't "fall into the wrong hands" (anyone's but it's owner's)

Blessings,
Bill

 

[Alamo]

Yet he rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant?

E-5 in USAF, rather than E-6 as in Army.

Some people do ok for a few years, then go off the rails.

 

[LarryC]

I love all the "when I grew up, nobody would touch someone else's stuff" posts. It's just nostalgia for something that never was. How old are you guys, anyway? My hair is mostly gray and I'm close to retirement age, and it's NEVER been like that in my lifetime - if it's not well-secured, it'll walk away. And I didn't grow up in a "bad" area.

Guess you grew up in a "different" area than I did! I am 75 YO, I grew up in a very small town (Roselawn, IN) and do remember when there was almost no crime, period. During my school days many of the cars (weren't very many owned by high school students - usually dad's car or truck) had long guns visible in the vehicle in the schools parking area during hunting season, including some of the teachers vehicles!

NO ONE locked their vehicle in that era. If fact many did not even carry a key, as most of the 1940's vintage cars had an ignition that could be shut off and on without using a key. Almost all farm trucks had a rack in the back window with a shotgun and or rifle present. I do not recall of any "thefts" of firearms during that era. Actually only one theft in the town occurred as I recall. It happened during the winter, two teen aged brothers went into a home and took some small items. The sheriff was called and he followed the footprints of the two right to their home!

Yeah times have changed but if I saw a firearm in a vehicle I would do absolutely nothing but keep walking. There are still a lot more honest people than thieves in this world, those that want to steal a firearm have no dearth of targets.