From: forda@gtephx.UUCP (Andrew Ford @ AGCS, Phoenix, Arizona)
Newsgroups: rec.guns
Subject: Re: Gun blast noise in a car?
Date: 17 Dec 92 12:26:01 GMT
Organization: gte

In article <01GSCHT82ZQC000O91@MSUS1.MSUS.EDU>, KEVIN@MSUS1.MSUS.EDU (Kevin Whyte) writes:
# 
# #From: viking@iastate.edu (Dan Sorenson)
# #Subject:Re: Gun blast noise in a car?
# 
# ##boone@athena.cs.uga.edu (Roggie Boone) writes:
# 
# ##My question is, if one has to shoot inside a car (either at someone
# ##in your car, or through a windshield to get someone trying to get 
# ##into your car), how do you protect your ears (and those of passengers)
# ##from the blast noise?
# #
# 
# This sounds kinda gruesome but would it work?  Assuming you are in close
# proximity of the kidnapper anyway, could you just bury the muzzle in his
# side/gut whatever and pull the trigger?  Seems like most of the noise would be
# silenced by his clothes and body.  
# 
# I've thought about this a lot recently especially with the upswing in
# car-jackings.  I don't know that having a firearm in the car is going to do you
# a damn bit of good anyway.  Where would you keep it?  How could you get to it
# before the perp shoots?  I think prevention is the only way to combat
# car-jacking because once the attacker is in your car it's too late.
# Anyone have any ideas/suggestions on how to deal with the situation?
# 
[Mr. Moderator, I don't mean to wax political here, but Kevin asks about
the value of having a gun to prevent car-jacking, so, in the spirit of 
iforming him (and others)...]

I'll be brief: I live in Phoenix, AZ - 10 largest city in the nation --
I'd guess that 20-70 percent of the vehicles on the road have loaded
firearms within arms reach of the driver (& that's legal with no license
provided that the weapon is in a holster, sheath, storage compartment,
etc).  Phoenix has damn few car-jackings -- I recently asked a PHX 
police officer about car-jackings and got a long story about a car-
jacker getting 17 9mm holes in himself and his accomplice changing
his attitude about car-jacking.

As a final comment, _USA_Today_ ran a piece on car-jackings not long
ago -- I noted that of the top ten cities, in 8 of them having
a useful (loaded and not locked) weapon on the car was definitely 
illegal and 90% sure in the other 2.

My solution:

I have a console between the two front seats.  The clip from my sears
garage door opener fits neatly over the latch so that I can simply
raise the lid and grab a loaded .357.  I may not get to use it, but,
then again if I do, 1 car jacker is dead.  Also, I may well use it 
on a car-jacker who is trying to someone else's car.  IMHO, this is 
the best protection you can offer yourself (helping your neighbors and
encouraging them to do the same.)

Also, if you can carry concealed (permit required in most states),
a concealed weapon could be drawn after the perp is in your vehicle
(it is not uncommmon for the car-jacker to kill the victim *after* he
has taken the vehicle).

However, you are right in thinking that avoiding the situation is
the best strategy -- trouble is, you can't always not be there.
-- 
"25 States allow anyone to buy a gun, strap it on, and walk down the street with
no permit of any kind: some say it's crazy.  However, 4 out of 5 US murders are 
committed in the other half of the country: so who is crazy?"   -  Andrew Ford
gtephx!forda@enuucp.eas.asu.edu  OR  !uunet!samsung!romed!enuucp!gtephx!forda