It might be a good idea for us to have a gun in our Prius. Just looking out for my Priuschat family who has been especially kind, knowledgeable and extremely helpful over many years and many Gen 2 Prius. Especially a few of you, who are walking PriusAI as far as I am concerned. Well as you all may have noticed things in the US seem extremely unstable (primarily due to Biden but again this isn't a political post). I got a gun but wasn't sure where to keep it. Plus although Prius don't attract attention like Ford Raptor trucks for carrying guns (thus the constant break-ins in many truck models; demographic as gun-owner)... I wanted to get some type of protection that wasn't expensive in case I should lose it. Found a good Glock clone called 9mm Stoeger STR9SubCompact and with the fifty-dollar rebate it's around $170 til the end of the month. I bought it blindly thinking I might need to cut a hole in the seat or find some weird way to keep it in my car but lo and behold as luck would have it...it fits PERFECTLY (within millimeters each side) in the secret-compartment in middle-console for Gen 2s. Pardon the dog hair in the picture but oh yeah...big dogs like my German Shepherds can stand in the back with seats down. Always amazed at the cargo-space in Gen2s which seems to get overlooked and is underrated. https://stoegerindustries.com/pistols/str-9sc-sub-compact-semi-auto-pistol https://stoegerindustries.com/STR-rebate
That's a beautiful pistol. It needs to be on your hip at all times, always and forever. If you have time to retrieve it from your glovebox you had time to flee the situation. Besides, you're too focused on thinking you need it in your car, not elsewhere, like when you're in the local Stop n Rob, or the bank, or in the woods. Keeping it in your car is just silly. You need to be in possession of that at all times, no exceptions. You're responsible for it and it may be needed when you least expected. Carjackings are just one scenario. Even then, you won't be able to reach in the glove box. Sign up for advanced training. There are lots of great courses. Take many, not just one. Proudly get your conceal permit which is honored in many other states. Your clean background check proven by your conceal permit is also something to be proud of. You'd be surprised how many people have priors and don't tell you. Felons know damn well they can't possess any weapons. Funny how they make collateral stories about why nobody should, but never reveal the real reason they dont.
Nice pistol. Not exactly a Glock Clone it IS a "glock-action" or striker fired pistol. Tools are tools and that means what that means. Actually? That's a horrible idea. Sorry. Calling 'em like I see 'em. Cars get broken into by people LOOKING FOR things like guns, money, etc. UNLIKE cash, phones, and other valuables??? A stolen gun cannot be easily sold to anyone other than somebody who knows that they're risking (probably ANOTHER) serious felony because it's illegal for them to go to Cabella's. You said "OUR" Prius. How does the other part of 'our' fit into your gun ownership plan? Is one of your "ours" a child? Is your weapon 'drop safe?' If you had to think more than a second about that then you need to read on my friend...... Advice follows: 1. ^ Keep the weapon unloaded and locked away until you do THIS. Also consider VERY CAREFULLY WHY you're taking on the responsibility of owning a firearm. If your answer includes protecting something that does not have a pulse, maybe get another dog instead. 2. Think very carefully about your holster or YOU will be somebody else's gun holster (at best.) As mentioned above, your car is NOT a good holster!! 3. Train like you fight. Fight like you train. What this means for a subcompact is that you should fire 200-300 rounds through the weapon as both 'break-in rounds' AND training rounds - meaning the rounds that you're going to be carrying in the weapon. Once you do this...THEN you can buy the plastic bucket of cheap 'range ammo' to maintain proficiency. Are you familiar with the term "overpenetration?" How about "knock-down power?" Hint: if you're not sure about this STOP!! Unload the weapon, strip it and lock it back up while you repeat step #1. 4. If you still work and do so in a non-permissive environment (as do most people, including ME) consider HOW you are going to do so. My strategery used to be to disassemble the weapon and take the slide inside with me. I have 'other strategeries' now... Understand the following and you will be far ahead of most people who think that they "know about guns." The slide isn't the gun. The barrel isn't the gun either. There's ONE part of the weapon that is legally 'the gun' and it isn't always the part that you wrap your paws around. That leads us directly to: 5. Learn the laws for your state and your reciprocity rights for 'not your states.' Find out about "Peaceable journey" laws. Consider whether you SHOULD or SHOULD NOT get a CCP. You live in Ohio so you do not have enhanced CCPs. DO all of the 1-5 steps for-real, and not by listening to some rando blow-hard on the internet and you might just find that you enjoy pistol shooting and take it up as a hobby. DO all of the 1-5 steps for-real and you WILL be a more responsible gun owner than most! Best of Luck!!!
Assuming you are aware you are now more in danger of being killed by a gun than you were before that purchase.
@priuslyfe Uh oh......this thread is about to get moved into FHOP_P. Better read quickly. Again...best of luck to you! DON'T wander into FHOP_P! It's pretty ugly down there......
As it should be. Espousing your political opinions and trying to shut down that conversation right after is disingenuous
thanks for the advice. tbh I've only shot it once but plan on shooting it more. i don't really have the time to train that much but I might sign up for a shooting class for CCW. Not sure if I want to carry because I can barely stand carrying my phone everywhere let alone something heavier. I'm pretty risk-averse so hopefully I don't get in a sticky situation but due to lack of laws being enforced (teens stealing/carjacking, general crime, roadrage, etc.) I thought it might be a good idea to have a gun in my car (where I presume most bad interactions might happen).
Whatever my sincerity level is re: politics, things seem to have gotten worse the past 4 years, thus the gun. In fact, in my city, Columbus, there have been around 70 cars crashing into buildings events in the past 6 months...226 incidents last year. Not to mention many go unnoticed because a police report isn't filed. There are VERY specific reasons for this that are directly correlated to the past 4 years under Biden (and no its not people having heart attacks, seizures, phone-use, etc. which might account for few of those accidents). LOL. the news story below are blaming "distracted driving" or "mechanical issues" . LOL!!!!!! Sure for about maybe 15% of those accidents. If you simply assess the facts of the accidents and coincidentally many Prius-type cars and have a functional brain its obvious the primary reason for the increased frequency now. I never heard of cars crashing into buildings all my life with such wrecked abandon. Now I hear about it every few days. But as I said, until someone's kid dies by getting run over and killed.... many people in Columbus find it funny and make memes about it. Coincidentally, some positive news... in the past FIVE months, mysteriously fentanyl drug deaths across the country are down by as much as 60% in some states!!! Thats amazing so many lives are being saved....OH WHATEVER could that reason be???? Alas! Here I go again with being political and then evading it! Sigh. Unfortunately for many people, they simply are incapable to learn UNTIL they become a victim. All that crime you read about and respond without it affecting you is simply a way to give your meaningless thoughts and prayers, virtue signal, etc. I get it though. Until you become a victim yourself its very profitable for your self-image. It feels good to be that way when you have nothing at stake...in fact its a winning proposition, you get something (goodwill) for doing nothing.
I guess you can make yourself believe just about anything if you really work at it. I can’t see a correlation between cars crashing into buildings and anything that has been happening over the last four years
Out on the left coast car-on-building crime is a 'thing.' If you know why, you know why..... These are property crimes by and large and mostly carried out by a number of unarmed teens who steal a Kia and use it as a battering ram on a pot shop or other stand-alone business where there is a high likelihood of there being things inside that teens might want, and a very low likelihood of an armed human inside. Like many horrible things in America, this is slowly making its way from the coast through 'flyover country.' Frankly I'm pretty amazed at that this would be happening AT ALL in the Buckeye state, since folks in the Midwest are far less tolerant of uninvited nighttime guests.....with or without the car. SERIOUSLY.... You're going to have to work out for yourself what your security needs and abilities are, and I say this as an ardent 2A supporter! Take a for-real NRA certified firearms course, and see what other courses are available! I would advise against actually joining the NRA at this time and maybe for at least a year after you've started to learn some things about the 2A community, and how many political and other mailing lists you want to be on. LEARN AND PRACTICE gun safety or sell the weapon to an FFL dealer, and get another dog. (a dog will dissuade home invaders much more effectively than nearly anything else!) Google 'car crashing into pot shop' and you will find that a lot of news outlets are making themselves believers too.
LOL x infinity. Please don't take offense but I said ...well tbh I guess I was wrong...you don't just need a functioning brain you need one thats adept at analyzing fact patterns and such. - 43 yo male - no license - newly registered car based on license plate dealer sticker (curious fact) - no intoxication - no insurance - cheaper car (typically used in delivery jobs) - no mention of his name, race, etc. who demographic could this be? what circumstances led to this very curious accident? how often do you see sober 43yos crashing into buildings esp prior to the past 5 years? I kinda didn't intentionally post glaringly obvious pictures but if you search, its very apparent when you look at the post-accident pictures of many of these car/building crashes. yes some are teen carjackers but the MAJORITY ARE NOT! Maybe. Here in the midwest it is NOT criminals (unless you consider breaking a certain law a crime). Hopefully that battering ram business doesn't come here. Here, its mostly into restaurants or residences. What does that tell you?
Welp... Nice chatting with you, pal. If you wonder why you suddenly cannot find this thread it will be because somebody wanted it moved into FHOP_P where you have to specifically ask to be allowed to join and admitted by a moderator. There are two advantages to going down there: 1. You will get a pretty good understanding on WHY politics in America are siloed like they are, and how leftists think - which MORE people should do on BOTH SIDES! That's why I'm a member of a (*cough!!!*) 'fairly left of center' car site even though I haven't bought a Toyota in 36(?) years.... B. You will become very familiar with hos to use the 'Ignore User' feature......
you better be if you are driving a stereotype Prius. I like the fact that people think that Prius drivers are slow and drive like granola-eating leftist boomer F-ELON grandmas....because I DO! Transportation related deaths are in the top 5 of causes and the one issue that is almost an overriding factor is speeding. Whenever people blazingly speed by me in annoyance I wonder if they know that fact. All it takes is a split second moment to lose control. I was in an accident that I posted about here that my Prius got hit from the rear, rolled-over 1.5 times, landed upside down and I crawled out without any injuries. the shape of a Prius is a natural roll-cage so thats another benefit. Read a great book on all things traffic years ago and the likelihood of serious injury going 35 vs 25mph isn't 30% but rather 500% greater; partially due to greater velocity but also due to less driver-control at that greater velocity. Also speeding means more likely to not keep safe distance, hit a kid running into the street, etc.
I ordinarily don't figure I have much to say one way or t'other on this subject, but on reading this post I do have to say that while your thread title says "self-defense", your motivations as you lay them out here give a stronger sense that there is something about vigilantism that appeals to you. Coupled with an attitude that you "might sign up for" one class (if it's required for a permit), there might something about ill-trained vigilantism that appeals to you. I'm not sure I've ever seen a better recipe posted for becoming part of the country's problem.
Not true re: vigilantism. My biggest concern is I'll forget that it's in the secret drawer when I actually need it. I guess this is a good reason to actually carry a gun on your person. Thats' why I recommended and posted the links...for people like me who don't want to get too much into gun culture or have the time to train. That's mainly why I didn't buy a $600 Glock or other more known model. That said. You don't have to look for crime anymore...it finds you. In fact, they're actively looking for you right now. Regarding training, I'd like to commit to more but there are only so many hours in the day and I need to prioritize them. If I planned on shooting a gun daily then maybe I'd be more inclined to train more. Honestly, hopefully I never have to use my Prius gun. As long as it works when needed though...i'm good. btw: the main reason I made this thread (knowing I'd get some blowback) is to help people out. I guess the upside of getting carjacked, shot & killed, etc. is that at least "I have a red triangle on my Prius dashboard? What does Code P4302 mean?" won't concern you anymore. FUN FACT: I talked to a cop friend about using this Prius gun in self-defense. he told me that IF I do use it in self-defense its not like the in movies whereby your life returns back to normal the next day. He said ON AVERAGE you will be spending 6mos of your life going over details with law enforcement and if a trial ensues that can be as much as 2 years away. Not to mention getting convicted. Ummm...no thanks. I'd rather be enjoying my time golfing.
In California a hand gun may be transported in a car but it must be unloaded and locked away in a compartment which is not a glove box or utility compartment. That is, it must not be easily accessible. Long guns have slightly different rules, mostly being that they can be visible. There are lots of stories about people using handguns in cars here, and excluding the gang related, about 99.99% of them are road rage incidents where some a$$hole opens up on another car which has offended him (or rarely, her) in some way. In 50 years of driving I have yet to encounter a situation where a handgun would have been useful, in the car or out. If seriously threatened by a person outside the vehicle I would drive away, or if that wasn't possible, employ the 3000 pound motorized blunt instrument I was driving.
typical leftcoast mentality..."if you leave them alone they'll leave you alone....live an let live....maaaan!" at least if you pull a gun on someone in self-defense there is a ???%% chance they will leave you alone and avoid getting shot (even if not very high though as confrontational people don't have this self-preservation mentality). BUT if you drive someone over with a 3000lb car. Kinda can't take that back or give the criminal the opportunity to retreat. Good luck explaining that to a prosecutor (esp a Cali prosecutor MEGALULZ!!!) It's not the 1960's anymore where the worst thing that might happen to you is being accosted by a Hare Krishna recruiter. coincidentally I'm watching a Cali video right now (nice youtuber)...LOL...youtuber says it can "happen anywhere ...in Venice Beach...in Germany"...LOL. I wonder what the common denominators are? But I get it. You kinda have to add "the anyone/anywhere disclaimer" anytime you say anything controversial. apparently a bunch of "teens" (gee...I wonder whom?) attacked some old hippy type guy and he retaliated by stabbing them. doubtful he gets exonerated LOL. EDIT: to close out this thread...at least I'm not gonna reply anymore. SOME PEOPLE HAVE TO LEARN THE HARD WAY!!! As I previously stated, it FEELS GREAT! to virtue-signal, mention anomolies, outliers, vigilantism, some x-factor so the issue doesn't apply to you, etc. UNTIL they are the victim. All those horrible stories you read about everyday are likely random people just like YOU!
I am enlightened now! Trust no one, they are ALL out to get me! But a hand gun? Such a puny deterrent. Me, I'm trading in the Prius right this minute and upgrading to a main battle tank. I will fear no man, but tremble in terror at the sound of a drone or the sight of a gas pump.
