People carry a gun because they want it available if something goes wrong, but then they get where they’re going, leave it in the car, and walk away. Now it can’t serve the purpose they carried it for, but it can still be stolen or found by somebody who shouldn’t have it.

At that point, they’ve lost the reason they were carrying it in the first place, but they’ve kept just about every risk that comes with owning it. If it gets into the wrong hands, whatever happens next is completely outside their control. That’s a pretty lousy trade.

I understand there are places where you can’t take a firearm, or where carrying isn’t practical. The problem is treating the car as the default place to leave it without thinking about what that means. A locked car isn’t a safe. A thief can break a window, and the console, glove compartment, or under the seat aren’t hard to find. Hiding a gun may keep it out of sight, but hiding it isn’t the same as securing it.

The problem doesn’t end with the theft. A stolen firearm may be sold, passed around, carried by somebody who can’t legally possess it, or used in another crime. Police might recover it months later, or never.

There’s also the possibility that nobody steals it at all. If a child, passenger, family member, or somebody else can get into the vehicle, they may be able to get to the gun too. Telling somebody not to touch it isn’t the same as physically keeping them from it.

Alabama is commonly described as a constitutional-carry or permitless-carry state, and state law generally allows a person who may lawfully possess a pistol to carry without a permit. That doesn’t mean everybody can carry one everywhere. The person, the place, and the property still matter. So I’m not saying you should carry a gun everywhere you go. I’m saying don’t leave it in the car automatically just because you’ve arrived.

Think about where you’re going before you leave home. If you know you can’t take the firearm with you, decide whether it makes more sense to leave it secured at home or use a container designed for firearm storage and secured in the vehicle.

A console or a spot under the seat isn’t a storage plan.

Keep the firearm’s make, model, caliber, and serial number somewhere other than with the gun. If it’s stolen, that information gives police a way to identify it if it turns up.

The car may sometimes be part of the plan. It shouldn’t become the plan because you didn’t think about it until you got there.