is this a good idea?

D

Deja vu

New member
Today I was heading to work and saw a car with a license plate that say "45 ACP".

They where not Idaho plates but I could not get close enough to tell where they where from. Any way I thought this was pretty cool and wanted to get plates similar for my car only in one of my favorite calibers.

After a few hours the novelty wore off and I started thinking that it may not be a great idea because to some people it may look like a threat. Granted I live in a very conservative state so it would likely be ok but still...

Do you think its a bad idea?
 
I wouldn't put plates like that on my car. Not because I'd be worried that someone would construe it as a threat but rather because I'd be worried that a thief might view it as evidence that my unoccupied vehicle is likely to contain a firearm.
 
JohnKSa said:
wouldn't put plates like that on my car. Not because I'd be worried that someone would construe it as a threat but rather because I'd be worried that a thief might view it as evidence that my unoccupied vehicle is likely to contain a firearm.
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^^This^^

I work in a GFZ- a psychiatric hospital with a no gun policy. I have encountered some, well, strange people in the parking lot at times, as we are very close to a commercial strip mall and residential neighborhoods. I don't want my car to stand out. I want it to blend in as much as possible, and let people with wandering eyes and sticky fingers look elsewhere.
 
"Vanity plates" are aptly named.

Who knows how things are going to be perceived by even normal folks, let alone the rest.

Why be a lightning rod for unwanted attention, especially since you have no control over how the plate's content is going to make someone react?
 
I'm with JohnKSa and JimmyR on this one. Not just my car, but my house when I'm parked in the driveway or on the street.
 
Some folks just need to shout "I'm special" at every opportunity. Vanity license plates, flames on the side of their vehicle, tattoos, purple hair all fall into that category. Personally, I don't need that and wouldn't put such a statement on my plates.
 
No....

I really wouldn't make a big issue over it.
Some gun owners or target shooters may bring it up but most people will ignore it.
I put a military license plate frame on my vehicle & so far, only a tire repair shop tech said anything to me about it, ;) .
That said, I wouldn't advise anything to dramatic or menacing if you carry guns or have a CCW license.
A "I don't call 911." sticker or "Punisher" logo may not look to good in a homicide investigation or a civil wrongful death trial.
 
That’s why I don’t display one of those silly signs like “This home protected by Smith & Wesson” or something along those lines. It invites theft.

I do however have a very small sticker on my front door that says “Ex 22:2”

99.9% of people would not know what “Ex 22:2” even is. Those that do wouldn’t break into my home anyhow.

Ex 22:2 --- “If a thief is caught breaking in at night and is struck a fatal blow, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed.” --- The Holy Bible.
 
Here's your sign. ...

"Vanity plates" are aptly named.
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So true and every day we see signs or actions that say; "Look at Me". One of the biggest is "Facebook" and don't mean to step on your toes. ... :)

it may not be a great idea because to some people it may look like a threat.
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And/or, a target. There are others, like bumper stickers, Gun logos on caps, stickers on your car windows. .... ;)
I was stopped by a cop and in the questioning process, asked me if I was carrying a gun, I was not and asked him why he asked the question. He replied that he noted the Ruger pin on my jacket. .... ;)

Be Safe !!!
 
In Austin, a well known firearm instructor friend told me that there was a wave of NRA sticker cars that got hit.

Also, when they had the CHL instructor classes, they at first made the instructors to be leave their guns in their cars. Evil doers then waited till they were inside and hit the cars.

Last, some cowboy action types here seem to have been followed from the match to the pancake house and the cars were broken into in the parking lots. Obviously, you aren't going into the restaurant geared up, so bye bye to revolvers, rifles and shotguns.

Some of the local gun outfits (stores and training) have trucks all painted up with signage. Hope they don't leave them outside and go into a mall. One tactical store got hit for lots of loot. The security film showed the crooks just breaking open the back door with a simple crow bar (geez). They knew the place as they went right to very high end stuff.
 
I like my vanity plate, but i would not want anything on my truck, or clothes to let anyone know that i may have a weapon on me, or in the vehicle. I dont even tell friends what i have or where i have it. As far as they know, all i have is a old muzzleloader that i hunt with.lol Just my opinion.
 
Topics...

The "should I have any logos or gun stuff on display" subjects come up often on gun forums.
I see the merits of not doing it but have no problem with those who do.
Hostile or menacing images may be one thing but simple logo or company design stickers aren't that bad.
I've seen newer SUVs around where I live with Glock license plates(front) & people with Ruger, Browning(the distinctive deer/elk logo), Beretta, SIG, etc logos.
Those may invite crooks or make some bad guys perk up, but I do not leave loaded firearms in my motor vehicles so they'll be empty handed. ;)

ClydeFrog
PS: a common crime in my area too is for criminals to do "follow home" armed robberies or thefts of gun shop customers/target range members. :eek:
be careful
 
stupid to draw attention to your firearms....houses and cars with those kind of give aways would be the ones I would hit if I were a thief.
 
I'm proud to be a Patron Member of the NRA, and a Charter Life member of USPSA - but there are no gun stickers on my car, and I only wear logo shirts on the range.

I'm not paranoid, but research has found that many bad guys can read!
 
Just another pickup with a big magnetic sign saying Blah, Blah Tactical pulling out the lot of a strip mall. I know they are trying for business but it's a break in sign.

Sure, you can run out of the store, guns ablazing - but that doesn't seem to work well at times.
 
I prefer the idea that no news (concerning my gun status) is good news. The fact that a bad guy doesn't know more than he can get from looking at you is a positive.
 
let me tell you a little story about my brother; we live about 2miles from each other in douglasville GA, not a terrible part of town, but definetly a mix of low-middle-high class residence(sorry, my period is broken, so i will have lots of run-ons,,,,,wifes is still working fine though)
we both got into guns at the height of the AWB a little over a year ago, he bought a couple AKs and a mossberg AR22 thingy, i would pick him up from his house on sundays to go out to our spot in the woods and shoot(he lived in a slightly crappy apt complex), i liive in a quiet subdivision just down the road(although nearby, it seems like two different worlds)

his wife has a disease and is on in-home nursing care 3 times a week, at 9am on a weekday morning, he recieved a knock at the door as always, assuming it was the nurse like usual, he cracked the door open, he immedietly knew that it wasnt the nurse at the sight of two black males(both brandishing pistols); he attempted to slam the door on the attackers without success, they pushed themselves inside, beat my brother to the ground and hog-tied him with an extension cord

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/23761280/trial-continues-in-hospice-patient-robbery-case
http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/237...an-on-hospice-care-pistol-whipping-her-finace

after beating him with the butt of thier pistols into submission, they drug him into the bedroom, while the younger assailant kept his wife hostage at gun-point

in the bedroom the other intruder said one thing to my bro; WHERE ARE THE RIFLES??!! those were the only words spoke in the entire ordeal

brother directed them to the guns, the intruders took the guns and consfisgated their cellphones and stomped them to peices, gave my bro a couple more whacks and gave the direction to not call police, blah blah blah

long story short, how did they know to ask for rifles and only rifles? because as the investigation unfolded, they found out the the neighbor(14 years old) told his cousin that he had seen his neighbor with rifle cases going from apt to car, the cousin drove from marietta(40miles away)just to rob my bros house

luckily the thugs were caught after a high speed chase, the younger took a plea deal and testified against the older, but the older just got out a couple months ago after a mis-trial(after being caught red-handed with weapons in the car AND having his partner testify against him); one juror just wouldnt give in) new trial coming soon

just goes to show that you need keep your weapons ownership totally private, bumper stickers and vanity plates are only advertising to two people; criminals and law enforcement; mainly CRImINALS!!!

although my bro made a ton of mistakes in his scenario, why advertise? whats the point? to look cool? are you that ill-endowed to need to let everyone know what a bad-@#$ you are? not trying to be mean, but there needs to a be a level of maturity and saftey when owning any kind of gun collection

i am guilty as any, when i first got my guns, I wanted to tell all my buddies, and make sure the neighbors saw me walkking guns to my car and tumbling brass in the drive-way, but that incident really woke me up

i promise(especially these days with the inflated prices and lack of availability) there are criminals that are targeting those shmuck vanity plates and bumper stickers; most lkely, they will just case your house and wait til you go to work, but in my bros case; you can see just how brazen these idiots can be\\just ask yourself one question, is the small posibilty of being targeted worth having a vainty plate? you shoud be able to answer your own question in a split second
 
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