WHAT TO DO IF YOU'RE IN A WRECK

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David

New member
Here's a new one.

I had a student ask me a question that I have never been asked before, and I didn't really have a good, pre-rehearsed answer.

If any other instructors or LEO's out there been asked this question and have a good answer, or personal experience, let me know.

The question was, If you are injured in a wreck, or are otherwise hurt so you are taken to a hospital, what do you say, and who do you say it to, regarding securing your firearm? I don't have an actual personal experience I can reference to, and it would seem problematic to direct the proper people to secure your weapon as you are being hauled away in the ambulance.
 
Never give up your weapon!

seriously, This was a concern of mine when I was carrying before I was 21 (I was was wrong, don't do it). I was in an accident and I was armed. Luckily, I was okay enough to crawl out of the vehicle adn secure the weapon myself (walked to girlfriend's house (it was about 1 am, out in the country, NE Georgia) I unloaded and stashed the gun there, kept the ammo and threw it in a bag in my back seat before the cops and wrecker got there.

After much thinking and asking, I found out that there is no good answer to this question. You can get "out there" with it and say.. "What if I am in a wreck and knocked out and some guy stops and, upon seeing my gun, decides to steal it rather than help me...yada, yada." Or you can be realistic and say, "what If I am driving from NC to PA and I'm on the inner beltway where it is against the law to have a handgun and I get into a wreck and the police are the first ones to wake me up..yada, yada.."

Either way, it is a bad situation to be in. Much worse to be unhurt and unarmed if your car breaks down or upon reaching your destination, to my mind.

I think, if I were concious but messed up bad, I would instruct the first "profesional" on the seen of the location of the weapon. I have the luxury of saying that I am an LEO, but I would do it with a CCW or even if I was somewhere like NJ. Better to declare it and get it secured than have it "found" or.. worse.. stolen or.. even worser.. have an accident happen.



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-Essayons
 
Rob
I think the question isn't if your carrying a weapon you should have, but if you carrying a weapon legally, like I had my new un laod AR-15 in the trunk for a couple weeks, before the right circumstance existed where i could take it into the house (my parents weren't home). If I should get into a wreck and be rendered unconcouois, what happens to the weapon?
 
Hopefully, a quick thinking LEO or EMT puts the gun in his trunk and informs you when you are awake.
It would be a sad thing if one hesitated to secure the weapon because of 4th amendment or other concerns and it ended up stolen, what do you guys think?

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-Essayons
 
Thats what I think, but its hard to tell the LEO/EMT what to do when you don't know whats going on. I'm glad I didn't get in a wreck while my AR was in my trunk, and I hope I never so out of it that my weapons and are end up in differnet places
 
I was in EMS when the CHL was passed in Texas. They stuck to a "head-in-the-sand" approach, for example:
- We're intelligent adults, we can handle a gun safely. (On one occasion, a Paramedic identified a revolver as a semi-auto - in writing!)
- We don't need anybody to hold a gun class. (I had offered to use my own handguns to show them how to pick one up, unload it, and store it. No go.)
- We won't approach the patient until the scene is safe. And it's not safe until the police pick up all the guns. (Definitely wrong.)

Happily, our EMS is now a full-time, paid-personnel organization with a new administrator. He's big, tough, no-nonsense guy - and a PM with the local helicopter service. Many problems have been solved.

The general rule now seems to be: the LEO takes control of all weapons at the scene if the patient needs to be transported by EMS. The patient, or a person he designates can claim the gun later at the Sheriff's office. I would bet that if I were injured and my wife arrived on scene, the LEO would unload the gun and give it to her.

I just can't say enough good about our local Sheriff and his Deputies. They are sharp, in charge, firm but reasonable, and almost always very courteous and even friendly. They have been SUPER to my kids - even when my kids were in the wrong (10 MPH over...).

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Svoboda ne bezplatnoe
 
By all means let the copper know! Things get stolen from wrecker yards on a daily basis, and a stolen gun will always find its way to a bad guy who may use it to do a bad thing.

Even if that is not your concern, can you imagine the reaction of the doctors and nurses at the Emergency Room if you have it on you?

I was carrying my gun in an IWB holster with a badge on my belt when I took my wife to the hospital to have a baby. The medical staff had a fit!

Anyhow, I imagine any cop would be willing to secure a legally carried firearm on a temporary basis under the circumstances presented. Heck, we even put them in our evidence vault for people who plan to leave town for extended periods. They just come in during business hours for the office staff and pick them up, no questions asked. We consider it part of the "public service" we perform.

Patrick
 
You should be able to trust the cops with your weapons before any one else. If you are carrying illegally, and get caught, well doom on you, you got caught. Shouldn't have done it in the first place. This, of course, is my official advice. :) There is no pat answer to this Q. If you can, secure the weapon yourself, or direct someone to do it for you. If you get hurt, don't exacerbate the situation by letting someone else get hurt too. Losing a gun to theft, etc, is cheaper than getting sued.
 
Hello David,
Back in 1992 when I lived in Washington State I was hit by a car while riding my motorcycle. I had my Glock-19 in a waist band holster and a NAA 22 short mini revolver in my pants pocket, when the Police showed up at the scene and since I had a pemit to carry I informed the officer that I had my Loaded Glock on my person and he secured it for me and told me to claim it at the police station when I was released from the hospital. I had forgoten about the Mini gun I also had due to the shock I was in and on the way to the hospital I remembered and told the EMT the situation and he told me to hide it in my clothes because the Drs and th Nurses would have freaked about it.
So I was lucky to live in a state where concealed carry was permited and that the police were not jerks.
Mark

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56s
 
If you live in Calif like I do, where almost no one gets a CCW and you legally own the gun (assuming its a handgun)...it is registered. Calif also has a law that you must report a stolen gun within 30 days. You couldn't say it was stolen from the house cuz there is no report on file. If it is used in a crime later, there will be 27 politicians in line to eat you for breakfast.

My point: tell the cops and let him take care of it. In another thread, the discretionary judgement of the line cops was mentioned. He is the start of the "system" and can tone it down an awful lot.

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"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes"
 
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