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My current plan (obviously open windows if possible, don't drive into lakes, etc.) is to use the resqme spring-loaded glass breaker (my work gives them out as branded swag at conferences, but I gave away hundreds in Iraq/Afghanistan when I worked there too) or glowrhino carbide tip I keep with me. That doesn't work very well on laminated glass (but I'm often in a rental, so I don't know which cars have/don't have it). Failing that, put some rounds into the glass and try to pry it out of the frame. Shooting a handgun in a car with closed windows (especially) is pretty disorienting, I've done it while wearing earpro but never without, but beats drowning. (I'm somewhat surprised the sheriff deputies in the Chao case didn't try this...seems very Texan solution to opening a closed thing)

The technique with laminated glass is basically to make a line of cracks/deformations to allow you to deform the entire panel and pop it out, not to make a hole to go through. Pretty hard to do with a carbide punch, but probably your best bet. Then use legs or body to push the entire window out.

Also, the smaller/accessory windows are often NOT laminated (esp on Tesla), so hitting one of those to let water in and then equalize pressure to GTFO is an option.

2 comments

What kind of gun do you carry in your car? Is this the same one you carry on your person?

Leaving a gun in your car is irresponsible; that's a very common way for them to get stolen.

The modern thinking on this is that you should carry it on your person at all times or leave it at home (e.g. if you're going to a place you can't carry it). Additionally, frequent "administrative handling" of your gun (like unholstering it in your car and re-holstering it when you get out) needlessly increases your chances of a negligent discharge, so moving it off of your body when you get in your car is also discouraged.

Of course this doesn't mean that everyone knows/thinks this way (and many don't), but from my discussions with other firearm advocates, this is the modern school of thought.

So—to answer your question—a Glock 19, and yes, as it's on me already ;-)

People who carry a firearm on their person daily are a tiny minority overall - but they're vastly outnumbered in my experience by people who keep a pistol in their vehicle.

I don't advocate for off-body carry in general, but I'd expect it to be far more likely than you might think for there to be a handgun available to someone in a car.

... and yes, as the GP mentioned, firing it in that closed space would suck. It's going to take multiple rounds to weaken safety glass enough to get through it, and it's going to be loud. As a heuristic, I'd say you should assume that if you have to do that, you're trading your hearing for the rest of your life.

Firing a handgun inside a vehicle, even with both ear plugs and electronic muffs, is enough to make your ears ring.

Yeah, I just mean "the gun I have on my waist", not a special car gun. And especially for the police in Texas at the ranch, they would almost certainly be armed, and I'd assume ranch staff would also have access to firearms within some period of time less than total flooding/drowning of car.

I’m dying to find out the circumstances that found you shooting out of a car

In a class "Bullets and Vehicles" at Sig Sauer Academy. (https://sigsaueracademy.com/courses/bullets-and-vehicles). Truly amazing. Also some classes at Thunder Ranch (https://thunderranchinc.com/handgun-vehicle-trauma) but those were using own own rental cars (lol, I had an Infinity QX80 with full coverage) and the goal was to avoid putting any damage on the car, so it was just firing from seat/getting out/etc. drills. The Sig class has good law enforcement support (many of the students are LE/agency) so they had a repo'd car: in my class most of the work was done with Audi 2003 (B6 model) A4 sedan, which was cool as I was driving a 2006 (B7 model) A4 at the time. Lots of cool pictures somewhere.

I also worked for ~6y in Iraq/Afghanistan but we never shot through glass in our own vehicles, did shoot rifles from open doors etc. on ranges but the times I was in trucks which were actually shooting "in anger" I was a passenger in the back in armored vehicle and the guy up top did all the work (and almost always it was warning shots, and most often frozen water bottles thrown at cars first to dissuade them)

(Basic firearms training is great, and the vehicle stuff is fun, but TBH the medical parts of these classes are far more useful; I wish more people would take trauma management classes. Outside of war zones, easy to go entire life without any "security" problems, but lots of car accidents, tool accidents, etc. where knwoing this stuff can save someone.)

Fantastic writeup, thanks. I’ve got to check those places out. Also very appropriate use of Audis. And yes, agree about the trauma ed.

Courses available to the public courtesy of (e.g.) the Sig Sauer Academy: https://sigsaueracademy.com/courses/bullets-and-vehicles?sta... ...