Rental Cars....

[Teamless]

I have been deciding whether to post this or not, but as this is so "others may learn", even though I am embarrassed by the situation, I am posting this:

Last week, I took my wife's car to the shop for a bit of body work, so I picked up a rental car on Monday morning (the 20th)
So as always in Texas, I always have a weapon with me, and I keep my Bodyguard .380 in the car all the time.

So I drove from the rental office to my office, then off to the airport, for a short trip.
I came back on Tuesday night, drove home and had a dashboard error light come on, so I went to the rental office first thing on Wednesday morning, to get a different car, and in trying to beat the rush of people to the door (yes, they are very busy when they first open), I left my .380 in the arm rest.

On Wednesday about noon, I get back to the airport for another trip, and as soon as I park my car, I go through my checklist in my head.
This checklist is simply "Did I leave my knife in the car and did I leave my gun.." and "I said OH CRAP!!! I left it in the rental!!"

So I jump on the shuttle bus to the airport, clear security quickly (only takes a few seconds with TSA Precheck) then I got on the phone.

They had taken the car across the street to the detailer to fix the issue and clean the car.
I asked if they could go see if the gun was still in there, but do not call them, so in the case they didn't know it was there, they wouldn't cause any more issues or concern as necessary.

The company went to check, it was still there, but she said there was bad news. By their company policy they cannot handle weapons. so they called Webster PD to come get it, and I would have to pick it up from the police station.

I got back in town Friday afternoon, and by the time I got to the PD, the offices had closed (they close at 11:30 on Friday's) and with the Holiday yesterday, they were closed.
So I stopped by this morning, on the way to work, they said I had to make an appointment with a certain detective, so I called him, he called back and I have been to their office, picked up my .380 and am back at work now.

They ran my criminal history, explaining they cannot give guns to felons, I wasn't worried of course, and just signed a voucher for the items (gun, holster, magazine, 7 rounds) and was on my way.

Webster PD did a great job on this, and I was happy it was not more trouble to get it picked up, as I was not sure what they would say, do, or whatever and I am certainly happy my .380 did not end up getting found by the wrong people.

So folks, regardless of how busy you are, remember when you are not in your own vehicle, double check your belongings and for me, I will treat it like the airport, "knife, gun, etc" when I exit the vehicle.

Signed
Embarrassed but still learning!--- Teamless

[Abraham]

Thanks for the head's up.

[nyj]

I bet that wasn't a good feeling when you realized you left the gun behind. Glad you got it back.

[Teamless]

I bet that wasn't a good feeling when you realized you left the gun behind.

Nope, it wasn't.
The pit of my stomach dropped.

Not so much for the loss of the value of the gun, although I wouldn't want to replace it, but for someone who may rent the car next, find the loaded gun, with 1 in the chamber, and pulling the trigger and causing anything up to and including death of someone.

Scary!!

[Keith B]

I bet that wasn't a good feeling when you realized you left the gun behind.

Nope, it wasn't.
The pit of my stomach dropped.

Not so much for the loss of the value of the gun, although I wouldn't want to replace it, but for someone who may rent the car next, find the loaded gun, with 1 in the chamber, and pulling the trigger and causing anything up to and including death of someone.

Scary!!

If I found one in a rental car I would assume the company had gotten smart and installed it as a perk!

Seriously, glad it all worked out. That had to be an extremely sickening feeling.

[mojo84]

I was expecting you to say it was going to take 30-45 days to get your gun back. Glad it wasn't a big deal.

[Excaliber]

This story is a great reminder of how easily something like this can happen to a highly responsible person when he is distracted by other tasks at hand.

It takes deliberate effort to keep focus on the things we really need to pay attention to,and this is especially true any time a gun is placed off body (e.g. in the rest room, rental car, hotel room, etc.).

Thanks for posting this. Although the story was embarrassing, I'm glad Webster PD handled it as they did. The outcome was good and it provides great opportunity for others to learn and prevent a similar experience.

[C-dub]

Did the same thing with my truck one time at the dealership when turning it in for repairs. Didn't realize it until I got to work. The center console was locked, but of course, they have the key. I called them and told them I had some confidential work stuff in there and I'd be there in 30 minutes to pick it up and they should not open the console. Everything was fine and I did not have to go to the local PD to get it back, thankfully. So, I know the feeling almost. I can't even imagine the pucker (sorry Pucker) factor with a rental car.

[Bgriff1974]

Consider yourself lucky. It was about ten years ago for me and it was a colt combat commander and I didn't remember for about 2 hours but when I went to get it the gun was gone and everyone played dumb. Called the police and they took a report but I never got my weaponback. Hard lesson learned.