Car Gun Safe Guide: Console, Under-Seat and Truck Mounts Compared

This page covers the car gun safe: a vehicle gun safe sized for a handgun. For car safes in general, including ones for cash, documents and electronics, see our car safes page. For full-size home storage, see gun safes.

A car gun safe is a handgun box with a mounting plan

Every car gun safe on the market is some version of the same idea. A steel box, a lock, a foam liner, and a way to attach it to the vehicle. The attachment is what separates the categories.

• Cable-tethered boxes. A portable lock box with a steel cable that loops around a seat frame or anchor point. The most common style. Also the easiest to move between vehicles.
• Console safes. A steel insert made to fit a specific center console, often a particular truck or SUV model. A car console gun safe bolts into the existing console and uses its lid.
• Under-seat and floor-mounted safes. A box or drawer that bolts to the floor or seat rails. An under seat gun safe or a vehicle gun safe drawer stays out of sight and is harder to carry off.
• Headrest and seat-back mounts. A headrest gun safe or a seat-back holster case hangs from the headrest posts. Quick to reach, easy to see from outside.
• Truck and rifle storage. A truck gun safe can be a lockable under-seat box in a pickup cab, a behind-seat vault or a lockable rack. A car rifle safe is usually a long, flat case or a locking rack, not a box.

The table below is limited to safes made to hold a handgun in a car or truck. Long-gun racks and general cargo vaults belong elsewhere.

Who needs a vehicle gun safe, and who can skip it

A vehicle gun safe makes sense for anyone who ever leaves a handgun in a parked vehicle, even briefly.

It suits you if:

• you carry and sometimes enter places where firearms aren't allowed
• you drive to a range, a hunting area or another home with a handgun
• you want the gun locked away from passengers, including children, while you drive
• you need a locked container to meet a state's transport or vehicle-storage rules

Skip it if:

• the gun never rides in a vehicle; a handgun lock box for the home may be the better buy
• you need to store long guns, which need a rack or a long case
• you want a safe for documents or cash in the car; see car safes

Car gun safes and the law: plain facts, no advice

Vehicle storage and transport rules differ by state, and some cities add their own. We don't summarize state laws, and nothing on this page is legal advice. Check your state's official government site before you rely on any container.

California is one state with clear public guidance, which is why "California legal car gun safe" is a common search. The California Department of Justice says a handgun may be transported in a vehicle if it is unloaded and locked in the trunk or in a locked container. It defines a locked container as a secure container fully enclosed and locked by a padlock, key lock, combination lock or similar device. The same page says this includes the trunk but does not include the utility or glove compartment. Read the full text on the Department of Justice transport page.

California also has a law on handguns left in unattended vehicles. Senate Bill 869, signed in 2016, added Penal Code 25140. It lists options that include locking the handgun in the trunk, in a locked container placed out of plain view, or in a locked container permanently affixed to the vehicle's interior and not in plain view. The current text is on the state's legislative information site.

A "California approved vehicle gun safe" usually refers to a product that appears on the DOJ's roster of firearm safety devices certified for sale. The roster is a separate list from the vehicle rules. A product on it may still need to be used in a way that meets the transport rules above.

If children ride in the vehicle, keep the handgun in the locked safe and the key or code on you, not in the cup holder or the console.

What to look for in a car gun safe: mounting, lock, steel

Start with how it attaches, because that decides whether the safe stays in the car.

Mounting. A steel cable is better than nothing and worse than bolts. Check the cable's stated diameter and whether the loop locks inside the box, not outside it. A console insert or a bolt-down floor safe is harder to remove, but it's tied to one vehicle. Truck gun safe F-150 and BMW or Mercedes-Benz gun safe searches usually mean a console insert built for that model. Confirm the model years on the listing, not the photo.

Steel thickness. Most car gun safes are small enough that steel gauge is printed on the listing. A lower gauge number means thicker steel: under the federal U.S. Standard Gauge, 12-gauge is 0.1094 in and 16-gauge is 0.0625 in. If the listing doesn't say, the table will show "—."

The lock. Car gun safe biometric models read a fingerprint. Keypad models take a code. Key-only boxes are slow but don't need batteries. Quick access car gun safe listings often add a spring-loaded lid that pops open. A spring loaded car gun safe is faster, and it also opens fully the moment the lock releases, which matters in a tight footwell.

The backup. Every electronic lock needs one. Look for a key override and check where it lives. A key stored in the glove box next to the safe defeats the lock.

Batteries and temperature. Car interiors get far hotter and colder than houses. The manual should list an operating temperature range for the lock and say how to change batteries from outside. (I read those pages first. They're usually near the back, right after the warranty, which is fitting.)

Biometric history. The CPSC has issued recalls and warnings on several biometric gun safes, including a January 2025 warning to stop using the biometric feature on about 183,000 Stack-On biometric gun safes, pistol vaults and lock boxes. If you choose a fingerprint lock, check the model against CPSC notices and see our biometric gun safes page.

Fit. Measure the space under the seat or inside the console, and the handgun with its optic or light. Interior dimensions matter more than the "fits most pistols" line.

How to read the car gun safe table: attachment first, then steel

The table lists every vehicle gun safe we track. A few habits:

• Filter by mounting. Cable, console, under-seat or bolt-down. Choose the one your vehicle allows before comparing anything else.
• Sort by steel gauge. Lower is thicker. A "—" means the listing doesn't state it.
• Check the lock and backup columns together. A fingerprint lock with no backup key is a single point of failure in a parked car.
• Compare interior dimensions with your handgun. Add room for an optic, a light or a spare magazine.
• Treat model-specific console safes as their own category. They aren't interchangeable, even within one brand.

A glove box gun safe or a pistol safe for car use that sits loose isn't really attached to anything. Check whether the listing includes a cable or bolts, and whether you can use them in your vehicle without drilling where you shouldn't. For a portable gun safe for car and home, a cable-tethered lock box is the usual compromise.

Pick the mount your vehicle allows, then the lock

Choose the attachment first, the steel second and the lock third. Then check your state's official guidance for vehicle storage, and keep the backup key on your key ring, not in the glove box.