If you have a gun in your pickup and have to leave your truck for any length of time what happens to the gun? Do you take it with you? How about shoving it under the seat and hope for the best? Firearms concealment is about where to hide your guns from thieves since most states allow carrying a gun in your truck. You don’t want to come back to your truck to find someone pointing your own gun at you. Here are some ideas for the best places to hide guns and ammo.

The good news is there are lots of places to safely hide your guns in a pickup according to Jon Harris, a retired Army Senior NCO, Retired Master Peace Officer, and drug interdiction officer. Some will be convenient, and some will require slight mods to your interior. With some ingenuity, you drive a rolling arsenal with the cavities and spaces a truck provides. 

Hide guns inside a truck

Below the center console. Under the center console is an area that can hide guns and a couple of boxes of ammo. Consoles are held in place screwed to brackets attached to the floor or clips attached to flanges that are welded to the floor. Removing these allows the console to lift up exposing the void for storage. 

Up under the seats. Shoving guns under the seats means all a thief has to do is run his hand quickly to catch anything lying there. They don’t even have to look. Obviously, that’s not good. But securing a gun to the underside of the seat with zip ties or gaffers tape tucks it up off of the floor. It can’t be felt or seen.

Behind door panels. Along the bottom of a door, there is room for a short rifle or shotgun that has a folding stock. Door panels usually have many screws and/or clips that are overkill. So, remove the panel and then be selective about eliminating some of the attachments when replacing the panel.

Behind the radio. Harris suggests that most radios have four screws at each corner attaching the radio. If these are removed and metal rods or even coat hanger wire is inserted into them the radio will slide out. This will expose an area to hide pistols and some gun ammo.

Hide guns outside of pickup

Behind bumpers. There is usually a large area that can easily handle a shotgun or rifle. Duct tape, that most handy of materials, is your friend in this case. Use it liberally. 

Under the hood. Fender wells contain great places to hide a rifle bag. Placed behind the fender well makes it difficult to see if you don’t know to look there.

Air cleaner/airbox. These are usually large enough to accommodate a small gun without affecting the engine performance. 

The trunk. Hiding it is the point here. Pull the side carpet away and place weapons in the lower fender cavity. Then replace the carpet. You might throw a towel or rags in front of it to make it look like it has not been disturbed in some time. 

Inside frame rails. There is enough space inside of the frame rails to hide an arsenal. Some black zip ties can hold a number of weapons. Even sticking their head under the truck will not reveal anything that has been placed there. 

Inside the roof. By removing the third brake light a cavity sandwiched by the top sheetmetal and a metal panel for the headliner is revealed. It can hold ammo, magazines, and more. Attach a common string to them so that by pulling on it the attached items will come out through the opening. Make sure you tape the string to the back of the light so when you remove it the string is right there.

Inside of the tailgate. Either through an access panel for the tailgate latch or removing the inner panel with screws you access a cavity to hide a gun. Some use silicone to reseal it. When access is needed they use a knife or razor blade to cut the silicone.

A spare is a good place to hide things, too

Spare tire. Yes, some actually hide guns within the spare tire, but that’s not what is recommended here. Instead, crank down your spare and the inside of the wheel provides a lot of space. Place your guns or ammo there, then crank it back up. 

Finally, Harris suggests that if you have to leave your truck and feel for sure it will be ransacked then throw the thieves a bone. Leave behind a nonfunctional gun or other such items. Don’t make it obvious. Hopefully, they’ll take their score and run. If everything else is hidden well thieves won’t spend any more time looking for still more treasure.