A mother in Texas found a loaded gun and an ax inside her rental vehicle from Enterprise, who claims they inspect vehicles and clean them every time between rentals. Obviously that did not happen.
She’d had the car for over a week. She’d already foudn the ax under the driver’s seat. Then, as she headed out to take her 9-year old to a birthday party, she noticed the loaded gun on the floorboard beneath her daughter’s seat.
“I wanted to throw up and cry at the same time because what if she would have touched it,” Santoya said. “What if she would have accidentally shot me, shot herself, shot a car passing by?”
…“Just imagine if I would have got pulled over,” she said. “I take my daughter to school every morning. I’m on school grounds with a stolen gun. I could go to jail. They would probably call CPS on me.”
The thing is, this seems to happen quite a lot. The story sounded familiar to me so I started looking for other incidents – and I stopped after the number became unwieldly. But I collected a sample. I see busy rental locations hose down a car at best between renters.
And I guess people forget their guns behind and then don’t bother calling about them? Or if they call, nobody at the rental agency reaches out to the renter who is now driving around with a gun?
- Mar 6, 2025 — Boston, MA: Local mom says a loaded handgun was in the glove box of her rental; she only learned of it when she returned the car.
- Jan 23, 2025 — Williamsburg, VA (Hertz): Renter opened the trunk and found a police‑issued long gun with vests and other gear traced to Williamsburg PD.
- Feb 22, 2024 — Dearborn, MI: Rental company discovered an altered handgun and magazines left in a returned car; police charged the prior renter.
- Feb 9, 2024 — Roanoke, VA (Enterprise): Renter found a loaded 9mm in the seat‑back pocket next to a child’s car seat after Enterprise called warning there might be a gun.
- Oct 13–14, 2023 — Windsor Locks, CT (Avis): Employee found a loaded pistol with extended mag in a returned vehicle’s front area.
- May 16, 2022 — Detroit Metro Airport, MI (Budget): Renter learned a loaded gun was in the SUV; airport police confiscated it. Article also notes a similar 2018 Budget incident.
- May 3, 2022 — Atlanta, GA (Avis): Renter (Marianna MacLeod) found a gun in the glove box; APD removed it after she struggled to get help from the company.
- Mar 20, 2019 — Livonia, MI: 18‑year‑old renter reported a loaded Ruger LCR .38 found in the car.
- Feb 7, 2018 — Little Rock, AR (Budget): WWE’s Shelton Benjamin drove a rental for four days before finding a loaded Ruger pistol in the glove box.
- Sep 26–27, 2014 — Sunrise, FL: A 2‑year‑old found a loaded handgun in the back seat of a family’s rental car; media covered the near‑miss.
- Jan 6, 2014 — Fort Lauderdale, FL (E‑Z Rent‑A‑Car): Lauren Tannehill (wife of Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill) left an AR‑15 in a rental; the next renter found it and turned it in.
- Aug 18, 2016 — Franklin/Nashville area, TN: Family’s 11‑year‑old discovered a loaded gun in their rental while two younger siblings were seated nearby.
- Sep 25–27, 2012 — Longview, TX (Enterprise): 1‑year‑old was found playing with a pistol left in the car; the case prompted policy reviews.
- 2017 — San Diego, CA: 9mm Glock found under a rental’s seat; SDPD recovered it after a call from SeaWorld.
It got to the point with Hertz that I expected a reasonable chance of an arrest any time I rented from them. But that was because they weren’t tracking their fleet well. Calls would get returned, they’d rent them out again, but the vehicles didn’t get properly checked in. They showed as still out to a prior renter, not returned, and stolen. It’s a problem that has seemed to now be under control, once they engaged Palantir to help them get a handle on where their cars were.
But in some ways this seems even more serious? It happens across brands. Renters are leaving the guns. And rental companies don’t really check the cars much when they get them back, before sending them out again with a new customer. Imagine getting pulled over by the cops, as happened to so many Hertz renters, and they find a gun in the car? An unregistered, illegal gun or at least one you do not own? And that you didn’t inform the officer of, because you didn’t know about?
If you find a gun in your rental car:
- Do not touch or move it. Keep hands off the gun (and ax!) and keep passengers away.
- Park safely and call local police to report a found firearm in a rental vehicle. Wait for their instructions.
- Document everything. Exterior and interior shots that show where the item is, then step back.
- Notify the rental company immediately and request replacement vehicle. You might keep the car if the police take the gun from you, but document the incident with them regardless.
- Follow up in writing (email) summarizing the timeline and the police incident number.
You don’t want liability for the gun. You don’t want your fingerprints on the gun. You don’t want to be in possession of a firearm that may be illegal, that may have been used in the commission of a crime, or that could be stolen property. You also don’t want to go around handling firearms you are unfamiliar with. And you want documentation that you aren’t doing any of those things!
“Jesus, I see what you’ve done for other people and I want that for me.”
:praying emoji:
That’s a real public service notice, Gary. Thanks for posting this and it could definitely help someone in such a position. Unfortunately though it is unlikely to have an effect on those who say we don’t need any more regulation of firearms. (Personally I agree with Thom Hartmann that we need a national system that treats them like cars with mandatory testing, registration and insurance for ownership and use, but good luck with that.) Anyway, the AR-15 really got me, “Gosh, I put it down somewhere”.
As Big Poppa once said: “If you got a gun up in your waist please don’t shoot up the place!”
I once found a small bag of either cocaine or meth in a car I rented. I threw it out, washed my hands thoroughly, and went about my way…
Thanks, Gary. Good advice — I never considered this possibility and probably would have done everything you (correctly) said NOT to do.
Hopefully, none of us ever have to deal with this.
Both of these incidents were over ten years ago with National: loaded gun in a door pocket at DTW; drug paraphernalia under a seat at ORD. Coworkers and my wife thought I was nuts with my inspecting rental vehicles before driving away until these two incidents within one year. Both times I notified a National employee without touching the contraband, and they allowed me to choose any vehicle from any category they had on premises. What they did with the contraband is not my problem as I never touched it and the vehicle was never checked out to me. I have also noticed expired inspection decals, damaged tires, loose parts on the undercarriage, and non-functioning lights. Over the life of a rental vehicle, the company may change the registration state but leave expired inspection decals on the windshield. If you happen to drive into the state of the expired windshield decals, it will attract attention of law enforcement, as does non-functioning lights. I never leave the lot without ensuring the vehicle is road-worthy, has nothing in it I would not want law enforcement to catch me with, verify the vehicle has proof of registration/insurance in the glove compartment, and get a printed rental agreement. I have also found other people’s wallets and drivers licenses. Amazon currently has Streamlight USB-C rechargeable flashlights on sale for $35; I keep one in my travel bag, they are very durable/bright and easier to use than a phone light. I am still waiting on a wad of Benjamins.
@ Gary — Well, this is what happens when every moron in Merica is allowed to carry a gun, including assault rifles, without training, background checks, or a license. If the government would mandate these things, it could be a booming business for companies to provide training and licensing.
Does anybody know the difference between a hatchet and an axe?
Apparently not.
@David Hatchets are a heck of a lot easier to throw, among other things.
@Gene — Great idea. All the money-making opportunities for ‘training and licensing’!
@David — Yessir. Size, weight, intended use, and handling. The axe is the powerhouse tool for serious wood processing, while the hatchet is the smaller, more versatile tool for campcraft, bushcraft, and lighter tasks. Also, “and my axe!”
Despite this deeply regrettable act by a National/Enterprise customer (National/Enterprise’s culpability was limited to not seeing it when they cleaned the vehicle), they are still way in front of any other major Rental Car provider. TINA (There Is No Alternative) comes to mind, I’d rather rent from National/Enterprise than any other major provider (it beats being hauled off to jail or being charged for $ 100’s in fines for optical aberrations which may or may not relate to anything you had done).
In other news, Hertz has fined a renter $400 for a scratch found on the handgun left in their car.
@1990 — Your LOTR reference was acknowledged and appreciated!
If only Enterprise also had a “MRI for Cars” that could projectile guns and other dangerous weapons from their hiding spots in the cars. /s