History

• According to The Official Shotgun Rules website, the concept of a shotgun seat can be traced back to the days of the Old West, when transportation often involved a horse-drawn wagon. Because the wagon driver had to keep both hands on the reins and concentrate on where he was going, bandits and thieves could stage surprise attacks. It then became customary to have a partner sit next to the driver with a shotgun for protection.
  
  

Function

• When riding in a car with multiple passengers, deciding who gets to ride shotgun can often become a complicated and heated ritual. Shotgun rules create a fair system that leaves the front-passenger seat up for grabs to the quickest person in a just manner, according to the Shotgun Rules website. In addition, several complicated situations may arise when people begin declaring dibs on the shotgun seat without a set of rules, such as the appropriate time to declare shotgun.
  
  

Standard Rules

• Many nuances to calling shotgun exist, but a few standard rules apply. To "call" the shotgun seat, you must say the specific word "shotgun" while outside and in sight of the vehicle. This call must be loud and clear enough to be heard by at least one other potential passenger. Calling shotgun days before an activity is considered a display of poor social mores by the Shotgun Rules website.
  
  

Violations

• There are some tactics that the website says are so egregious that they can be considered cheating. You must have shoes on when calling shotgun outside. Simply jumping outside in bare feet is called "gaping" and highly illegal. While you may call shotgun by entering the seat, if you try to open the door while it is locked, you are no longer eligible during that trip.
  
  

Prevention/Solution

• Some instances may arise in which no clear winner of "calling shotgun" may exist. When a consensus about who rides shotgun cannot be reached, one of two methods is commonly used. In one, the driver may make a final ruling on who gets shotgun. The other uses the game Rock-Paper-Scissors. Two exceptions supersede any of the "shotgun rules." Significant others of the driver or any passenger automatically have the right of first refusal. The vehicle owner also may have the shotgun seat automatically.