One man's opinion. While I would never place a loaded weapon in an area where I place my hands when I sleep (e.g. under my pillow or on the mattress next to me), I have no history of grabbing anything off of my nightstand unconsciously during the night. I do think it's smart to hedge your bets and place the gun in a nightstand drawer, down lower towards the floor rather than at face level, or at minimum keeping my water bottle between me and the gun. But I have slept in some shady motels while traveling and kept the gun on the night stand without issue. I think that declaring anything less than 8'-10' away is just your personal bias rather than being an absolute necessity for everyone who keeps a gun in their bedroom.