Loaded on the nightstand?

[whw]

Take a close look around your house, starting at the front door and the path that leads to your bedroom. Using your imagination, how many makeshift weapons did you see along the way? I'm talking about weapons that can be used to kill an innocent sleeping in their own bed. Lamps, fireplace pokers, sculptures, ash trays, kitchen knives, etc...

I will bet you can find quite a few. If a bad guy wants to arm himself on his way to my room, the last thing I want to worry about is loading my revolver when awakened. No sir, I want the bullets in position to take a quick trip to a vital area.

If you are afraid of having a loaded gun on the nightstand, go buy a bat. It is a lot cheaper than a gun.

W

 

[badge 851]

I own firearms. They are loaded. Most are readily accessible. My wife and I know how to use them.

My house is locked down at night. Our alarm system is a chihuahua and a wienerdog. Both work without batteries, and are very light sleepers!

Very Sound Advice!

 

[cbr6864]

I loaded the m&p with one in the tube and put it on my nightstand. Does this strike anyone as unsafe? Has anyone else done the same?

It would be strange not to have your guns loaded, I have a Mossy 500 and my 1911 next to my bed along with a 150lbs American Mastiff/German Shepherd mix.

 

[cmort666]

If this guy is not harming the residents of the homes he breaks into, perhaps you should use a Taser, stun gun, pepper spray or baseball bat for defense, and not the more lethal option of a firearm. You can have your less-than-lethal defense product on the nightstand, and your handgun concealed nearby, not out in the open for the unwanted visitor to arm himself with.

I see NO reason whatever to take ANY risk to protect somebody who unlawfully KNOWINGLY enters an occupied dwelling. That's somebody who's either a risk taker or somebody who's working himself up to more extreme behavior.

If you don't want to get shot, you shouldn't be breaking into people's homes when they're there.

There was an episode of "Cold Case Files" where a guy heard a noise in his home late at night. He picked up a baseball bat and went to see what the noise was. It was a guy with a knife, who proceeded to stab him to death, rape his wife and set the house on fire. The wife was harassed for quite a while by the police, as their only suspect. Finally after around ten years, the real murderer/rapist was caught. The wife's closing comment on the show was that she wished that she'd been killed the night her husband was.

Still think the baseball bat is a good idea?

 

[RSWMTB]

ABSOLUTELY UNSAFE.

A loaded firearm, say in the bedroom at night (NO CHILDREN) should be 8-10 feet away from you.

This allows for some time and distance that you have to cross while waking up from a Nitemare!

This helps cut down on ACCIDENTIAL SHOOTING OF LOVED ONES.

Someone better brief said psycho to stand more than 10 feet from the people he watches.



.

 

[Old Unk]

Chatted up an FBI agent >50 years ago who was speaker at our Kiwanis Club. He kept his loaded firearm ready to go - in a dresser drawer across the room. His rationale was he didn't want to shoot a loved one coming out of a deep sleep state...and if an intruder had the drop on you in bed you were basically screwed [ my words. not his - was a gent like most I've met].

For over 50 years now I have to get out of bed to get a firearm.

For an old fat man I can move pretty quick.

Best.

 

[whw]

Still think the baseball bat is a good idea?

That says it all... A loaded gun is a lot better idea.

W

 

[Frizzman]

If the security of your sleeping place is so poor that a person can force their way in and stand over your bed while you sleep, the gun may be of little use. I would first focus on securing and hardening entry points. I would have some sort of method to alert you that someone is in your house. My house has a security system but my main alert system consists of two large dogs sleeping on the floor at the foot of my bed. I keep a shotgun and a pistol in my room. The shotgun has the magazine loaded and the chamber empty. The pistol has a loaded mag in it but an empty chamber I keep all of this along with my cellphone, a couple of lights and my landline phone within reach. We also shut and lock our bedroom door when we go to sleep. We are not comfortable having a firearm with a chambered round right in or next to the bed and I think we would get plenty of warning if an intruder tried to get in. Our daughter no longer lives at home so its just us and the dogs.

 

[Buffalohunter60]

My Glock 30 with light and lazer sits in the nightstand draw. I live in the country and have never locked the door. I have a large female Shepard and she is a very good alarm system...she has her own door in and out of the house and patrols when ever she feels the need and she is a very good detcctor...An intruder would never make it to the bed room....they would have to shoot the dog....she does not like intruders and by that time.they would have to contend with the glock...or possibly the AR-15.
After I had a bear invasion...I got the GS alarm system and nothing has invaded since LOL.

 

[RSWMTB]

If the security of your sleeping place is so poor that a person can force their way in and stand over your bed while you sleep, the gun may be of little use.

That sir, is a center-mass hit.



.

 

[Kanewpadle]

If the security of your sleeping place is so poor that a person can force their way in and stand over your bed while you sleep, the gun may be of little use. I would first focus on securing and hardening entry points. I would have some sort of method to alert you that someone is in your house. My house has a security system but my main alert system consists of two large dogs sleeping on the floor at the foot of my bed. I keep a shotgun and a pistol in my room. The shotgun has the magazine loaded and the chamber empty. The pistol has a loaded mag in it but an empty chamber I keep all of this along with my cellphone, a couple of lights and my landline phone within reach. We also shut and lock our bedroom door when we go to sleep. We are not comfortable having a firearm with a chambered round right in or next to the bed and I think we would get plenty of warning if an intruder tried to get in. Our daughter no longer lives at home so its just us and the dogs.

I said the same in an earlier post but nobody listens.

Time is your friend. Giving the bad guy the element of surprise is very bad.

 

[ozo]

I am alarmed.....at even the thought...
on a pro-gun forum.....someone would be afraid
to be 'locked and loaded'............
WITHIN ONE'S REACH !

Asleep or not.

This is scary.

 

[Steak]

To the op; do whatever you feel makes you feel good and safe. Who cares whatever we all think is weird or strange.

To answer you, I don't think it's strange at all. I have 3 handguns locked and loaded all within reach.

 

[pegasus416]

House alarm + 3 dogs and finally 2 loaded S&W in our night stands. If someone has the balls to make it to the bedroom, they'll get what they deserve.

 

[cockerpoodle2]

My suggestion:
Install a quality dead-bolt lock on your bedroom door. If someone is trying to get in, rack a round into the 12 guage pump you keep unter the bed (chamber empty). The sound will scare off anyone except homicidal killers and spaced-out drug users. If that all fails, use your tactical flashlight and the handgun in your night stand (mine is a S&W 5944 with 15 9mm hollow points).
I agree that the best alarm system is a protective pooch (Maggie the cockerpoodle).
It goes wthout saying that an expensive dead-bolt lock is no help if your door is a flimsy, hollow shell of 1/8th plywood.
Be careful out there,
Cockerpoodle

 

[bp231986]

My suggestion:
Install a quality dead-bolt lock on your bedroom door. If someone is trying to get in, rack a round into the 12 guage pump you keep unter the bed (chamber empty). The sound will scare off anyone except homicidal killers and spaced-out drug users. If that all fails, use your tactical flashlight and the handgun in your night stand (mine is a S&W 5944 with 15 9mm hollow points).
I agree that the best alarm system is a protective pooch (Maggie the cockerpoodle).
It goes wthout saying that an expensive dead-bolt lock is no help if your door is a flimsy, hollow shell of 1/8th plywood.
Be careful out there,
Cockerpoodle

at that point i would not even bother racking around, if they already broke in the house and are trying to break in the bed room shotgun is being emptyed at the door fallowed by pistol shots if still needed, but i think 7 00 buck shots should do the job.

 

[cmort666]

If someone is trying to get in, rack a round into the 12 guage pump you keep unter the bed (chamber empty). The sound will scare off anyone except homicidal killers and spaced-out drug users.

...OR it will tell them that you're not as serious about what you're doing as they are about what they're doing and cause them to (not unreasonably) take you for an easier target.

I expect no sort of "warning" from an assailant. He should expect none from me. If he runs, he doesn't get shot. Any other action makes the outcome doubtful for him.

 

[Xfuzz]

, rack a round into the 12 guage pump you keep unter the bed (chamber empty).

You likewise just gave away your position/location.

 

[ozo]

In today's economy.....
I can no longer afford a warning shot.
My apologies to any bad guy that may
have any thoughts of breaching my personal
space un-invited.
It is what it is.

 

[cockerpoodle2]

I appreciate the comments..
My main point is have a solid door and quality lock between you and an intruder. With a substantial barrier, I think a threatening sound (shotgun) is a reasonable prelude to deadly force. Anyone who would stay around after hearing a Mossberg 500 racked is a deadly threat.
I once was reading late at night when my dog alerted me. A prowler was testing the doors and windows on the outside. I used the Mossy to let him know that my house was a bad choice to rob. He quickly left. To me, that was a perfectly acceptable outcome.
Cockerpoodle