Carrying A Gun At Home

Smoke

Smoke

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Since I picked up my M&P Shield I've made a habit of carrying at home. Part of the reason is simple convenience. I can put the shield (holstered of course) in the pocket of my hoodie and I barely know it's there.


Another factor is the fact that I live in an apartment where I don't know anything about the person that lived here before me. I can make inferences from the numbers of process servers that have shown up at my door looking for her but I don't really know what kind of people her life may attract to what is now my home.


Another factor that goes with living in an apartment is my neighbors, when we moved in our neighbor across the hall worked in a MMJ shop and let's just say he brought his work home that could attract some unwanted attention as well.


On the up side this particular apartment is two stories up on a flat wall and only has one door which makes it easy to secure. Short of a SWAT team and a breaching charge you aren't going to kick my door down easily.


I'm also curious as to who carries a reload at home?
 
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Smoke said:
I can make inferences from the numbers of process servers that have shown up at my door looking for her...

...when we moved in our neighbor across the hall worked in a MMJ shop and let's just say he brought his work home...
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Brother, you need to move. I hate it when people tell me stuff like this because I know how difficult it is to move sometimes. Even so, based on the stuff you've told us over the last few months, this is a bad neighborhood. OK, I won't mention it again.


Carry at home? Why wouldn't you? This way, if you have to go out, the gun is already ready to go. If you run into an issue at home, you're ready. No, I see no benefit to not carrying at home.
 
All day every day 49 no dash and a reload. I'm semi-retired, sometimes the 49 becomes a BUG to a LDA 45 with spare 1911 8 round mag or a Sig 245 w/spare 220 mag (at this point I may not have the strip of 38's). When dressed up the 49 is there, along with whatever work with the clothes. Just today, made sure the wife remembers how to use the 49, she uses a Glock 17 in/under her coat. She doesn't know it yet but she gets to practice with the 49 on her next trip to the range. But to answer your second question with a question; Do humans become nicer just because you got to your home? When I lived in the country, I carried 24/7, now I live where people are always around, so I only carry 24/7. Ivan
 
I have one on me when at home, usually a j-frame or Kel-Tec in the pocket. I don't carry a reload, as my home reload is a 12-gauge coach gun.
 
If I'm dressed, I'm carrying. Would do so even if I lived in Cheyenne Mountain. Undressed, well within arm's reach.
 
Yep, when I get up in the morning I put them on and they stay on until I go to bed unless I go into a "gun free zone" :rolleyes: then they get locked in the lock box in my truck.

Part of it is because I'm in the country and it's nice to have a gun with you when a yote is trying to get the chickens or goats (they haven't messed with the hogs yet, the ol' boar might have something to do with that. ;)) and for the other four or two legged predators that come around time to time.
 
I'm always carrying, again, out in the country and if I need it I need it right then plus it's easier to just have one on than not. And yes, I carry 2 reloads as well.With a 5 shot j-frame reloads are more likely to be necessary and yes I do practice reloading.

Bigger issue is right now, trying to put on the outdoor heavy coveralls and still keep it accessible is a challenge.

BTW I also practice drawing from under the winter clothing and with gloves on, you never know when you might need it although in our case it's most likely to be stray dogs or coyotes than a person.
 
I don't carry at home unless the grandkids (ages 7 to 14) are coming over. Then the 442 goes in my pocket b/c I don't want one of them to find it w/o my knowledge. There's no hiding place where they could not, eventually, find the gun.
 
Old cop said:
I don't carry at home unless the grandkids (ages 7 to 14) are coming over. Then the 442 goes in my pocket b/c I don't want one of them to find it w/o my knowledge. There's no hiding place where they could not, eventually, find the gun.
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There's this new invention, it's called a safe. Just sayin'...

Then again, you could teach the kids about guns and then it would become innocuous.
 
I`m armed whether I`m at home or outside the house. I usually carry the same gun I`ve carried that day, usually a K frame or a compact Glock. My wife doesn`t often carry in the house, but has quick access to her Sig if needed.
 
JUST MY OPINION:

I spent about 30 years in close proximity to about 3000 inmates who could pretty much ruin your day in an instant. That taught me to have a "sixth" sense that is still VERY active today, 6 years after retirement.

Carry when I'm out and about? For sure, carry in my own house while I'm home? Nope, but that doesn't mean I can't get to it and defend what I treasure before it's taken from me.

IMO, if you need a weapon on your person while you eat dinner, maybe you should think about moving.
 
took said:
Pants on gun's on, pants off gun's in reach.
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Exactly. I carry my Shield 9mm in a HHH holster and it is literally so comfortable that I see no reason not to always have it on. It's convenient and quick. It doesn't matter if I feel safe at home or not. That's not the point. I do feel safe, but most people that have been victims of home invasions or other situations probably felt pretty safe too up until the moment that they weren't. I see no good reason not to carry it, so why not?
 
Walking downtown or snoozing on the couch, there's a gun in the pocket.

Disarming throughout the day, at home or wherever, is adding another layer of ooops to the carry routine.
 
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In my case, it's not a matter of feeling insecure, it's that I have been carrying a sidearm for 48 years.

When it's not on my hip, it doesn't feel right, bordering on physical discomfort. The pressure of a belt without a holster is disconcerting.I'll bet some of you old geezers know what I mean.

A side arm is just part of my everyday equipment. Watch, wallet, keys, gun. It's not a big deal, it's just getting dressed.
 
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Iggy said:
When it's not on my hip, it doesn't feel right,
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I'm brand new and yet it feels that way to me as well. I am much more comfortable with my sidearm on than not. No worries, I just have to remember to store it properly when I need to go into the post office. Otherwise it's on me.
 
I worked in the garage organizing some new tools, cut some limbs out back with my new Stihl Pole Saw (christmas present), and helped my nephew move into a new apartment just down the street from my house. Kel Tec P32 in my front pocket all day. Relaxing on the back porch watching the bowl games and surfing the net. Governor on the table next to me, and a Mossberg pistol grip riot gun within reach. The actual guns vary regularly, but something is always around.
 
Okay, my house is as secure as almost anyone's - deadbolts, locked door handles, dogs, and a door security bar in place front and back if I am inside, plus it has an alarm that I generally keep on. It will take some effort to "invade". However, color me paranoid, I don't care, I am never without a firearm on my person or within easy reach. Bathroom? I have one there, too. Read John Taffin's recent column in GUNS magazine on home defense guns - I am NOT the only one to recognize the vulnerability of the bathroom. It's hidden, it's kept dry, it's loaded, it can be reached if an invader hasn't breached and caught me in the shower.

But before I go on let me make a separate point. Some folks don't have as many guns as some of us. If you're a fan of guns but haven't, for whatever reason, bought more and more of them over the years then your plan is different because it has to be. No issues with that - but if you're covered up in firearms, well, even undressed you can have one available if you so choose. It's all personal - what works for me isn't everyone's cup of tea.

Asleep? Revolver within easy reach. Been that way for close to 40 years.

Shotguns? Two in one hall closet, a third in a bedroom closet, and a .44 caliber lever gun in there, too. Why? Because I can. Is it a necessity? Probably not. But I have the guns so why not?

Living room? Revolver in a cabinet.

So they're all reachable - and if I'm dressed my 642 is in my pocket. Otherwise, it's somewhere reachable, too. But what if I'm in my t-shirt and sweats, or similar sleep-time clothing?

Double action .22 Magnum derringer in my robe pocket or little Beretta 950BS. Easy to do and thus I am never without a gun.

Paranoid? Probably. Scared? Not one bit.

YMMV

***GRJ***
 
I was once scared to live in my home. But most of it has subsided. As someone mentioned move elsewhere, the amount of stress you retain is worth the little bit more money to live in a nicer place
 
No. If I'm one step outside my door I'm armed. At home my carry gun is within reach, but not on my person. I don't carry one to the bathroom in the middle of the night, or while drinking my get-the-heart-started first mug of coffee in the morning.

Some of you will consider that to be near-criminal complacency, but at my advanced age I have no desire to live every moment at Condition Orange. I don't chase women anymore, so jealous husbands or boyfriends are no longer a source of concern.
 
I am with Iggy on this one. If I am wearing pants, I am also "wearing," if you know what I mean.

Via Clint Smith:

"If you carry a gun, people will call you paranoid. That's ridiculous. If I have a gun, what in the hell do I have to be paranoid for."

Several have remarked about others being in the house. My personal belief is that if your personal weapon is not on your person, it should be locked up so that unauthorized users do not have access. A good reason to carry at home.
 
The only place I don't carry is at work (because it's prohibited) or any other place with prohibitive signs. As soon as I get home from work and out of work clothes, the gun goes on.
 
I've been carrying my shield 9 in a galco stow n go around the house for a while now. Even in gym shorts it still carries well.
 
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