Do You Try To Hide Your Gun Hobby When Workers Are In Your House?

[model70hunter]

Well it is hard to hide 4 or 5 big racks hanging on the wall.

When asked where I got them my pat amswer is, shot them when they broke in to steal guns. Most laugh but its a nervous laugh.

 

[Drm50]

I do all my own repairs so I don't have strangers in the house.

 

[Old TexMex]

i have Maytag....no repairs needed.

 

[Grip_Maker's_Wife]

I clear the open rooms of anything gun related before service people come over as well. I also close all the bedroom doors because I don't want people other than invited guests peering at anything. I'm always nice and welcoming, will offer them something to drink but will stand next to them and chat if it's a quick job or will work from my laptop nearby so I can keep on eye on them. My mom and aunt had nice jewelry stolen from repairmen so I would rather be safe than sorry.

 

[Shooting Padre]

I've spent so much on my gun hobby I can't afford any workers in my house!!

 

[Donn]

I consider anything gun related highly classified and on a need to know basis. Weapon security is paramount.

Agreed, no one needs to know, including family members who don't live here.

 

[Comrad]

I hide from any and all. My wife tolerates but doesn't approve so I tend to keep her in the dark as well. Especially when I add another one to the collection. One day having carpet put down in the bedroom, the carpet guy decides the closet floor should be done. As I walk in there's my Remington 521T in the middle of the room for all to see. It's usually propped up in the corner of the closet out of sight.

 

[FAS1]

The only reloading equipment that is not in a cabinet is a reloading press mounted to my workbench in the garage. Nothing else to be seen anywhere that they might be working.

I did have a new phone jack put in the master bedroom a couple months ago. Another good reason to have my HD gun in a quick access safe. You don't have to worry about it laying on the nightstand when housekeeping, plumbers, or the cable guy is there. It's always put away, but easily accessible to me only. With the covers pulled up it's not really noticeable.

 

[NYlakesider]

I would have a lot to move, with no place to move it when and if people go to my house. My loading bench and shelves are right by the breaker box and cable TV distribution point/amplifier and a few feet farther is the furnace, water tank, pump. Stevie Wonder would have no trouble figuring out whats what!

Funny, people that do get in most of them are gun people and most times remark on "nice setup" My gun safe is in a very small area that cannot be seen without opening a locked door and I do not discus where it is or whats in it but a knowledgeable person looking at the bench with what supplies are on it and the back shelves will have a good idea.

Its the way things are in a small basement area as more than 1/2 of the downstairs area is a large 2 car garage.

My house is as secure as I can make it and anyone in the utility area will also notice a very good alarm system (not from those companies that advertise continually on the TV.)

So far so good but heck if I knew what the future would bring I would have bough a few winning lottery tickets by now and be able to afford my own security force.

 

[Ranger514]

Living in MT, you're considered odd if you don't have guns in your home. Except for my personal carry, I lock mine in a safe when I leave the house or have workmen around our place. We've had lots of remodel and new building on our property. I don't spend a lot of time worrying about honest, hard working men stealing my guns, but I also don't leave firearms lying around to tempt fate either.

 

[yeti]

Absolutely, you don't always know who you are dealing with.
I try to hide all evidence that I am a shooter/ hunter/reloader when workers come over. It took longer than I ever thought. I realized that there is evidence everywhere!

 

[Stevens]

Yes, Lock a closet and a drawer, and all guns are out of sight. There may be a magazine or a couple of books on the shelf but nothing that would stand out. No safes of any kind are visible either.
Steve W

 

[Skeet 028]

This is a true story.. Had a gun shop on my small farm. Eastern Shore of Md. Car turned into the lane coming up to the house turned out the lights..eased up the lane..0 dark 30 of course. Being a light sleeper and the fact there was almost no traffic on the road a 0230...by the time they got to the house I was standing next to a bush with a Mossberg 590 riot gun. Stopped em and told 'em if anybody moved I'd shoot the driver first then the rest. Had a portable phone and called the Po Leece. Dispatcher told me the closest cop was a 1/2 hour away. Told her I had a shotgun ready to go and if anybody moved I'd kill 'em all....and didn't think they could stay still for a half hour. Boy that got attention. A state trooper lived 3 miles away. I actually heard him leave his house about two minutes later. He was at my place within 3 minutes later. Turned out the driver had a sawed off double under his feet 2 others had handguns. Only unarmed one stated in court he warned the others not to try to rob my place..his reason was he knew I WOULD shoot them. He WAS, of course, correct. It was kinda funny in one respect. When the cop got there he was dressed in a cop shirt a pair of plaid shorts and a gun belt he put on as he got out of his patrol car.. It looked comical...to me anyway. Not so much to the bad guys. Another kinda funny thing...from the time I stuck that shotgun in the drivers face he was pleading with me to let 'em go...The unarmed one kept telling him to "shut up Bobby". Took an hour for the adrenalin to clear my system. Only one I didn't know was the driver.

I should have added..one of the guys was a day worker for a guy that did home repairs..How many places had he robbed before??

 

[Malpasowildlifer]

Of course; what if one of the workers is a tweaker/gang member/etc.? I always secure everything.

My last paid move, the government hired a real dirt bag moving company (Red Ball out of Reno, don't use them.) They only sent two guys (I told them a month in advance there was an 1100 lbs safe) and one was covered in Mexican gang tats.

 

[otisrush]

Thanks all. The stuff has been relocated to a corner of the basement the worker won't be in. I'll have a reason to be down there when he/she is working to ensure they don't walk to this area.

Fortunately the only stuff in question is my reloading gear. I'm not dealing with moving firearms. And additionally fortunately, my stuff is pretty compact and easily movable.

 

[the ringo kid]

Mostly, I don't worry about any repairmen/maintenance guys coming over as I will be there and steer them clear of unauthorised areas. Sometimes I'm not around when they come in as I live in apartment complex. One I live in has a gun ban which I ignore. No laws being broken, just a stupid rule.

 

[Syspila]

YES! I do...

 

[tattooo]

Yes ........

 

[old tanker]

Sometimes being off the beaten path is not an advantage. Some years back, while he was out of town, a local state policeman had his gun safe cleaned out. The used a high lift from his barn to drive through the wall of his house and load the safe into a truck.

 

[Decker]

When you have work done inside your house (plumbing, electrical work, getting the furnace serviced, etc.) do you put in extra effort to hide your gun hobby from them?

What do other folks do?

OR

I was taught a long time ago by a policeman friend that the absolute best security you can have is to be invisible.

That means that not only should strangers not know ANYTHING about what you have in the house, but they shouldn't even be able to "wonder" if you have anything of value in the house.

The best way to explain this simple concept is with a true life story.
A drifter in the Midwest was given a day job to help around on a farm. He occasionally saw that the farmer would pay some of his creditors with cash, so that let the drifter know that the farmer had cash on hand.
Fast forward, the drifter moves on and gets arrested. While in jail, he talks about the farmer to his cell mate, and the story morphs into "farmer having some cash" into "farmer has loads of cash buried in his barn... LOTS of cash".
Fast forward again, the two thugs get out of jail, then go to the farm to get all the "cash". While there, they killed the entire family, and of course, there was no money to be found at all.
A movie of the book was made with the same title; "In Cold Blood".

The moral of this true life story is that my (policeman) friend was right. Not only should you not allow people to know what you have in your home (especially strangers!), but you should go out of your way to not even allow a hint of what you "might have".

Even your own family, especially kids, should be left in the dark as much as possible.
You may have great kids, and your kids might have great friends, but you don't know all of the "friends of friends" in the mix whom you have never seen, and some of those friends are the ones who could start a rumor about all the "good stuff" you have in your home, and that's when it's time to worry; not that you actually "have" good stuff in your home, but that lots of strangers THINK you may have good stuff in your home.