Gun storage at home

[Skeet 028]

You know after reading posts about shotguns handguns and rifles for self defense,I have really come to realize the difference in the way we live. I grew up in an area where/when(eastern shore of Md in the 50s/60s) most people had a shotgun around the house and they were loaded. There was so little crime it was almost unheard of. I also had a few handguns even then and they were located around the house..after starting a gun shop in the middle 60s. Kids lived in our house. All the local ones. We had some land pond room to roam and horses. The boys and some girls were interested in the gun stuff. But I had rules and the guns were verboten..unless they asked to see one. Never had any troubles until the later 80s when I had 4 guys try to rob me at night. Not even one moved after producing the almost new 11-87. That is significantly different than other peoples experiences here. Something I forget. Speaking of townhouses, high crime areas, a lot of people and rules/laws about gun storage. All my life guns are/were loaded and accessible. Thought a new thread on this would be best. Wondering how do you all store or keep your guns quickly accessible? Especially shotguns with kids in the house? My kids learned about guns and to shoot at an early age. I'm old now and still live in a very low crime area where everybody seems to be armed.
How do you city and town folk keep guns around the house?

 

[arjay]

I taught my son about guns very early and kept my long guns unloaded on a wall rack in my loading room.By the time my daughter was born a number of years later and I had a few handguns,my wife insisted on locking them up.Our area was becoming more urbanized and attitudes about guns and hunting were changing.The kids are grown and the mrs is gone and I have a number of guns around again,several of them loaded.

 

[bigwheelzip]

Gun owners for about two years. No children in the household.

Everything larger than .22LR, is loaded, chambered, and in the safe. Safe (easily accessible) is opened as soon as we get home and stays that way till we leave.

We never answer a knock at the door unarmed. If both of us are home, I back him up.

Husband and I both put full sized 9mms on our night tables at bedtime.

We both CC, with reloads, every time we leave home.

We live in a "safe" suburb, with no violent crime in the nine years since we moved here.

We are not fearful. These are just habits now, like grabbing your purse, phone, and keys as you go out.

 

[ordy]

When my son was still living at home, I used a biometric safe. He knew about guns and was disciplined enough to leave them alone but still, I kept them out of reach. Now that he is out of the house, I keep a M64 in the night stand and a 1911 in the kitchen.

 

[Whitwabit]

With kids in the house I never though a shot gun was a viable defensive weapon for the home .. if some one were to hold your child you would be unable to shoot the BG with out harming the child ..

A hand gun is a much better defensive weapon under those circumstances ..

but when everyone in the house is in your bedroom its one of the best available for self defense ..

 

[Old cop]

When I started in law enforcement in 1968 we were taught to use our handcuffs to secure the gun if it was not carried. One end went over the closet bar and the other through the open frame (cylinder open) of the revolver. Since retiring I purchased a small safe for my handguns that I'm not carrying. One small .38 is in the house for my wife but it gets locked up too when the grandkids come over.

 

[Rustyt1953]

As kids, dad told us to stay out of his closet as that's where "Raw Head and Bloody Bones" lived.

We believed him.

 

[Skeet 028]

With kids in the house I never though a shot gun was a viable defensive weapon for the home .. if some one were to hold your child you would be unable to shoot the BG with out harming the child ..

A hand gun is a much better defensive weapon under those circumstances ....

I know some will disagree with me but I think a handgun under the stress of someone holding your child is a very poor choice. Key word stress. A rifle in that case would be much better than either. But I am a pretty good shotgun pointer...even under stress. And at typical house ranges a shotgun even with small bird shot would be a hard tool to ignore. At 20 ft(long for house ranges) shot would only spread 3 to at the most 4 inches. Would literally shoot someone's hand completely off. This I have actually seen. I am also of the opinion that someone holding your child will attempt to kill someone. Understand also..I am of the belief that if I must brandish any kind of firearm in a home invasion...I am going to use it. No matter what the crook has for a weapon. No weapon..no shoot. Luckily I no longer have kids at home regular or grand. And my wife is a hard nosed cookie herself. She carries all the time..even in church. But she's not alone there.. This is, after all ,Wyoming.

 

[cmort666]

Guns not immediately in use go in the safe.

My carry gun du jour sits on the computer desk where I can get to it immediately.

I live alone and keep the door locked at all times, so anybody in the place besides me is a risk taker with REALLY bad judgment.

 

[JSR III]

Unfortunately here in the Peoples Republic of Massachusetts the storage laws require all firearms to be stored with a trigger lock or in a safe or a locked room dedicated to your firearms. If the popo come into your home and find a firearm that is not directly under your control, you are in a pile of you know what. You will most likely lose your guns as well as your carry permit. My kids are grown and both my wife and I have permits to carry.

When I was younger and had kids at home, my guns were locked in a gun room that my kids were aware of but also knew that the room was off limits without dad present. The key was never accessible to the children.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

With my children and their friends running around, for now my guns are locked, unloaded and trigger guarded except one in a quick access safe. Some have bolts, etc removed and locked separately. Ammo is also locked separately.

 

[armorer951]

I know I'm preaching to the choir here but from my own experience, loaded handguns "on the nightstand" at night while sleeping is not a good idea.

I have investigated several burglaries over the past 40 years where the homeowners slept though the break in....including snoozing through the searches of their bedrooms by the intruder. Scary. You don't want to have your own firearm used against you, or an officer who is responding to help. At the very least, the gun(s) should be kept out of sight, either in a drawer or a lock box with a lighted keypad.

There are several brands of lockable, small metal safes that allow easy and rapid access, and are great to use when children or grandchildren are around the house. Some have lighted keypads, and allow immediate access by a four digit sequence, or are biometric.

| Sentry

Always keep in mind that along with the obvious safety issues, as the homeowner/gunowner, you bear the resposibility both civilly and criminally, for proper storage and safety.

 

[H Richard]

The majority of my guns are stored in a climate controlled vault, but since I have no children around the home, there are a few in strategic locations, usually within an arms reach of where I spend time. They are all semi's, with a full mag inserted but no round in the chamber. It is 2nd nature to pick the gun up and rack the slide as I pick it up.

 

[gunnails]

When the kids were at home I kept the guns in my closet and the ammo in the garage.

But the guns began to spawn and I realized if I could afford the guns I should buy a reasonably secure gun safe, so I did and all the guns are unloaded and kept in the safe except for one.

I have one those gun vaults in my closet with a 357 revolver, it's slick as hell.

 

[bgrone]

Gun vault

I have that safe in my bedroom also fastened to a heavy metal bracket bolted to bedrail. Top is flush with mattress, when I roll to my left my right hand lands right on the keypad , simple code that can be fingered in the dark. I have a flashlight in a simple holder close to my left hand. In the vault is a S&W 4040PD loaded, round in chamber, decocked. All other firearms are locked in Browning safe other than when one is immediately at hand. when grandkids are here all are locked up (guns not grandkids).

 

[Houlton]

Never had guns locked up. I grew up that way and never changed. Married a woman with two boys 7-10. Showed them how to operate clear and they new anytime they wanted to see something all they had to do was ask. Never make guns a big secret. Went to a shooting one afternoon. A security guard kept his gun hidden and the kids new nothing about it. Found the gun and were playing with it. The 10 year old put a 38 round in his 12 year old brothers heart. Had no idea what he had in his hand. I had one of my guys waiting for the father I was worried about his reaction. His was perfect. Grabbed his son and hugged him saying "It's all right." Kids are kids. If you make something a secret they will do their damnedest to see what the secret is all about.

 

[JSR III]

I have investigated several burglaries over the past 40 years where the homeowners slept though the break in....including snoozing through the searches of their bedrooms by the intruder.

This a very valid point. As we get older, hearing gets poorer, snoring gets louder and the above is very possible.

To solve a different problem I was having with someone going through our cars at night looking for change and small items to steal, I found at Harbor Freight a wireless driveway alert system that only cost me around $20. There is a motion sensor that goes outside and a battery receiver that goes on the nightstand. There are two levels of sound with one being a low beep and the second being loud enough to wake the dead.

You could install one of these in the hallway leading up to your bedroom that would surely wake you as an intruder approached.

(Before I get chastised for leaving my car unlocked, it only happens once in a while but always seems to be the one night that someone happens to take a look)

 

[F75gunslinger]

I've got a Mossberg 500 behind the bedroom door, and my 642 in the pocket of my pants hanging on the bed. Anything else is unloaded and in the safe, ammo elsewhere. When I leave the house the 500 goes in the safe and the 642 goes with me. On occasion I switch from the 642 to a Sig 1911. When I was a kid my dad's guns were in the corner of the closet. I knew better than to mess around with them, and was taught early how to clear them and safe handling.

 

[rwsmith]

I'm more of a suburbanite.....

There were guns around when I was growing up, but they were no big deal and we knew that cartoon shootings weren't real and that your face wouldn't be black and burned then fine in the next frame.

I'm a peaceful person but I've kept guns around my house, just in case. When our kid could get off the floor I got a safe. Things have been getting worse and worse here and I didn't feel comfortable about having all the guns locked in the safe but I was less comfortable having teenage kids finding and fooling with them, so I kept them locked up. Things have gotten SO bad now that I'm starting to strategically salt the house with guns. Now I'm also giving in and have plans to get my concealed permit.

 

[Kframerbluvr]

When my kids were small, my few handguns stayed in a steel security cabinet and the more numerous long guns were stored unloaded out of reach. They were told that I would show them upon request within reason. Both are grown and are competent with firearms. Currently, I keep my carry guns loaded and holstered in that same cabinet and my range and fun guns in a heavy office safe I inherited from my uncle. A Mossberg 590A1 is in the closet and all my other long guns are unloaded with all long gun ammo stored in my shop.