House Guns In Strategic Locations

[Grimjaws]

MODERATOR EDIT:

If you want this thread to remain open, keep the discussion civil. Insults and disparaging remarks are ill advised.
Sincerely,
s&wchad
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So I live in a split level house with four floors.
Basement is a my game room with a bathroom.
Six steps up leads to ground level with a laundry room and door to garage
Six steps up lead to my living room, kitchen and family room
Six final steps to bathroom and three bedrooms

I shower and get ready in the basement. Since the boys moved out she claimed the upstairs bathroom and I gladly located my stuff for getting ready every day to the basement. No kids or many visitors these days.

I have a safe on the laundry level bolted to the concrete floor where I keep a majority of my firearms.

I have a small pistol safe in the closet that I keep my 36-10 carry gun.

I am one floor away from the big safe but I am slow to get in.
The pistol safe is on the top floor. Way too far away if something happens while in the game room.

So I made some decisions. I put a hidden holster in my downstairs bathroom. I figure with the humidity I placed my k frame 15-4 Nickel 4'' there so I have something handy. I have some nickel cased ammo too. I also have a speed strip with another 6 rounds. I lightly wipe down the guns once every two weeks with oil so not worried about rust.

I then placed the 36-10 j frame on top of a curio cabinet in our living room that has a natural indent - you'd have to be 7' tall to see the top and it is bolted to the wall so can't be tipped over. This puts a handgun on the main floor and easy to retrieve when we leave the house. I also placed an HKS speedloader there which I also carry when I go out.

I replaced the 36 in the bedroom sage with a 15-3 2" I recently purchased. I also have a speed strip and a speedloader.

I have Pachmayr grips on the 15-4 and 15-3 along with a Spring Kit upgrade so my wife is comfortable shooting them with her Lupus and Arthritis. Her hand strength is diminishing but she can now shoot both revolvers without any issue with the lighter triggers and rubber grips.

That puts a handgun within reach on the living area floors.
My wife says I'm getting paranoid in my old age but I'd rather have a way to fight back no matter where I am in the house.

So does anyone else have firearms placed in strategic locations?

Am I nuts for doing this?

 

[coachray]

I've never felt the need to store guns in different places in the house. We've lived here for over 25yrs. and the neighborhood has always been pretty safe. My EDC is always close enough.

 

[Dogfish357]

I don't think you're nuts at all. I too would like to have options in a four level house. Carry on!

 

[biku324]

Before I'd live like that, I'd move.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Every household is different. I have children under roof so secreting guns would not work for me. An LCP in my pocket is sufficient for me.

Do what suits you best.

 

[Porkie]

I put my carry gun on as soon as I get up and take it off when I get ready to go to sleep. There's a cruiser ready shotgun in my bedroom closet (in addition to the carry gun on the night stand). That covers the waterfront at my house. No kids in the house.

Regards, Porkie

 

[kraynky]

I put my carry gun on as soon as I get up and take it off when I get ready to go to sleep. There's a cruiser ready shotgun in my bedroom closet (in addition to the carry gun on the night stand). That covers the waterfront at my house. No kids in the house.

Regards, Porkie

Ditto to what Porkie said. I'm not expecting any trouble, but like the OP, I don't want to ever have to tell myself "You should have been more prepared.", if something ever did happen.

These are crazy times we're living in...........

 

[Sevens]

I will continue to believe this is always a bad idea and when asked (as you did...) I will keep saying it.

As you live in NY State, there's a chance that you aren't blessed with a license to carry, so that might alter my own perspective a bit, but the bottom line for me is that I have a gun on my person unless I am tucked in to bed or in the shower, every day all day, without fail.

Unsecured guns in the house mean a gun that may well be used against me, especially if I happen to arrive home to a burglary in process.

And it's a laugh riot if someone thinks they can find hiding spots that career criminals and/or curious kids and teenagers can't find.

Carry a gun on person and leave no guns unsecured.

I don't think you are nuts — I just think you are wrong.

 

[tops]

I have loaded guns stashed around the house. I'm not always dressed when I'm home so putting a gun on when I put my pants on will leave me disarmed a bunch of the time. There are people that keep their guns locked up and think they are safe and that I'm paranoid when in reality their thinking may not be correct. Larry

 

[CB3]

Am I nuts for doing this?

If by "doing this" you mean telling the world through the internet where you have unsecured firearms in your home, yup, you're nuts.

 

[bigwheelzip]

....a split level house with four floors.

Only if someone was holding me prisoner there at gunpoint.

 

[Kanewpadle]

Harden your perimeter. Do it right and you'll have plenty of time to get to your guns.

 

[dasnake]

We always have the doors locked and can check if/when need to answer, same when traveling, seeing as we live in this rathole we have basically no self defense rights, but I always have a door cleaner close by if needed.

 

[Smoke]

The idea of having guns stashed in different places all over the house doesn't make any sense to me. Even if they're stashed in lock boxes.

If they're locked up you had better hope that you're close enough to the lockbox and you get the combination right the very first time when somebody kicks your door in.

If they're not in lock boxes you're far more likely to lose your guns in a burglary then you are to use to defend your home. Don't think for a second that an experienced burglar doesn't know all the good hiding places in your house. I seem to remember somebody that posted here once about a burglary in their home. Whoever it was said the burglar tore the house apart. Pulled the books out of the bookshelves. Dumped every drawer in the kitchen. Looked every place there was to look. I seem to remember him saying that the burglar found everything that was stashed in the house.

It seems to me like the better solution is to keep one gun on your person at all times. Especially now that there are so many compact 9 mm handguns available.

I'm a firm believer in having a gun on my person anytime I'm dressed. If I'm at home wearing gym shorts and a t-shirt the gun is sitting on the coffee table right in front of me (holstered of course) and when I move through the house it moves through the house with me.

The funniest thing to me about this topic is that when it comes up there's always somebody who insists that carrying a gun at home means that you live in fear. Then they go on to tell us how they have multiple firearms stashed throughout their home. Do you really not see the dichotomy?

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

If your house can be broken into, you should not be supplying guns to the one who breaks in. If it cannot, you don't need a gun.

Keep the gun under YOUR control.

 

[Moo Moo]

Grimjaws. You seem to be copping a bit of flack for your unsecured handguns. Regardless of whether or not I think it's right or wrong, I've read various articles by John Taffin about guns he leaves unsecured around his house, but in strategic locations. For example, he leaves a Charter Arms in the bathroom, a couple semi-autos in his study, and some others in different locations.

I will try and find the exact article on the internet and link it to the post. I'm pretty sure that the main article on his home defences was in an American Handgunner magazine from about 4-5 years ago.

 

[Moo Moo]

American Handgunner Charter Arms' New "Auto" Cartridge Revolvers - American Handgunner

.44 Bulldogs in bathrooms.

GUNS Magazine House Gun(s) - GUNS Magazine

 

[brucev]

Best move ... attend to perimeter control, i.e., fencing, video cameras, alarms, etc. Then, attend to the windows and doors using best practices for security. Such measures may not deter someone who is determined. But these measures will buy you the time you need to follow your pre-planed steps for in-home security, ie., safe room, contacting emergency services, necessary means by which to defend yourself and your loved ones. JMHO. Sincerely. bruce.

 

[Muss Muggins]

Only difference between this and the "gun in the car" arguments is that the car has wheels and can be locked in the house, which I'm sure is still frowned upon if there's a gun in the console.

Do what makes you feel comfortable and safe, as long as it's legal where you live. The actions of others are not caused by you and are not your responsibility . . .

 

[ladder13]

My house is not 10,000 sq ft.