How do you keep firearms accessible and away from a child?

[s1mp13m4n]

Hello everyone. I live in an apartment with my wife and almost 5 year old daughter. We own three firearms, two EDC pistols and a 12 gauge shotgun. My wife and I would like ideas and advice on keeping the guns close to us should you need it in a hurry yet in a safe place to make sure our daughter can not access them. We do not have a $5000 gun safe so that is out for now. We are very careful in making sure that the handguns if they are not in a holster on our side...they are well out of the reach of our soon to be five year old.
How do you keep a firearm close to you....lets say at night when you are sleeping and also out of the reach of a child should she come in our bedroom at night? Sure you can get the hidden bed holster system which give fast access to the gun but it is also in plain view and easy reach of our child. Placing the gun on a nightstand is surely out. There is always the top drawer of the dresser but if seconds count...you have to find the gun, get a grip on it, etc. It is not just a draw and go situation.
I also would like ideas to give us fast access to my Mossberg 500 12 gauge shotgun while keeping our child away from it and safe. Being in an apartment we can hang a picture but we can not use large nuts and bolts to hang something heavy. If we want a flat screen TV hanger the apartment staff has to instal it. I thought about a way to hang the shotgun on a bedroom wall, but not sure if I can...and I certainly do not want the service staff to hang anything for me because they will know I have gun in the apartment.
What ideas and advice can you offer me? I guess you could place the shotgun in a "police safe" situation and have it loaded with shells in the tube but not loaded and ready to fire. That just does not sound 100% safe to me because my daughter could still touch the gun. Thank you for the help and advice.

 

[eddie234]

I think your in a no win situation. Your wanting quick access but keep the gun out of the way. The only option you would have is a biometric safe. IMO

 

[carpriver]

I don't have children at home anymore so with that said. Living in an apartment is a whole other set of problems, the shotgun , there are devices that can be mounted on the door the keep the gun handy and locked so children can't get ahold of it. I don't recall the name but I have seen it advertised on this sight. as for hand guns the are gun safes that open with your fingerprints.

 

[gdnagle]

I think your in a no win situation. Your wanting quick access but keep the gun out of the way. The only option you would have is a biometric safe. IMO

+1 I have 2 bio safe and both work very well, open with first finger imprint. I heard that they can be opened by children younger then your daughter but have never seen this in person only on youtube vids if you can believe them. I have tried the way they show on there and have never been able to open that way. The only problem I have had as in other post is if you have a cut, burn, etc. on your finger it takes awhile to open so you will need to put several fingerprints in. Fresh out of the shower as swimming will do the same as your finger shrinks. I have 4 finger prints 2 from each hand, they hold I think 99 or more.

Don't forget it is never too early to start firearm safety training i.e. don't touch, tell someone, all firearms are loaded etc. keep out of sight.

When my girls were young I only had a auto loader, 1911 style, magazine loaded, nothing in the pipe. My theory was when they were that young, it would be difficult to jack the slide, so one step towards safety, but as the get older that's doesn't hold water. My 1911 has a strong recoil spring.

The SG if it's not for HD you could always break it down most don't take long to reassemble.

Also good locks and dead bolts should give you extra time to arm yourself hopefully.

Other then this I wouldn't know what to tell you, quick access and away from a child probably won't work unless on top of closet shelf where she can't reach but that's not within reach. Safety training is key here or keep her out of your room when they are on the nightstand. Sounds like a no win situation for you.

 

[Hillbilly77]

A child in the same house as a gun is not a unique situation.
The single most important job you have as a gun-owning father is to educate your daughter.
She needs to learn what a gun is, what it is capable of, and how dangerous it can be. Start that training today.
Let her see the guns. Explain them to her. Tell her what each part is. Tell her that she is NEVER to touch any gun, EVER, until you and your wife tell her otherwise.
Education is the key to prevent accidents.

I drilled gun safety home to both my daughters. I can have my guns sitting on the table, getting ready to go to the range, having a cleaning party, etc. and I have 100% confidence that neither of my daughters will touch a thing. Even the older one who has a gun of her own will not touch a gun unless I tell her that it's ok.

I will even test them. I'll ask the 9yo to hand me a gun or to carry one, and she'll ask if I'm serious.
I'll ask the 6yo and she'll tell me "Daaaad.... You know I can't touch guns yet." She knows that she will be allowed to touch guns soon. She knows that they are not taboo.

Again, educate your daughter. Then you just need to secure your guns against theft. Your daughter will know what is expected of her.

 

[4011]

My opinion is to train her to not touch except when ok 'ed by you. Not her mother you! Let her touch after you! Have checked it and made safe. Train train train. When they know what it is and how it feels then their curiosity is taken care of. Now having said all that it worked for me when the kids were small. They both carry now and are very safety conscious .

 

[Mike McLellan]

I've had guns all my life. I never thought about locking them up or hiding them. Then in the late '70s, my children arrived on the scene. When they reached the age of inquirey & explopration, I faced the same delemna that you're facing. Knowing what a sneaky little tyke I was, and how fascinated with guns I was as a child, I bit the bullet and sold all my guns except one old shotgun. After my kids grew up and moved on, I resumed my "collecting" of guns. I trusted my kids, but it wasn't worth the gamble.

 

[Linejudgemick]

+1 to the suggestion to train your daughter.

However, young children are naturally curious and you also always run the risk of visiting playmates who are not as well trained. Even though time is critical, the previous advise to use locking boxes that are either biometric or easily activated are solid advice. For your shotgun, here is a locking box I've been considering to keep mine secure without keeping it in the safe secured in the basement:

ShotLock Shotgun Vault :: ShotLock.com

For your handguns here is another option:

SVB500 SpeedVault | GunVault | GunVault

These are available from vendors other than the manufacturer, usually for less $. There are also other options available... I supply these as food for thought as much as anything else. These can also be mounted to bed frames, dressers, or other large difficult to move objects that won't require your building maintenance to mount. They won't be as secure as a safe, or as speedy as simply hiding them, but they are options you can consider for a compromise.

Train your child(ren), but keep your firearms secure too. Best wishes finding a solution that will meet your families needs.

 

[Comrad]

Not to be funny but if you live in an apartment where you need that kind of firepower I would consider moving especially since you are raising a young child.

 

[gregintenn]

My opinion is to train her to not touch except when ok 'ed by you. Not her mother you! Let her touch after you! Have checked it and made safe. Train train train. When they know what it is and how it feels then their curiosity is taken care of. Now having said all that it worked for me when the kids were small. They both carry now and are very safety conscious .

I taught my children from a very early age gun safety. If you shoot a watermelon or other similar piece of produce in her presence, it'll go a long way in making an impression on her that guns are serious business and not toys.

My father taught me about them, and let me handle any of his in his presence, with his supervision, pretty much any time I wanted.

Take the curiosity away and teach your children about them. Heck, she may need to use one day for self defense when you're not there. Same goes for your wife.

 

[gtk]

+1 for the speed vault. I keep one pistol in a speedvault next to my bed, and can open in < 5 seconds flat.

Bottom line, nobody should ever trust a 5 year old to rely on "training" to keep them from a gun. That is your responsibility. Also, what if another child was visiting?

 

[Farmer17]

When I had small kids I kept a handgun in a cheap pistol rug with a 3 tumbler combination lock and nearby I had a Surefire light and a Kershaw assisted opening knife. I have the tumblers set so I can crab two and give it a quick twist and quickly open it even in the dark. If the lock fails I can cut the case open with my knife.

For a shotgun maybe tie some rawhide to the mag tube and hang it up high, chamber empty, on a nail behind some curtains.

 

[s1mp13m4n]

Not to be funny but if you live in an apartment where you need that kind of firepower I would consider moving especially since you are raising a young child.

We live in a modern apartment complex in a college town. Crime where we are is not a huge issue. However in downtown...older areas you do find out about children being taken, robbery, shooting, etc. I do not feel scared or unsafe, I simply want to be prepared rather than caught off guard if anything would ever happen.

 

[nicky4968]

The PSP was a good design for this problem, when you have children, the mentally defective, or gun control advocates in the home. Unfortunately, it didn't catch on.

 

[Autococker07]

Lots of great information here. I have a 19, 16 yo girls and a 3.5, 1.5 year old boys. I start the gun training at about age 2. Take the mystery out for them.... let them know that it is as dangerous as a hot oven, or a knife (they are smarter than you think), and let them know that there is a proper way to handle a gun. They will get it..... even my into everything little boy knows the guns are not toys..... he even reminds me when i come from work and take the gun off

for the shotgun, get some large rubberized hooks at walmart and screw them into your wall studs above a doorframe.... you can hang the shotgun where you can reach it, but make it a challenge for the kids.....

 

[Road Rat]

FIRST............educate the child. A five year old is old enough to listen and pay attention. Explain the THIS AIN'T NO TOY and let her hold it and see that it isn't something she wants to play with.

I did this with all my kids and with my grandson.

Then find a way to keep them out-of-sight.............

 

[therevjay]

Bio-metric lock box? If anything can possibly go wrong, it will. a locking nightstand, or desk drawer in the bed room. Hang the key on a dogtag (or other) chain around your neck. Simple, secure, instantly available, very low tech, and low cost.

 

[Stevens]

Educate your kids, but remember some time they may, or will, have curious not gun savvy friends around.
I know of a couple of cases where it tuned out very badly.

Steve W

 

[rwsmith]

I've got a 13 year old

And he has a lot of friends over to the house that I plain don't trust. I keep my guns in a safe (not real expensive). I'd like to get one of those under the bed, quick opening safes to keep a loaded gun handy.

BTW they have quick opening large safes to if you want to keep them all in one place. I think the one's I've seen use a thumbprint for a quick id. You'll have to look into them, there has been a little argument about how effective these are.

 

[Smithsrevenge]

Shove them under the mattress when you sleep. Easy for you to access . Hard for anyone else to. Carry them at all other times. The shotgun......keep locked up. Simple as that.

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