Late Night Home Defense

[Dmaxboy08]

You could keep one out of the safe. At night leave it in the nightstand with the mag loaded but the chamber clear(or just keep the mag out of the weapon) If you need it, its there. I know anything is possible in life but I would highly say you or your wife would wake up if one of your kids walks into the room late at night. In the morning when you leave, put the gun back in the safe or take it with you and place it in your glovebox while at work.

-on a side note, i would not leave any form of weapon close to a door. All of these situations that are being talked about is a "what if". Lets say one night your laying in bed and have been sick. So you take somehting to help you sleep and this one night someone decides you have something they want. They break the window on a door. You hear it and wake up but bc of the medicine you are out of it and are not sure if you really heard something. All while a person is in your house looking around. "what if" he happens to find that nice piece of hardware right next to the door? Will he be happy with his loot and leave or will you walk out your bedroom, weapon in hand and now your house just turned into a shooting match.

 

[Jinseru]

I agree with you 100%, one thing we were taught to always be aware of was weapons of opportunity. Leaving a weapon in plain sight, or out of your immediate reach at home is a large liability. I can understand in a closet in your room, but as far as I'm concerned, outside the room is a big no no. I constantly tell my girlfriend, never leave the weapon away from you when I'm away from home. Let's say she's cooking in the kitchen and leaves the SD9 on the coffee table in the living room. If someone were to kick in that door, they'd see the pistol, and if they were unarmed before, or armed lightly (with a knife, etc) they now they are armed. Or at least armed with a very serious weapon.

All in all I think everyone responding on this thread have solid ideas, and the same way we argue about what if's, we can argue that everyone has a certain preferance that works better for them than our own individual response. I don't think there were really any wrong answers, just a matter of opinion, or training.

If you feel leaving the gun in the nightstand is the best way to defend yourself, and your confident in your ability, and have perhaps proven this in the past. Stick to your routine. Luck might not be in your favor and you may have an unwanted guest on one of the nights your trying to adjust your routine and be in shock when your defense isn't where it normally is.

Old habits die hard.

My own advice and knowledge tells me there are lots of ways one can gain entrance into a home without making a ruckus. And because of this, I don't feel comfortable with my firearm in the nightstand. I have it in a custom box between my bed and the wall at my head. Easy access for me, and I don't have to worry about some criminal tip-toeing through my room searching, only to find a weapon of opportunity in my nightstand. I know that even if the said criminal knows where my weapon is, he can't get to it without disturbing me, and thus waking me up.

 

[Springfeildkid585]

So I was laying bed the other night just falling a sleep. Kids and wife are asleep and my Jack Russel starts growling and snarling at the front door. This is something he never does. I think my feet hit the floor twice between my bedroom and getting to the front door. My heart was thumping and it turns out it was a wide eyed pizza guy at the wrong house.

I have been thinking to myself I never reached for my gun? My guns are in a safe because I have small children. Would I have time to get the keys? I am not noobi I am Marine Corps trained and have been shooting for years.

So if I am tired and groggy and this was a real emergency this experience has taught me I probably wouldnt go for my gun first. It would be me in my underwear fighting off bad guys or pizza guys LOL.

It is easy to judge or say what we would do in the middle of the after noon when we are wide awake but I wonder what other middle of the night experiences have others had. Would love to hear thoughts or others similar experiences.

Small lock box with a spring-loaded door will do you well, with practice you can have it opened quickly. Put one pistol in it as your go to gun. Practice.

 

[shooter1911]

My kids are all gone, and although I live in a very low crime area, I am prepared with a shotgun loaded with LE 132 by my bed, my 1911 in my night stand, and my wife has a model 36 in her night stand.

With that said, when the grand kids sleep over all my guns are locked up in the safe.

It becomes a whole different scenario with kids in the house.

 

[sourdough44]

We have kids & live in a low crime area. That said I have an iron outside my safe that's easy to get to. It's hidden & unloaded but ammo is not far away, also hidden. Just in case.

 

[Houdini1953]

A Mossberg 12 gauge Cruiser with pistol grip and 18-1/4" barrel is the ultimate self home defense weapon, basically point at the noise and rack the gun and pull the trigger, usually racking the gun is enough to make someone leave as soon as possible, they are not that expensive and will do enough damage to the bad guy to stop him or her in their boots!

 

[old curmudgeon]

A Mossberg 12 gauge Cruiser with pistol grip and 18-1/4" barrel is the ultimate self home defense weapon, basically point at the noise and rack the gun and pull the trigger, usually racking the gun is enough to make someone leave as soon as possible, they are not that expensive and will do enough damage to the bad guy to stop him or her in their boots!

Measure the distance between the door to your bedroom and where you will most likely be when the BG comes through the door.

Then go outside and shoot at a man sized paper target.

Unless you live in a castle, you will be surprised at how small the shot pattern is. Just a little larger than a .45.

You MUST point it as accurately as you would a hand gun.

Now at 21 ft., it is a different story.

Try it.

 

[Jinseru]

Bird shot.

 

[old curmudgeon]

Bird shot.

Matters not what kind of shot.

The idea that just because it is sawed off means that you are going to fill your doorway with shot is totally wrong.

You will probably be less than 10 ft. from the door. That does not give the shot time to spread.

I have an 18" 12 ga. magnum. I have made the test.

Try it.

 

[Badquaker]

My headboard has hidden compartments and cubby holes. I keep extra mags and a flashlight in the compartments, and a sw1911 in the cubby hole directly above my head.

 

[tharper2202]

I have no kids. My roommate has no kids. He has his M&P .45 with one in the pipe in his night stand. Although i don't go into his room, i think he may have his Shotgun in his closet as well. I have my M&P 9mm with a streamlight hanging off it with one in the pipe in my night stand. Firstly BG would have to get past the 3 pit bulls in the house if SHTF. He has 2 pit bulls and I have 1. I'm pretty sure one of his pit bulls might go to town on a BG if they got into the house. The other one would run and hide (this is a theory. she hasn't been tested). Mine would be under the bed quicker than my cat (my pit was found under the bed when I got into a shouting match with an old neighbor who was at my door haha). However, my room is on the second floor and my roommate's room is on the first floor. They would have to deal with him and his pups first.

There has been a couple times where he has heard something going on outside and before going to investigate he always called up the stairs to me if I'm home before going outside. If I'm at home I don't think my roommate would go outside to investigate something shady without telling me and vice versa.

If I did have kids, I would get a gun vault of some sort to sit on my night stand. Just a heads up, I was in my local gun shop today and was talking to one of the owners and he was saying how the bio safes weren't very good yet. He had a lot of customers returning theirs because if your hands were dirty or sweaty, the safe would have difficulty recognizing your prints. I'm assuming the technology will only improve with time. Hopefully by the time I have kids, they will work very well.

 

[Mike 44]

I normally take my gun out of the safe when I get home from work . it will sit on the floor next to the sofa where I spend the next few hours watching tv . I have no kids , its just me and my girlfriend here . My girlfriend also has her own guns and is very proficient with them but she normally doesn't take hers out unless we are going to the range. When we go to bed I have my gun , cell, and flashlight on the nightstand . We have practiced taking cover behind the bed while she dials 911 , and I will then go to the bedroom door and hopefully I will not see anyone in our apt . We had someone banging on our door in the middle of the night once and yelling , but it turned out he was drunk and at the wrong door . My heart was beating so fast as I was standing behind the hall way wall looking at the back door with gun in hand just waiting for the back door to pop open . Luckily for me and the drunk the police showed up as my girlfriend was on the phone with them the entire time .

 

[Frank46]

I have a 4500 sq ft house. My wife keeps trying to fill it up. Anyway I make a habit of walking around the house with no lighting on. Been doing this since we bought the house. So that at least gives me at least a leg up on anyone in the house. Second id the less frequented sections of the house the lighting isn't as good as the rest of the house. There are spots that if you are still no one will notice you. And should I hear funny noises I always investigate with 4 cell maglite and trusty .45. I'd rather have the neighbors see me doing that than call the cops because someone got shot. There have been a few daylight robberies in our area and I'm one of the first of my neighbors who will ask me to keep an eye on their house when they are gone. Frank

 

[shutupdata113]

all my guns have a home in a safe too but before i go to bed i take out my 686 and place it in drawer with a led flashlite next to my bed. piece of mind my friend. when u wake up just put it back in the safe....better to be safe than sorry

 

[TAROMAN]

This story reminds me of an incident years ago when I was stationed at Quantico.
I was dating a Marine Captain at the time. She lived in a ground floor apartment in one of the big complexes just off base.
Late one evening, she heard someone trying to open her door.
Kathy takes her 1911, jacks a round into the chamber and flings the door open to confront the would-be intruder.
Turned out to be a new resident who had used the wrong entrance, think it was his apartment.
Dropped both of the grocery bags he was holding.
Disaster averted. Bet he didn't make THAT mistake again!

 

[Hapworth]

This story reminds me of an incident years ago when I was stationed at Quantico.
I was dating a Marine Captain at the time. She lived in a ground floor apartment in one of the big complexes just off base.
Late one evening, she heard someone trying to open her door.
Kathy takes her 1911, jacks a round into the chamber and flings the door open to confront the would-be intruder.
Turned out to be a new resident who had used the wrong entrance, think it was his apartment.
Dropped both of the grocery bags he was holding.
Disaster averted. Bet he didn't make THAT mistake again!

She was foolish opening a perfectly good closed door on a possible intruder...

 

[Poodle Soup]

One thing I learned was how bad my dexterity is when I wake up from a dead sleep. Someone decided to unload a hand gun in the middle of the street one night and I found it almost impossible to get a gun out of a generic gun case sitting under the bed. My fingers wouldn't operate the slides to get it open, which means all I had for 10 seconds was a heavy plastic case.

Now my gun sits loaded, safety on, next to the bed. No gun case, No fumbling in the dark.

 

[Chuck1217]

I bought an SD specifically for bedside use- with the weaponlight- no manual safety. I have trigger-finger- on 4-5 fingers, 2 on each hand, and I know what you mean about dexterity when you wake up. Been getting shots to make them better, even had surgery on my gun-hand, may need another. Been practicing left-handed more lately due to that. Bad news is, as of now, the BG might be pretty safe if I have to go lefty..

 

[bp231986]

I don't necessarily answer the door with a gun in my hand unless it's a really odd hour or situation, but I always know where the closest loaded gun is in my home and the fastest route to it.

One of my friends was home cooking suppper at about 1600hrs when the front door was kicked in and two persons entered but were soon discouraged when her arms came up with a 9mm, one of them took a step forward, she shot but missed. The two man took of running scared. Police came to talk to her about the shot fired and she told them the story and said she was scared for her life and shot her pistol, they asked her did you hit them....she said no i wasnt really even aiming at them, "i saw his right foot step foward after i pointed the gun at him so i fired" for inches to the left and she would have hit her target but she admitted to being really scared and pulling the trigger hard when she fired. Since that happened to my friend i have from that point on always answered to the door with caution. Crazy world with crazy people we live in my friends.

"It is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war."

John F. Kennedy

 

[bp231986]

And i always have my SW9VE in my holster on me regargles if im cooking, cleanning, wacthing a movie with the lady or whatever else i do its always on me and loaded. i have no kids yet but my gun is withing grabbing distance when im sleeping, when i do have kids the only thing that will change is that the shot gun i have next to the bed that i dont carry with me around the house will be locked in a safe during the day but at night when i would go to bed i would unlock it and when A.M. would come around would relock it. as far as my pistol goes...... well its not just a gun its an extension of me that may only leave when i am laid to rest 6 feet under.