Loaded on the nightstand?

We all sleep on the second floor of our house. I always thought it would be a good idea to put a deterrent on the only stair, but somehow I couldn't convince myself it would be safe for the friendlies in the house. Something like a bear trap or maybe some trick fold down stair treads...

As I get older and have teenagers running around at all hours, working late or getting snacks, I find I pretty much sleep through anything. I am really beginning to want a real alarm system that isn't easily fooled by the dog or a blowing curtain, and is loud enough to wake me quickly, and make a bad guy think twice.

Perhaps I'll search these threads for recommendations for alarm systems.
 
I have slept with both the 627 and HK P2000 on me
when working construction in remote areas and
having to sleep at the job site.

Once near New Orleans in one of the worst
neighborhoods of the country I was awoke
at 3 A.M. My 2 employees awoke first.
A Latino was on the roof after climbing
up the conduit and electrical boxes with
a knife in his teeth breaking in the 2nd
floor bathroom window from the washrooms
roof.

My friend yelled get your gun. I pointed
that massive revolver at him as the lights
were on! He jumped off the roof and broke
his ankle! Hahaha. Left like Speedy Gonzales!

Keep in mind the other 2 guys I was working
with are Honduran.
 
Oh! My guns (627/P2000) are fully loaded within 2 feet in or on top of a nightstand or chair with 2 flashlights and reloads. 3 mags for the HK and 3 8-shot moonclips for the S&W. Ready to rock.

Shotgun near the front door of the family domicile hidden under the couch. Fully loaded H&R Pardner Pump 12 gauge without the duck plug. 00 Buckshot then slugs, 00 Buckshot then slugs, 00 Buckshot then slugs in the tube.

I rue the day someone attempts anything.

Oh, yeah and the alarm system. I lock my bedroom door every night.
 
Having a chambered round isnt the safest option but ultimately a weapons safety is directly linked to how safe the operator is. If you have experience this is fine, but i wouldnt reccomend new or unexperienced handgun owners to adopt that method.

I keep mine not far from the bed, mag loaded but not inserted. In the even i need to use it, click, clack, boom
 
I'm not comfortable keeping a gun on the nightstand.

I keep my Mossy (cruiser ready) within 5 feet just beside my armoire on my side of the bed, slightly illuminated by a low green light (it's not visible to anyone entering the room). I keep my M&P in the armoire.

As mentioned before if someone was to get in the bedroom and not wake me up they could get my gun if it's on the night stand or worse yet I could have a nightmare and shoot my wife.....

She keeps her 22 in the nightstand on her side of the bed.
 
Last edited:
Kanewpadle said:
As far as not having the motor skills to handle a firearm when awaken from a deep sleep, how do you expect to find or open your pistol box under the same circumstances? And most pistols boxes and safe make noises when opened. Letting the bad guy know where you are and what your doing isn't something I want.

We all have differing ideas as to our security and how we will protect ourselves. What's good for one may not be good for someone else.
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That is exactly why I wanted it on too of the nightstand. We have had clues of someone being at our door wall during the summer. Smoking cigerette butts, someone making noise on the deck and others. So I figure this guy is semi experienced on what he can and can't do. If I wake up and a guy is walking into my room, I will have an extremely hard time opening up the drawer and looking for a pistol. Waking up from a deep sleep and then searching in a drawer will take me some time.

I have determined my solution will be a bed side holster from crossbreed that connects to the side of the bed with Velcro and material that goes in between the mattress and frame. Until this comes in, it will be on top of my nightstand.
 
Three loaded firearms are in night stands in our bedroom.

My old off-duty carry, a S&W 6906 in 9mm is in my wife's night stand.

My duty carry, a Sig P220 in .45acp is in the top drawer of my night stand, with my current off-duty carry, a Glock 26 in 9mm is in the second drawer.
 
Raising Cain said:
Exactly what LL said.
We're on the exact same page in our house.
I still don't see how anyone can get into a house w/o making enough noise to alert the people in that house?
Click to expand...

About a month ago there was a new article of a house near me that was burglarized while the family slept! The burglary even went into their sleeping daughters room and stole a laptop and cell phone I believe.
 
Steve_in_PA said:
About a month ago there was a new article of a house near me that was burglarized while the family slept! The burglary even went into their sleeping daughters room and stole a laptop and cell phone I believe.
Click to expand...

If a person's house is that easy to get into while they are asleep, then they are partially responsible. But nooooooo! They want the police to protect them.:rolleyes:
 
Many of you know what I do for a living. And you know I push home security. Matter of fact, I would rather have a secure home than a firearm if I were forced to choose between the two.

I have been awakened from a dead sleep more than once. I know what it's like to wake up and try to clear my head. I remember trying to stand up, grab a flashlight and a firearm.

My point is, why do you think my home is so secure? Because even in the dead of night I will have plenty of time to clear my head, grab a gun and light and prepare to defend myself.

Though the course of my job, I have helped countless people who didn't properly prepare and became victims. These events changed their lives forever.

Doesn't matter how and where you keep your guns. If you don't have time to react then you have lost. And you have lost because you didn't prepare yourself properly. That's the harsh reality of it.
 
Kanewpadle said:
Many of you know what I do for a living. And you know I push home security. Matter of fact, I would rather have a secure home than a firearm if I were forced to choose between the two.

I have been awakened from a dead sleep more than once. I know what it's like to wake up and try to clear my head. I remember trying to stand up, grab a flashlight and a firearm.

My point is, why do you think my home is so secure? Because even in the dead of night I will have plenty of time to clear my head, grab a gun and light and prepare to defend myself.

Though the course of my job, I have helped countless people who didn't properly prepare and became victims. These events changed their lives forever.

Doesn't matter how and where you keep your guns. If you don't have time to react then you have lost. And you have lost because you didn't prepare yourself properly. That's the harsh reality of it.
Click to expand...

The reciprocal of this position is inane --- I once sold residential alarms systems, usually, to people who had already been burglary victims, and were locking the barn door after the horses were out. They of course routinely felt violated, and angry at the loss of their "stuff", especially if it included heirloom jewelry or the like, but mostly they were frightened at the prospect of another intrusion while they were home, asleep, in Condition White (the routine condition for most people, by my observation) or otherwise insensible to impending danger. Every one of these victims wanted as much perimeter protection as they could afford, and some also wanted interior zone protection, but I can't recall any of them (there may have been a few... I just don't remember any) who mentioned having any tools or plan to repel invaders, after having been alerted by the alarm system. Most were counting on the police to charge in on white horses and slay the dragons just in the nick of time.

One middle-aged matron actually asked my advice about what to do if alerted by the alarm to a breach in her home's perimeter. I pointed out that in her precinct, high-priority call response time was on the order of three minutes under ideal circumstances, far slower if any incident was already occupying police attention, and, given the typically cynical regard for inept-user-caused false alarms, probably much longer. So, she rightly gathered "I'm on my own?" "Yes, and were you me, you'd have a suitable weapon and the knowledge and skills to use it... "

Thus ended the conversation --- this woman was not mentally fit to accept the idea of assuming responsibility for her own and her family's protection, willing to abdicate to someone else's responsibility, an utter sheep among wolves.

Her expensive alarm was thus rendered pretty much useless, and her false sense of security, a sham.

I'm voting for fully operable, weaponlight-equipped nightstand guns...
 
I keep a loaded Shield in my nightstand and a loaded 12ga in the closet, when possible I would grab the shotgun, but I like having the pistol close, or to arm my girlfriend
 
I am not sure of some of the trauma that has been suffered by some in their lives, but I can tell you I've never awakened in a panic, reaching for a firearm. I have ready access to firearms in, and outside of my home at any given time. That being said there are a few levels that have to be breached to gain access, and by that point I should have been fully alerted. People often forget that their most powerful tool is between their ears.
 
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Different strokes for different folks.

A friend's brother awoke about 20 years ago now, just before a silent intruder pounced on him in bed. His S&W .357 revolver was on his nightstand.

A frantic fight for the gun ensued with both men getting really messed up, for about 15 minutes. During that time, the wood S&W factory stocks got broken off the gun, to give you an idea of how desperate both men fought for the gun. To lose that struggle meant death.

Eventually the homeowner got enough control over his gun to fire the one fatal bullet. He lived to have nightmares forever.

ME . . .

My kids are gone. My wife and I don't ever sleepwalk. Our Boston Terrier sleeps hard and he'd die for us but wouldn't be much of a threat.

My holstered M37 "sleeps" under the sheets, with a custom short-barreled M25-2 nearby too.

The 25-2 has a custom front sight that is as sharp as a razor on that short barrel. If an intruder tried to grab it, his hand would be severely lacerated as it was yanked from him.

My wife's 3" M37 Airweight is holstered, but concealed nearby too. She would use it if she had to of course.

No exposed nightstand guns for me! If I awake with someone in my room I'm going to remain very still as I gain my bearings, then slip the handgun out of the holster when I decide the person is a threat.

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PS: SOME GUYS SHOULDN'T HAVE A LOADED GUN NEARBY!!!
My dad kept his loaded Colt Detective Special under his bed. He DID have dreams though, and one night a year before he died, and now a widower, he told me he'd had a very realistic dream that someone was coming down the hall and about to attack him. So he rolled from bed, kept low and shot at the intruder coming through the open door. It was at this time that he woke up from the dream, but no one was there, so he went back to sleep.

Just after he passed away, my brothers gave me his well-worn Detective's Special. My wife and I were sleeping in his house waiting for the funeral, and I decided to check his gun . . . remembering his vivid dream. Hmm . . . I wonder . . .

ONE CYLINDER HAD A SPENT CARTRIDGE IN IT!
I got low to the ground on the side of the bed he used and got a sight picture vantage point . . . then went to inspect the door to the hall. I FOUND THE BULLET . . . embedded half-way into the wood doorjamb. Yes, in the dream, and like a lot of WWII vets, he'd rolled to the ground, looked up and fired as he'd been trained.

No, folks that have dreams like that don't need to have a gun within reach for sure!!! Different strokes for different folks!
 
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Steve_in_PA said:
About a month ago there was a new article of a house near me that was burglarized while the family slept! The burglary even went into their sleeping daughters room and stole a laptop and cell phone I believe.
Click to expand...

I see stories like this and wonder if it's an insurance scam. Pretty easy to say someone came in and took some valuables and walked off.

I really suspect this is the case when robbers steal only the odd stuff, and leave the easily pawned stuff sit. Like steal a 52" TV but leave the computer and two handguns?
 
Lost Lake said:
I see stories like this and wonder if it's an insurance scam. Pretty easy to say someone came in and took some valuables and walked off.

I really suspect this is the case when robbers steal only the odd stuff, and leave the easily pawned stuff sit. Like steal a 52" TV but leave the computer and two handguns?
Click to expand...

I've seen this many times. They get in a hurry and miss the obvious. Easy to miss stuff in the dark. Even with a flashlight.
 
I keep my FS .40 Pro on my nightstand a chair in front of the bedroom door and have a Belgian Mal that will let me know if something is going on. I also have a Black Rain Ordnance AR in the closet condition 3 with 30 rounds of Hornady Tap. Pistol is loaded with Critical Duty.
 
I must be the odd man out because I have (2) loaded secondary home defense sidearms in the top drawer of my nightstand that's just an arm length away: an 11-round 45ACP pistol with a light/laser combo rail-mounted and a 31-round 9MM pistol loaded with 147-grain Black Talons.

I'm also a light sleeper and I have K9s in house that sound bellowing alarms if a coon farts outside that awakens me. But when I think their growls and barks "sound" serious enough, I just take a few steps and grab my primary home defense tool: an 8-round 12-gauge pump shotgun loaded with Centurion buckshot that's equipped with a rail-mounted light, too.

I live in a rural area and the kids are grown and gone. I don't think I'd be a high valued target for a professional burglar, or some deranged serial killer or assaulter. But the backwoods rural meth-heads, well, they're the ones that cause me the greatest concern of late. Meth-heads seem to be growing in numbers everywhere daily...
 
It is just my wife and me at home. At night, there are condition one guns, a flashlight, and phones within inches of me. There are condition one guns, a flashlight, and a phone within inches of my wife. Our top floor bedroom door is locked. There are two dogs sleeping with us for primary alarm. In over thirty years, we have never shot each other or one of the dogs. If we are dressed, we are carrying condition one unless it is illegal at that site.
 
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