Posted on 06/03/2008 10:05:18 PM PDT by fred4prez
Have a question for all you personal protection experts...I live in Texas, and am trying to increase my handgun knowledge; I don't yet have a concealed license. Have a Ruger .22, and recently acquired a Sig P6 9mm, and have been doing a fair amount of target practice. I'm starting to feel comfortable enough to want to keep the Sig easily accessible at night (especially after a theft next door recently), and want to follow best practices.
Do I keep it under a pillow, or in the nightstand?
Stored inside manufacturer's plastic case?
Keep it loaded?
Bullet chambered?
Cocked?
Also, is it ok to leave the gun in that same state during the day, when no one is at home, or must it be secured/unloaded? Legal aspects?
Thanks in advance for your advice!
I’m with you 100% except that I am an avid rabid 1911 user, and it stays at condition 1. One in the chamber and in a IWB holster modified with velcro and stuck to the headboard base leg on my side of the bed (out of sight but not of close/quick reach)
I know .. people always cringe at condition 1, but the 1911 is inherently safe anyway. (NO Firearm is safe loaded or unloaded)
No ... I don’t want to let the inrtuder know he has a surprise waiting. Along that line most CCW people forget ... concealing is tactical .. I don’t want anyone to know I carry either. I like to be the one in control.
Important. Cellphone mandatory ...phone lines can be cut especially with alarm systems involved.
Daytime every thing goes into the safe, including the Mossberg 5065. It hangs conveniently alongside the bedrail ... In reality I am more apt to grab that first ...
I carry a Sig P250 with medium grips. Currently configured 9mm but will go to 45 when the conversion is out. I have large hands .... but 1911 is too large to carry comfortably ... the sig works wonderfully IWB.
Our country is filling up with blithering idiots, look how many support obamassiah. lol
We're in the country so we're on our own as far as immediate protection is called upon. Our area is growing by leaps and bounds. Many are moving out here away from the city but some are forgetting to leave the thieving behind. It used to be we knew just about everybody, no more.
Hey, if I were to invite you on a date to go to a shooting range, would you try to offer to pay for half the ammo? ;-)
There is no biometric lock. There is a spare key but it is not "around". I live in a rural area about 30 miles from Nashville. My guns usually stay locked in the safe during daylight hours, with my Sig ready to rock if I'm home in the daytime and of course at night. The safe is not visible or accessible to anyone just walking through the house. They would have to search for it. And yes I have an alarm system.
But I like the motto "I carry a gun because a cop is too heavy"
At the risk of being Mr. Obvious, the reason I lock it during the day is because all the guns in it are loaded.
1. When you're not in your home, your guns should be locked up in a safe. This prevents smash and grab robbers from arming themselves with your guns, which is largely how they get their hands on guns to begin with. Be diligent about securing your unmonitored guns without fail when you're away from your home.
2. I have a home-defense pistol that doesn't exactly look like a gun. It stays on the floor next to the bed covered with a single folded sheet of newspaper.
3. If you haven't got a home security system, motion detectors, and audible alarm, get one. You'll need the active kind with the window and door sensors, but an automatic dialing security service subscription is unnecessary. You DO need to be woken up with a screechy alarm if someone breaches your home or cuts the power from the outside. Hopefully, most prowlers will flee when it goes off.
4. If they don't flee from the alarm, I have an auto shotgun with a bright illumination device stored in a big walk-in closet. My plan is to get my wife to this safe room and hunker down. I have a extra cell-phone strapped to the shotgun to call 911 in case the alarm goes off. I'd rather wait than investigate.
Similar to mine. I have a king sized bed, one on each side. Tucked out of sight but in arms reach while lying down.
My dread is to wake up w/ someone standing over me.
That's why I wouldn't leave a weapon on the nightstand. He'd have it, not me.
A revolver has no controls to think about, unlikely accidental discharge. Ideal for a night time weapon.
Now that’s a bloody good idea.
Not all of us are that bonkers.
And not all of us show it.
:)
Mine are *HOT* at all times.
I’ll be getting a safe soon, but my kids have been trained in the Eddie Eagle program and my 13 year old daughter is a master sharp shooter with the Junior NRA...so they have respect for guns. The safe will be for when they have friends over and I’m not there.
My suggestion is to have it on the bedstand at night, secured in a safe to protect against theft while you are not home.
As I said in my previous post, mine are always chambered with safety off.
I used to use diamond plate laid on the floor with jumper cables direct to the service supply at the main breaker box. I bolted a big handled, Double D cut off box on the headboard. But after a while I figured it was just a matter of time before I forgot, and stepped out of bed. With the Claymores I can just leave a the clicker when I take a leak.
What if there's a fire? A round in the magazine is going to pop off harmlessly, but a round in the pipe is going to fire just as though somebody pulled the trigger.
Extremely helpful post to all. Good advice.
Sorry. I couldn’t resist my futile attempt to hijack this thread. ;-)
Get one of those small wall mountable safes with a light keypad or biometric thumb combo...wonderful things they are.
Then you can go “cocked - locked- ready to rock” and sleep knowing no one will gain access but you.
What?
You expecting an arson job?
Look at the probabilities.
Your fire extinguisher will “explode” in a house fire too, maybe we should not lock and load them either?
God Bless
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