Depends on who is in the house. If no children are around, many in fact do leave guns and ammo around (some very deliberately, some just because stuff tends to spread). 'tis not an indication of instability; actually, one could argue that having to lock the stuff up is an indication of the instability of others.
I would not want to live next to this guy. He sounds unbalanced, irresponsible and dangerous. Did he even know what he had? Could thieves have broken in stolen guns and he would have not even known what was missing?
I would look very carefully into his activities and acquaintances. The reason he did not want the firemen involved cannot be a good one.
[Depends on who is in the house. If no children are around, many in fact do leave guns and ammo around (some very deliberately, some just because stuff tends to spread). 'tis not an indication of instability; actually, one could argue that having to lock the stuff up is an indication of the instability of others.]
Those were my thoughts. An unloaded gun is of little use.
Now if there are children around - yes, I see the point of locking them up. Of course, when I was a child we had loaded guns hanging on the wall and standing in the corner. I do admit children of today and of my time, as a whole, are quite different.
To me the only real guns safety is realizing what a gun is, what it can do, how and when to use it.