[TaurusPT945]

How do you keep your firearms at home? Is it cocked and locked?

And will it affect the gun's overall performance if it's cocked and
locked for a long time? Mine is a Taurus PT945.

I'm asking this question because it will probably take some time before
I will have my permit-to-carry outside of residence.

[P95Carry]

If we make the assumption you refer to a carry gun then yes. I carry 16/7, home, office anywhere legal - which 99.9% of the time and the carry condition will always be condition 1 - or in my case with DA/SA - round chambered, hammer down.

If however a gun was a ''house gun'' but subject to inquiring fingers from kids etc then it obviously should not be even accessible, let alone loaded!

If a 1911 platform and true cocked'n'locked then whether the sustained duration of the condition has any deleterious effect on the piece, or not - might be open to opinion. I personally do not see the mainspring suffering significantly at all even after years of compression, and that is all that is under extra stress in con #1.

To have an immediately accessible and functional defensive firearm - it must be ready at all times - so if folks are uncomfortable con #1 then practice with empty gun and also ensure that finger discipline is spot on so that a draw is safe, and then the safety is swept off by instinct.

The prime safety is the cranial one ;)

[Rockrivr1]

90% of my guns are stored in my safe. They are all loaded, but I leave the chamber empty on my auto loaders. I figure if I have enough time to open the safe, I will have enough time to rack the slide. If not I grab a revolver.

For the guns I keep out of the safe, they are always loaded and ready. I do not keep a 1911 out of the safe so there is no "cocked and locked" in my scenario. My daily carry piece, J-Frame S&W, is always ready and my shotgun just needs a quick pump and she's ready to go as well. Figure if there is someone in the house and sticks around after hearing the Chu Chunk of my shottie, well then they deserve what they get. ;)

[Lennyjoe]

Every gun but 2 are in the gun safe, unloaded hammer down. The 2 that are strategically located are loaded and ready to roll. Those items are in a discrete area that are out of reach from young hands.

[palerider1]

get a gunsafe with a combination. yesterday my 23 month old son went into my pants pocket, got my keys, and opened my ammunition box right in front of my wife.:eek: she flipped out (understandibly). never underestimate children. my son has seen me go into the box before and i dont know how he could remember which key it was, but he did, and successfully opened the box. i am getting a combination ammo safe today.... all of my guns are in a combination safe but i didnt have room for the thousands of rounds of ammo that i have.

just be careful about what you keep where.

[Ala Dan]

Since I orginally responded too a thread much like this, my parameters
for storing weapons has changed. You see, I have a 17 month old grand
baby who lives with us waddling all over the house, being a baby girl.
So she is curious, especially 'bout things that she is far too young to
know about~!:uhoh: Therefore, all of my firearms are UNLOADED and
secured safely away; except for two: the .45 caliber SIG-SAUER P220A
and the Remington 12 gague 870 Marine Magnum, and those are also
secured.

I have never had a problem with leaving a 1911 cocked and locked for
extended periods of time. Loading and unloading the magazines is much
for harmful, IMHO~!:D

[rockstar.esq]

I have a combination gun safe that's pretty small with a spring loaded lid. Everything inside is ready for a social encounter (chambered round, safety on) all my other handguns are in a seperate keyed vault the key to which is inside the aforementioned combination safe. My long guns are stored with bolts removed (the bolts are kept in the keyed vault) as for ammo, I keep it out of obvious reach and seperate from the guns but I don't lock it. My main practice is to avoid the common locations, bedroom closet, under the bed, kitchen cabinet, etc. Additionally, I find that keeping the firearms in mostly unused areas reduces the likelyhood of wandering kiddies getting into them.