Guns hidden throughout the home

I'm a retired LEO (deputy sheriff). I've taken enough burglary reports, and even caught a few burglars in the act, to have some thoughts to offer. Given enough time (5 minutes) a couple of these thieves can completely trash a house. I mean every drawer, every closet, and every hide hole you can think of. They even open the oven to look in there as they rush through the kitchen.

In less time they will trash any office, master bedroom, and living room. I've seen floor to ceiling book cases dumped as they looked for things hidden behind the books. It's true they are opportunistic, but if they find a gun their character and intent might change. The majority are feeding a drug habit and just looking for stuff to sell. But some are far gone and desperate enough to be mean, dangerous thugs. You don't get to pick.

A solid safe, bolted to the slab your house is built on is the place for firearms. If you want protection depend on the gun you are carrying on your person. Is it annoying, uncomfortable, and generally a pain after a few years? I've carried a most every day and most all day long for 47 years (not in the shower, not in bed, and not in the hospital - lol) and yes it is all those things. You're all grown up, you get to decide for yourselves. But don't, as was stated earlier, base your plans or decisions on what you see on TV or in a movie, or most of what you see on YouTube. It ain't like that. If you are ever confronted with a life threatening situation it will probably seem worse for several minutes, and several minutes is a lifetime when you are unprepared and terrified.

Dave

Speedo66 said:

What, no shower or pajama holsters? lol

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I do keep a can in bathroom and my carry pistol under my towel. Wife says I'm paranoid. I say I'm prepared.

Texas10mm said:

It sounds like a good idea....till someone has to come in after you're dead. Right now there are four firearms that myself and the widow can't locate. We have the boxes, but we can't find the pistols.

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Yep, been there, done that. Moving them out of the house found them......I think.

357smallbore said:

In my home only me and the wife live in it. All the kids are grown and out on their own. We are the only ones who have keys to the house. No one is ever in our home if we aren't there.
I have several guns hidden and at the ready throughout the home for quick access if a need arises.
Anyone else do this?

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Of course I do!
I can’t think of a decent reason not to.

DeepSouth said:

Of course I do!
I can’t think of a decent reason not to.

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Post 101 above...

FFGCOLORADO said:

Post 101 above...

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A few years ago my dad ended up at the VA Home and before we could get his place on the market and sold it was burglarized. There wasn't a thing in that house that was untouched. Stuff from the master bedroom was in the another bedroom on the other side. Even the kitchen was turned upside down. They were obviously looking for things that were stashed. My dad had guns all over the house stashed in different places. I removed the guns when he went to the VA because I didn't want them getting stolen.

I will add to that from my experience. When I decided to build quick access handgun safes 10+ years ago I wanted something strong so that when bolted down would at least be a real deterrent from theft, not just your children. I am not aware of anyone's handgun being stolen from one of my safes in their homes. I did get this email from a customer a couple years ago. Buy a good quality safe (not a cabinet) for your guns and bolt it down.

"Wanted to let you know that a few weeks ago we had a burglary and the dude found the FAS1 by my bed and it appears he tried to pry it open and failed. He got away with plenty of stuff, and the Stack On security cabinet didn't keep him from some of my long guns... but he didn't get my pistols, thanks in part to your product."

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I keep 3 loaded guns in the house, all in safes. All bolted to studs.

One by my nightstand, one in the kitchen (out of reach of the kids and in a locked safe) and my carry gun on my hip, which sits in a small safe at night.

I wouldn't feel comfortable with unlocked guns throughout the house, even before I had kids

JR24 said:

I wouldn't feel comfortable with unlocked guns throughout the house, even before I had kids

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I'm not arguing with your point, and keeping guns locked up is a wise choice, but I often wonder if folks use the same techniques to keep their kids away from the alcohol in the house (if you have any, alcohol that is), kitchen knives, power tools, car key's, etc.

JTQ said:

I'm not arguing with your point, and keeping guns locked up is a wise choice, but I often wonder if folks use the same techniques to keep their kids away from the alcohol in the house (if you have any, alcohol that is), kitchen knives, power tools, car key's, etc.

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Yes, we do.

Your car keys are locked in a safe?

JTQ said:

Your car keys are locked in a safe?

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They are kept in a place the kids can't reach. The booze is locked, though not in a safe, tools are in rooms they don't go in, etc.

My kids are also less than 4 so car keys are less of a concern at this point, things may change as they age.

I've never liked unlocked loaded guns, even when a bachelor who lived only with my trusty lab, just a me thing. Don't want to give easy access to an intruder/burglar. Don't want to have to remember where they are and to lock them up when I had guests, etc. Ammo is locked up too, in a different locker than the guns.

Kids will learn gun safety as soon as I feel they are ready, but they are still kids and wi have friends. I prefer to practice good habits so they become routine, personally.

YMMV, of course.

It's a theoretical discussion for thought. My kids are adults.

We never did any specific stuff with the guns, alcohol, bleach, cars, power tools, etc.. We taught them to behave and everything pretty much fell into place. Perhaps we were lucky.

I'll admit, one of my daughters friends shot, and killed his father, in the home, with the fathers gun. The boy was an early teen. A classmate of my other daughter, shot and killed a classmate at a house party when they were in high school. Both with unsecured firearms, so I understand the point.

Guns, alcohol, cars, power tools, etc., are all just as dangerous as the next. We as a firearm community, generally lock up our guns, but generally don't lock up the rest. The question for those that don't secure the non-gun items, how do you keep your kids away from those items without locking them in the safe.

JTQ said:

I'm not arguing with your point, and keeping guns locked up is a wise choice, but I often wonder if folks use the same techniques to keep their kids away from the alcohol in the house (if you have any, alcohol that is), kitchen knives, power tools, car key's, etc.

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We never locked the guns up in our house because of the kids, it was because of other people's kids, and maybe people breaking in. The kids had their own guns, and from a very young age, and could look at anything they wanted, any time they wanted. All they had to do was ask.

Like the guns, booze, knives, and other things were never an issue either. We simply taught our kids what was what, gave them as much responsibility as they could handle in the moment as they were growing up, and never had any troubles.

They had their own pocket knives at an early age, and were encouraged to carry them. The only issue there was to make sure they didnt forget to leave them on the counter on the way out to school in the morning. I could have cared less if they took them along, but the school had a different outlook on that and a few other things. Always had to do a daily de/reeducation briefing with them at dinner each night too.

Never had any issues with booze either, even when they were teenagers. Not saying they didnt drink, but they were taught how to drink, and what to expect as they got older and could handle it, at home. Same principle as the guns and other dangerous things works well there too. Trust is a two way street too.

Youre the programmer. As my buddy always used to say..."you plant potatoes, you get potatoes". Its always amazed me at how supposedly educated people dont understand that.

Other people, and their kids, were almost always the problem when it came to worrying about things, of any sort.

FFGCOLORADO said:

Post 101 above...

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Because they may get stolen isn't a good enough reason for me.
Well, it is for some, those stay in the safe.

DeepSouth said:

Because they may get stolen isn't a good enough reason for me.
Well, it is for some, those stay in the safe.

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I bet they are at least 100 times more likely to be stolen than then are to be used in lawful self defense. Probably closer to 1000 times more likely.

There has to be a way to have one or two where you need them and still have them secure from theft. (without having to carry 24/7 in your own home).

I was going to get a Hi-Point for the bathroom. I go out of my way to make sure the humidity from the shower doesn't go into my bedroom where I have some firearms, and I don't take a firearm with me into the bathroom because I don't want to expose it to all of that humidity. But I really hate it when I'm in the shower and I hear a noise. Every so often I'll be in the shower and I'll hear a noise and I'm not sure if it is the thump of a truck outside putting down its lift gate (or something similar) or someone kicking down my door - I mean I'm in the shower and I have no clue what the noise is. I figured of the stuff on a Hi-Point that can rust most of it is interior and can have oil or light grease on it all of the time, so I don't think the guts will be much susceptible to rust and I don't think the ZAMAK rusts from simple humidity and contact with the air. I wanted to get a "bathroom only" Hi-Point, since I don't think there is much on a Hi-Point that rusts, and if a part were to get rusty I'd just scrub the rust and for $175.00 I don't care if it gets a little rust on it.

Illinois has had a melting point law on the books but for a while but I would see Hi-Points in gun shops anyway. I don't know what happened - maybe there wasn't enforcement in the past or whatever but now there is, and no one is selling Hi-Points in Illinois.

A lot of people responded that if I just kept a normal steel gun lubricated, it wouldn't rust - even if it was in a bathroom that got steamed up from showering.

Then the Remington RM380 went on sale for $99.00, so I purchased another RM380 for my "Bathroom Gun"

I took it apart, waxed the slide and put grease on the internal parts and now it sits on the tank of my toilet, right next to the shower, been there for over 2 years now and not a spot of rust on it.

HB said:

I bet they are at least 100 times more likely to be stolen than then are to be used in lawful self defense. Probably closer to 1000 times more likely.

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And probably more likely to sit just where they are and remain untouched. Based mainly on the 25 years of them doing of just that.
I can only pray I don’t need them, but if I do I really want them to be there.

There is a an old ratty makarov in a Kleenex box on the vanity well within showed reach.

Sounds like there are two schools of thought here.

Those who are ready, and those who think they are ready.

Then you have those who must not sweat when they carry a gun, and worry a little steam in the bathroom is going to be an issue.

DeepSouth said:

And probably more likely to sit just where they are and remain untouched. Based mainly on the 25 years of them doing of just that.
I can only pray I don’t need them, but if I do I really want them to be there.

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Yeah, but doesn't it make you feel good to know there are faceless strangers on the internet now worrying about your guns getting stolen?

When these discussions come up, about quarterly, why does no one mention just carrying a gun all the time? I lock up everything. One in the bedroom, the rest in the cage in the arms room (two layers of locks, and more). But often enough — ideally always, but I admit to laziness — and right now, there's a full size, RDS, WML pistol and spare mag on me. Totally secure short of ninjas with tranquilizer darts (et al) and easier to get in my hand than any secret hidey hole, secured or not.

.308 Norma said:

Yeah, but doesn't it make you feel good to know there are faceless strangers on the internet now worrying about your guns getting stolen?

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Only thing that worries me is where they end up after getting stolen. I can’t imagine the new owners took up target shooting and hunting.

I subscribe to the “loaded on your person or arms reach or in a safe theory”.

HB said:

Only thing that worries me is where they end up after getting stolen.

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Well HB, you're just going to have to keep on worrying about it because as I stated in an earlier post in this thread, we have had a .410 shotgun and a rimfire (either a .22 or a .17 HMR) rifle standing in the corner by the back door for 40+ years, and we're not moving them - we're not going to put them in a safe, and we're not going to carry them around in the house, and we're not going to stay within arms reach of them at all times.
You might note that I didn't say I don't have a loaded gun on me or within arm's reach. I might. I don't necessarily disagree with those practices. But we are going to leave our "utility" shotgun and rifle in the corner by the back door - even when we're not home.

.308 Norma said:

Well HB, you're just going to have to keep on worrying about it because as I stated in an earlier post in this thread, we have had a .410 shotgun and a rimfire (either a .22 or a .17 HMR) rifle standing in the corner by the back door for 40+ years, and we're not moving them - we're not going to put them in a safe, and we're not going to carry them around in the house, and we're not going to stay within arms reach of them at all times.
You might note that I didn't say I don't have a loaded gun on me or within arm's reach. I might. I don't necessarily disagree with those practices. But we are going to leave our "utility" shotgun and rifle in the corner by the back door - even when we're not home.

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Thats your prerogative and hopefully remains so. Many states require safes for storage. I don't agree with the govt being involved in those decisions. Keep doing you man and I’ll keep mine as I see fit.

-HB