Where to keep your gun in the bedroom?

Status
Not open for further replies.
gila_dog1

gila_dog1

Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2022
Messages
86
Location
New Mexico
When I was a young man (long ago) I kept my shotgun in a rack on the wall above my bed. It seemed like a good place to keep it in case I needed it real quick. One night I'm sleeping soundly, but I start to come awake when I see somebody standing by my bed looking at me. I wasn't all the way awake, just about halfway. Sure enough there's a man standing there. Some kind of survival instinct kicked in and I grab him by the wrist and pull him across the bed and shove him down into the gap between the bed and the wall and punch him in the face twice, then I'm up on my knees grabbing the shotgun. I jack a round into it, and then I hear the man yelling "Don't! Don't! It's me!" I yell, "Me who?", and he answers "Rick! It's me, Rick!". It was my stupid ass cousin, drunk again, and he had come into my house and was standing there by my bed for some reason. Maybe he thot he was in his own house and why is there somebody in his bed? By now I'm all the way awake, heart pounding. I just collapse, trembling, breathing hard, and lay the shotgun down. From then on I've kept it in the closet so I have to wake all the way up and get out of bed to get to it. I just don't trust myself to do the right thing when I'm half asleep. And I make sure the house is locked up before going to bed. That's my story, yours may be different.
 
Last edited:
My handgun is in a lock box on the bed stand, and a double barrel 12 gauge is in the corner by the door. My dog will let me know is anything is going on in the house. Heck, she wakes me up when she hears a mouse in the attic. At least she is not sleeping on the job.
 
I've been in a few situations that seemed bad at the onset, but turned out to be a neighbor....or a friend of one of our sons...or a daughter of a friend. All had me armed..

I have a under bed safe with a electric lock that pops open a spring loaded door to access my 870 and an AR pistol. It is a Hornady branded safe from Midway USA.


When I was a young man, my gunbelt hung on the bedpost with a loaded .357mag Blackhawk in the holster. Those were the days!
Then........
Kids.
Then.....
Grandkids.
 
I don't need to "wake all the way up" in an emergency like what you described- I know because I have "tested" (or had tested for me) my response on waking up time a few times. If I did have such a condition, I may keep my (handy) pistol with a empty chamber, to insure I had to execute certain moves a partially awake person might have issues doing. Strange topic I never considered.
 
We have camera's on at night, the bedroom locked and the dog sleeps in the bedroom. If anyone breaks into the house the dog will wake us, I'll be able to see what they're doing on the camera's. The bedroom windows would be extremely hard to break and climb though with the obstacles in the way and the dog would be after them, by that point we'd be wide awake.
 
Last edited:
When I'm in bed my carry gun in the holster goes between the mattress & the box spring grip pointing out so I can grab it. And it's not exposed to anyone that may walk through. No kids in my house anymore they have all grown up & moved out.
 
Welcome to THR forums, @gila_dog1.
Hopefully you enjoy the insights here.

How was your "drunk again" cousin able to silently access the house?
Ensuring carefully locked doors and windows is the intuitive first step.

Did this experience change any behaviors, strategies, or tactics?
I know in my family we (were) and are now never unannounced.

Decades ago I would call from a payphone (if returning late) with my anticipated arrival time.
Upon arrival it would be keys in the door, all interior lights switched on, and "Hi, I am home!"
 
I've been on the receiving end of something similar to what you describe, my best friend while in the service almost shot me coming into his room to get him to go drinking.

I don't keep a gun in my bedroom. I have 3 large dogs in the house and 3 donkeys outside, would be really tough to sneak up on me at home so I keep my carry gun in the bathroom and a shotgun in the spare closet. Would take me about 3-5 seconds to get to either and I think that is enough time to get my wits about me.
 
My flashlight on the nightstand is grabbed way more often than the firearm. And the nightstand pistol has a WML.

A dog is man's best friend in this situation. Oh, and a locked front door that's alarmed. And a motion sensor that turns hall lights on. I have a speaker that chimes quite loudly enough to wake us both up if any outside door or window is opened, although the dogs would be barking vociferously as soon as someone approaches an ingress point if it's after we're in bed.
 
The world was a different place back then (50 yrs ago). That was one of life's big learning experiences for me. Fortunately nobody got killed or hurt bad. My cousin had a swollen lip and a loose tooth after that, but he didn't learn much from it. He kept on getting drunk until he fell down one time, hit his head and died. For me, I learned to make the rounds of all the doors and windows before bed, but the shotgun and handgun stay in the closet now. I agree that a good dog or two are the best home intrusion alarm system. I think the dog we had at the time was pals with my cousin and wasn't alarmed when the idiot came into the house. Probably just wagged his tail and wanted to be petted.

Thanks for the welcome @Blue Jays.
 
Bedside safe bolted to the night stand. Simplex lock and a motion activated light inside. Both handguns inside have a WML and there is a flashlight on the nightstand. I live with 2-3 dogs and I can open the box in 5 seconds or less. I worry about my son grabbing a too accessible firearm more than someone kicking down my door.
 
Side of the night stand with a magnet thing when I turn in. My Fenix on top of the stand..Really very simple and no I don't worry about magnetizing my pistol.
 
Yeah, if a drunk can “sneak” into your house and make it to the foot of your bed without you waking up, it probably wouldn’t help if your gun was in your hand under your pillow.

You need to come up with another plan that will give you more time than, “poor guy, never had a chance.”
 
Wife keeps a pistol in the nightstand next to her side and I keep one in the nightstand on my side. Two labs will keep any invader busy with extensive excited greetings and tongue lickings. Siamese cat who used to perform watch cat duties has gone on to the next world or wherever cats go. He was much more aware than the dogs. Need me another one.
 
I had an employer who had an on call 24/7 policy. One might they called me at 3AM to cover a shift.

I don't remember if I knocked my gun off the nightstand reaching for my phone or picked my gun up and tried to talk to it.

Either way, when I go to bed at night my gun is on top of my safe in a holster. I have to get all the way out of bed and take a step to get to it. By that time I'm awake enough to know what I'm doing.
 
Where is my gun? Locked up. Theft and child accidents are more common than home invasions by two orders of magnitude (unless you are a criminal in which case, find the crime advice forum).

Mine is a carbine somewhat out of sight in the closet also but locked, nearby is a spare mobile on a charger (by law, all mobiles must work with 911, service plan or not), spare glasses, light, couple spare mags, baton, and a plate carrier (which has some other stuff on it).

Anyone who says I need quicker access: see most responses above. If someone is already in my bedroom meaning me harm, many things have already gone wrong. I have never panicked and assaulted (with cause or, I find later... not) someone next to my bed, because it's a child, the dog, the wife, etc. Doors should be locked, several other gates to get to us (child safety gates, but they are loud and will slow someone down) plus alarm-pets, etc. I'll have time before someone is even on the floor where I sleep.

Oh, and ambient lighting. I never got why everyone makes their house so dark at night. Even if you want to sleep in the total dark, have halls, bathrooms, etc with nightlights or dimmers. Can see where you are going (for night bathroom breaks, for evacuation in emergencies etc), can see threats without flashlight, and might even make it un-obvious from outside you are all asleep.

If you don't have sufficient physical security, worry there could be bad guys right outside the bedroom window or it's an apartment and you can see the door from your bed or something: work on perimeter security to slow people down and increase awareness much more than being able to go to gun faster. Better locks, lights, vision barriers, gates and cages, pets or alarms, etc.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

P
  • Locked
Sleep Inertia
Replies
20
Views
708
CSC_Saint
C
E
  • Locked
Critique My Home Defense Setup: Bedroom
2
Replies
36
Views
2K
535
5
T
  • Locked
Drive-By
Replies
6
Views
583
Thain
T
beeenbag
  • Locked
How are your bedside guns stored?
2 3
Replies
53
Views
2K
torqem
T
R
  • Locked
Break In -- What do you do?
2 3 4 5
Replies
112
Views
3K
Fred Fuller
F
Back
Top