Bedside gun: why I don't keep a round in the chamber

Sounds like you shouldn't have a bedside gun within reach. If you can unscrew a bulb and move it, you can rack a slide and turn off a safety.

Funny you mention this, I keep my Glock 19 in my nightstand drawer with an empty chamber. The glock trigger worries me in a drawer with other items and my new M3 light prevents me from putting it one of my holsters.

If you think that you're going to perform an act under stress that you don't normally perform, I'm afraid you may very well be dead wrong.

Sounds lke you need a small Gunvault.

Sounds lke you need a small Gunvault.

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Roger that; a good idea for most any gunside bed.

You know what I mean.

Uh... I'll second the

I'd be a bit concerned about that. For your situation, I would recommend a gun safe or something....wow.

Why not just put the gun out of reach instead of in a gun safe? He didn't say he sleep walks.

If you're married maybe you should put the gun on your wifes side of the bed.

P7m8

If you can take a lightbulb out, you can open a Gunvault and rack a slide. If I were you I'd reinforce the bedroom door and keep my guns unloaded in a safe.

Right. Hand you just done something like knock the lamp over in your sleep, that would have been one thing, but you actually performed a fairly complicated task and unscrewed it, apparently without knocking the lamp off the table. No doubt you could load up a gun as well, in your sleep. Not having a chambered round is just deceiving yourself that you are safe without one in the chamber.

Some how I managed to unscrew the lightbulb from my lamp and set it on the shelf while completely asleep

So you did all this without dropping the bulb twice, without sticking your finger in the live socket, and without knocking over things?

Sounds to me like you function rather effectively in that semi-concious state.


Gotcha thinking about that electricity thing, huh?

Most people do perform tasks in their sleep. They just don't remember it and most of the time; the results are not noticeable whenever you wake up. Unsecured bedside guns are a bad idea for anyone. Aside for the sleeping issue, unsecured loaded guns are bad news for other reasons as well. I use a combination lockbox mounted in my closet. My other guns are generally stored in my safe.

When I was younger, while sleep walking, I took showers, used the phone, talked to people, moved furniture, opened doors, etc. I even drove a truck about 10 feet once. I don't remember most of these things but they were witnessed by family members.

It used to be common for me to wake up in a different room than I went to sleep in or wake up standing in a hallway or shower. I never kept guns and ammo too near each other until I stopped the extreme sleep walking thing many years ago.

I no longer perform extremely complex tasks in my sleep, however, I still pretend to type on a computer, talk, move my arms, etc.

carpettbaggerr said:

If you can take a lightbulb out, you can open a Gunvault and rack a slide. If I were you I'd reinforce the bedroom door and keep my guns unloaded in a safe.

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Can you open a combination lock when not fully conscious? I'd really be interested to know for sure.

Can you open a combination lock when not fully conscious? I'd really be interested to know for sure.

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Probably not. How many dreams have you had where you could remember numbers, letters, or writing? If it's just a sequence of pushbuttons, though, you'd probably be able to do it.

The unfortunate fact is that anything one can do quickly upon being suddenly woken can also be done in one's sleep.

I have an alarm clock that is across my room, I am a heavy sleeper. A couple times a month I wake up and turn off the alarm clock only to go to sleep and wake up later wondering why my alarm never went off. I store weapons and ammo seperate and its a fairly complex set of actions to get to the ammo.

My CCH instructor suggest keep a firearm 3 steps from the bed.

Hmmm. Interesting.
Never had that experience before but I did have a dream once where a 'phantom' intruder was in the room, after a brief struggle in which I was hoplessly tangled up in the bedding I broke lose grabbed my revolver and unloaded it.
I woke up, WIDE awake in a cold sweat my ears ringing as if some one had fired a gun in close quarters. Checked my revolver to insure it was where it was supposed to be and got up for the day, no more sleep after that it bothered me so much.
It also got me to thinking.....What if??

I do the same thing... in my most fatigued days, before I figured out the right "sequence" I'd find myself waking up to sunlight, having not only turned off the first alarm clock, but set it forward 30 minutes as I'm apt to do (super-snooze), handling the second one, and then probably turning off the first one again. These are across the room, mind you.

For some reason i figured out that if I set the TV to come on 30 minutes before the alarm clocks, even with no volume, I stopped. I think the meager light is enough to kick in some kind of "wake cycle".

Anyways, gun is 3 "steps" from the bed, because I keep it 10+1 and all I need to do is pull the trigger to have a rude awakening...

Can you open a combination lock when not fully conscious? I'd really be interested to know for sure.

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I don't think you could open a dial combination lock, but I think you could open the pushbutton-type combination lock a GunVault uses. I wouldn't really want to find out though.

Anyways, gun is 3 "steps" from the bed, because I keep it 10+1 and all I need to do is pull the trigger to have a rude awakening...

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15+1, but 3 steps away, covered with a pair of pajama pants.

I keep mine in a small key-code locked safe next to the bed. I do it because I have children who occasionally wander into the room at night.

I don't think you could open a dial combination lock, but I think you could open the pushbutton-type combination lock a GunVault uses. I wouldn't really want to find out though.

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I agree, after using a GV 2x7x52x? years, the "combination" is a subconscious reflex. I am sure I could do it in my sleep. Nevertheless, that is part of why it's there...to make a little speedbump on the way to fuller consciousness.