Calling all pistol owners and parents

[jeffmoline]

Dilemma: I am a proud father of 2 little girls. Very young (1 and 2 years) and curious. I carry my Ruger P95 whenever I am not working, or in a location where firearms are not permitted. My pistol stays unloaded but accessible in the nightstand. Our bedroom is blocked off by a child gate.

Cutting to the chase: I am comfortable carrying/owning my DA/SA Ruger P95 because even with a round in the chamber, has a heavy DA pull. I am in the market to replace the Ruger with a Glock 17/19. I am nervous about if there was ever a situation where little fingers were to EVER get close enough to the trigger of the Glock, an accident could occur. I know that in the same situation the DA pull of the Ruger would not allow the same accident.

I am very safe with my firearms and my children, but know that a Glock is a better/sturdier pistol that would shoot better under stress and last longer.

Please contribute with any comments, suggestions or questions.

 

[possum]

welcome to thr.

i own a few guns, and i am a dad, i have a 4yr old and a 2yr old. when i carry i carry locked and loaded that is the only way for me, i carry a glock 23, or an xd service model.
lately it has been my glock for carry.

my xd is my hd gun i keep it with a magazine in no round in the chamber. now understand that this is for home defense, and i would never, nor do i advocate carrying without a round in the chamber. ever heard of the Tueller drill?

btw IMHO the 19 is the way to go, best size for all tasks, ccw easily, accuarte and reliable as can be.

neither one of your kids is old enough right now to rack the slide on your handgun, or any handgun for that matter, and that is what they would have to do if you had it like i have mine.

also i would personally not have a child gate infront of my bedroom door, if there comes a time that you have a fight for your life or your wife and or kids in that house you are gonna have enough things to worry about and a child gate is not something you need to compound the problem. just think you are awakened, you go through with your defense plan whatever that maybe, and you are thinking about who's in my house? where are they in the house etc, and that child gate is the fartherest from your mind, but you remember it is there as you are falling over the top of it, and landing face down in the hall way, so now you are compromised in a compromising position. Just my opinon.

 

[jeffmoline]

Thanks for the reply Possum. Regarding the child gate. It is only up when the girls are awake. Naps and night time...it comes down. I agree with everything you posted. When the pistol is in the night stand, magazine is in, no round in the chamber. When the pistol is on my person, round in the chamber and ready for the long DA pull.

 

[DougW]

Nearly all my weapons are either unloaded or condition 3 (yellow) with a mag in the well, empty chamber. Even the G17 w/Glock light and Maverick 88 are that way. I have to rack the action to load, even at night. The only weapons that are condition 1 (red) are the G26, which stays in a Fobus paddle holster for CC, and the 2 Bersa Thunder .380's, decocked and safety on. (These weapons are secured in a location and safe from casual accessablilty.)

I have no reservation with the Glocks loaded, and I came from the P95 world (loved those pistols). I do have a 4 year old grandaughter that is here a lot, even for a sleep over. She knows what a pistol is, and I take extreem care to make sure 1) she can't get to any of them and 2) that the loaded weapons are out of reach for sure.

I am constantly surveying my house and the storage areas to make sure all is secure. She will learn to shoot in a few years when she gets bigger, and for now, she knows what a pistol is. She also knows and acknowledges that she is not to touch them.

I am not comfortable with any of my Glocks being cocked and locked out of a kydex holster. I always confirm the status of the Glocks anytime I handle them, and I train with them as often as possible.

Your thinking is right on. I would not leave a pistol on the night stand though. Mine are on a shelf about 7.5' off the ground, about 8 steps from the bed. If I have to react so fast as to have the need to have one on the night stand, I would work on a more layered defense, allowing me more time to wake up and react from sleep. My house has natural defense barriers, and my killer Pug is a bit noisey as well as jumpy.

The P95 is a great pistol, and you are very well armed with it. I only traded out of the Rugers because when shooting 3 Gun Matches, I hit the mag release when drawing twice and dropped the mag at the beginnig of the stage. Not so good!

 

[earplug]

There only tools

Treat your pistols as house hold tools. Kitchen knives, hammers, matches, gas stove, automobile, etc.
Remove the mystery and teach them good habits around all things that might harm them.
You can't wait soon enough. The more mystery the more interest in a object.

 

[bensdad]

+1

Teach them young. Yours are a little TOO young to start shooting, however. Even safety lectures/do-not-touch warnings would be lost upon them. Keep the guns out of reach and completely inaccessible to kids that young.

My son is 7, and my daughter is 10. I take them to the range often enough that they are familiar and comfortable with firearms. They both shoot. they both have guns to call their own. What's the saying? "Gun-proof your kids." We have a shotgun and two carry guns in the house that stay loaded (cond.1) all the time, but the carry guns are on us or right by our beds when we sleep. The shotty is way up high in a closet. Also, our kids are older and have shot centerfire handguns. They can also hold, dry-fire and manipulate any gun in the house if they just ask.

Think for a second about that pistol in the nightstand. What's the first rule? Once that gun leaves your immediate possession, it's loaded. You can't leave it there and assume everything is fine.