Crazy to carry in your own house?

[GigaBuist]

I live alone so it's usually just laying about when I'm home. When I have guests over it goes into a holster for everybody's safety.

I got asked about it once and the explanation was pretty simple. I'd look like a real friggen moron if I ever had an invsasion and got shot down considering all the guns and ammo that's packed into this little place. I'd be pretty regretful if my family and friends that were over for dinner got hurt because I didn't have one within arm's reach too.

Seemed reasonable enough to him. Heck, arrange a range trip that night with him. Gotta bring him back as he's itching to go again.

 

[DevilDog]

Think of the irony... you have a safe full of firearms, and you become a statistic via the rare home invasion because none of them were close by.

About two weeks ago, it sounded like someone was trying to get in my front door at about 10:30 pm (putting my blood pressure through the ceiling). I did not time how long it took for me to get "ready" but it seemed much too long.

It did turn out to be a false alarm, but made me realize I need to be better prepared.

Most of us carry car insurance, life insurance, fire, homeowners... doesn't it make sense to "carry" intrusion insurance?

 

[bukijin]

I was always taught that a loaded firearm needs to be under my immediate control (for safety). So if it is loaded, it is carried - otherwise it is unloaded and locked in the safe. My home is my castle.

 

[sm]

NO!

It has everthing to do with what CRSam hs posted many times: "One does not know the when or where of next encounter".

Makes no difference on how safe a neighborhood, or the alarm set up. A firearm on person is safer and the responsible thing to do with kids in the house.

I know from real life experience, that "one never knows the where or when of next encounter". I was a kid with 3 younger sibs when the front door was being busted open. I know the most vulnerable time is when I enter or leave my residence. This includes opening the door for deliveries.

Walk into your home and find yourself face to face with a perp and a firearm that has broken in, and waiting for you to arrive home.

Start to leave your abode to answer an alarm at a business , and face the perp. The perp who called you to say the alarm was going off.

Nope - not crazy at all in my book.

 

[Ivy Mike]

I don't "carry" them while at home, but at least one is always in arms reach.

The FN Forty-Nine sleeps in the nightstand, the Hi-Standard 12ga under the bed. The CZ-75B in the safe and the Makarov in my carry holster in the safe (both loaded). The other various guns all live in the safe, unloaded usually. I don't stock a lot of ammo for them. Some of them are kinda rare.
The Makarov comes everywhere with me especially walking the dogs or getting a 12 pack at the store.

 

[Viking6]

Basically, two issues: Is it crazy to carry in your own house? not at all, for all the reasons stated above. I do part of the time and have something handy almost all the time. second issue: It's not your own house, also stated above. Approach your father calmly once more. If that doesn't work, drop it.

 

[WVleo]

Hi, If I'm in for the evening it is within arms reach , but if I am in transit ( going to do variuos Honey-do's ) it's on my hip . With a couple of well placed hidden back-ups around the house. Ofcourse there are no children in our household anymore, if there were it would remain on the hip while in the house ...............WVleo

 

[P95Carry]

Just a small addition .... and this is not meant to sound inflammatory - just an observation.

''Within arm's reach''. ............. ????? Know what? I find it hard to envisage this being true at all times in a house ... even with one piece per room! What if you are in bathroom ... rooting for stuff in the attic ..... it will take a very finite time IMO to aquire a piece.

Furthermore .. and for convenience we'll assume no kids in house ..... IF you did have one gun per room ... in order to provide relative ease of access (so thus not deeply concealed in drawer etc, which makes for slower access) ... what is to say that an intruder (intruders even) might not enter, rapidly - and whilst you go for the nearest, he (they!?) sees and aquires one of the others - to add perhaps to what he (they!?) may already have!!

I do go on a bit I know .. PITA on this subject! But really ...... if a situation demands rapid response ... that ONE time your life might depend on it - what is more reliable than reaching for your piece which is in its usual place ... because you ALWAYS have it there, on the person. You can KNOW that it is there ..... and it is. No stressed out pause as you have to decide where to reach.

What is the time? You look at your watch (OK some don't wear one!) ... it is there on the wrist ... part of the 'always'' dress. Your piece should be in same category - no need to think where it is.

Why do I drone on boring the crap outa you on this? Just because - if ... IF .... that dreaded moment should ever arrive, there is no percentage whatsoever in any delay ... none! Think on it ... and ask yourself at any given moment how long your aquisition time is ... real time ... try it and see how long it takes.


''**** P95''

''OK''!

 

[Red_SC]

Just ask the man who went through the CWP class with me. He was just your typical, a little overweight 50-something guy who lived in a good neighborhood. A couple of weeks before the class, he heard something tapping on the window while he was in his living room. He walked towards the window, and two guys kicked the door in. He had guns, but they were in the other room, and he had no way to get to them in time. They had him face down in the bedroom with a jacket over his head, with a sawed off double barrel shotgun to his head, when something scared them off. He said the only way he could have done anything about it was if he had had a gun physically on him, not just close. It made an instant believer out of him.

 

[Werewolf]

It seems that open carry in the home is not an uncommon thing for a High Roader. This begs the question - how do you answer a door?

Do you just open the door with a gun hanging off your hip? If not what do you do with the gun?

Could it be considered brandishing to open the door and come face to face with a citizen while you have a gun on your hip but are still within the confines of your own home? Even if it's not brandishing (which it probably isn't I can imagine a sales person or jehova's witness calling the cops on you).

What if it is a LEO at the door and you open it with a gun on your hip?

Open carry is illegal in OK. I've only seen it occur in gunshops by gunshop employees because the way the law reads regarding open carry it specifically does not restrict the rights of business or private property owners. That's a bit ambiguous to me because it doesn't spell out the rights the law is not restricting. I'm not even sure if I can open carry on my own property while outside of the confines of my home.

Inquiring minds want to know...

 

[halvey]

Mostly I do. Whenever I step outside for sure.

 

[TonyB]

P95..I agree...best of both worlds...a gun in every room as back up to the one on you.......just because I'm paranoid ,doesn't mean they're not after me....better to have it and not need it,then need it and tell the BG,"hold on while I go to my safe and get my gun,load it and shoot you".....

 

[TallPine]

Mine goes on in the morning when I get up and stays there till bedtime. I work at home. I figure if you are going to have a loaded gun around, it might as well be on you.

how do you answer a door?

I don't usually .... normally I hear someone drive in our long driveway or the dog(s) bark, and I go out to see who or what it is. Yeah, the gun is exposed on my hip (what of it? this is rural Montana ) or maybe I have a sweater or wool shirt over it.

I try to keep the doors on the driveway side of the house locked and I come out the other side and walk around the house when someone shows up. Doesn't always work that way, and if it is the FedX truck or something no big deal anyway.

 

[scbair]

Crazy? Paranoid? Just ask the local, well-known defense attorney who suffered through a home invasion. He and his family were tied up and threatened at gunpoint while the invaders demanded the location of his "cash cache" (I hadda say it! ).

Good news: No one was seriously injured.

Amusing fact: At least one of the invaders was a former client of the defense attorney. I've not heard fo certain whether he was a satisfied or dissatisfied customer.

I have a pocket pistol in my pocket 24/7, as mentioned by others in this thread. When I answer the door to a stranger, I keep my foot firmly placed to prevent anyone from kicking the door into me, and I have my hand in my pocket, wrapped around the stocks of my little protector. If it's a non-violent visitor (all have been, so far), no harm, no foul.

 

[Carlos Cabeza]

I've gotten so used to carrying that I feel somethings missing when I don't have IWB strong side XD9. It's like knowing your wallet or your keys aren't in your pocket by feel.

 

[Heraclitus]

Since I opted into a reputable burglar alarm system and monitoring service, I normally don't carry when I'm at home. Still, I never answer the door unarmed. You never know who'll come a-knocking someday.

 

[No Trespassing]

My wife and/or I always carry at home because:

1. We live on 22 acres and the nearest neighbor is almost a mile away.

2. We have a 2.5 yr old that knows the difference between a pistol and a shotgun and how they work. But he's 2.5 and can't control himself to be trusted with firearms laying about.

3. Rattlesnakes, coyotes, zombies, bears and elephants...

4. We don't answer the door. There's an intercom and a camera at the gate to see who it is. The house and 1 acre is enclosed by a 6" fence with 4 big doggies on patrol. If a BG actually made it to the door I figure we'd better be armed.

 

[Brrlgrrl]

I have the same question as Werewolf.
I'm glad someone brought this up, as it's been on my mind. Recently I had an LEO show up at my door pounding and yelling for my BF's daughter. (We just brought her down from Alaska due to problems-because of this recent turn of events, she is now being sent away)
I thought it was some "boyfriend" pounding and yelling at the door. We have no peephole, but do have a locked security screen. I opened the door abruptly, and was very surprised to see a cop! I stepped outside and closed the screen behind me to talk to the cop. Long story short, in less than three weeks this 19 year old has gotten a job and been fired, been talked to by the cops for being with criminals during a beating, and they arrested some "boyfriend" on our boat for theft. That is why she is being sent away. I have to carry all weapons out to the car every morning before work. I carry my jewelry and all cash in my purse. I feel it is now more necessary than ever to carry at home, even after we send her away.
What would the LEO do if I answered the door with a gun on my hip? My Dad taught us to never let them in the house. I couldn't walk outside to talk to the LEO carrying, would I have the opportunity to "derig" in my house first?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Red_SC]

Around here, it's illegal to open carry, but if you're in your home it's fine. So yes, you could open the door with it on your hip. Brrlgirl, If I were in your situation I'd envite the officer in, after verifying his authenticity. But, as you would rather not do that, I'd just take it off before stepping outside. I usually don't carry a gun to the door, as I usually hear someone coming in the driveway and see who it is first, but on the occasions that I do I keep it concealed.

 

[Knives]

Unless I'm sleeping, at work, or in Maryland, I'm carrying. With the exception of being in Maryland, a gun is close by in the other places.

 

[W Turner]

I currently leave a "social" weapon acessible when home. Main reason I do this is because 6 mos. after we moved here, my wife's car was broken into in the wee hours of the morning. When she called the local deputies (predominantly rural area), it took 20 mins. for them to arrive. Not their fault as they are severely understaffed and hamstrung by our county commission, but 20 mins. is a long time to be without protection.

From the day my son comes home, it will stay on my hip when I am home. That's the only way I feel that it is both accessible and secure. My family may question it, but they all know I carry and while they don't understand the need, they have never made an issue of it.


W

 

[2nd Amendment]

Personally I don't at home. That's just preference though. Same reason I don't wear coats in the middle of winter because I hate being encumbered, which is also why I don't "like" to carry. I despise having anything extra on me, even small jewelry. Other than a reason such as that I really don't see any reason NOT to. As others have said, though, if it's your dad's home it's his rules.

 

[Don Gwinn]

This is just my opinion, but here goes:

You are not crazy or paranoid to carry at home. Your father is mistaken. By all means, explain to him your point of view as many times and ways as it takes for him to understand.

HOWEVER, you are not carrying a gun in "(your) own house." You don't own that house. It's his own house, and just as you would have the right to go armed in your own house, he has the right to demand that no one go armed in his house.
I live with this when I visit my in-laws. No guns. I strip my pistol and leave the slide in the car, with the frame going inside with me. I could sneak one in and they wouldn't know, but that's really not safe, because God knows what they'd try to do if they found it.

Yes, they are willfully ignorant. Yes, they are choosing to live with no defense. But it's their life, their house, and their choice. They have accepted the fact that when they come to my home, I am armed. After knowing me for eight years, they've even gotten pretty well used to it. This is progress from the day my mother-in-law told me "Just promise me you won't shoot my daughter."

You don't really support the rights of ALL people until you are willing to let others exercise their rights in ways that really, really tick you off.

 

[Bobarino]

i carry at home. often open. my girlfriend was uncomfortable with it for a while, but she doesn't even think twice about it now. for me, its like wearing your watch or putting your wallet in your pocket or some other "normal" everyday item you wear or carry. i suppose one could say they that wherever you spen the most time is where you are most likely to be put in a situation where you would need a gun, so that means work and home for me. i carry all the time at both places. lots of people feel totally safe in their homes, and you should, to a point. but your home is not an impenetrable fortress. i don't only carry a spare tire in my car when i think i might need it, its there all the time. same with cell phone.

but thats my house. my dad requires that i don't carry in his house. "you don't need that in here." he says. he DOES think his house is 100% safe all the time. he hates handguns and i know there's no point arguing with him. he's old and his mind is made up. there is no convincing him otherwise. usually, he won't even talk about guns with me. he just tells me he doesn't want to talk about it and thats it. so, if i want to go see my folks, i lock it up in the car before i go inside. it IS his house, and thus i will obey his rules. i certainly don't like it and i think his view is utopianly closed minded, but its still his house.

Bobby

 

[biere]

Someone needs to work on their ccw technique.

I agree with those who have said it is not your house so you should follow orders, errr I mean wishes, of the owner.

I have my own place in the country and I ccw as practice for when I get a permit. This allows me to get through the fidget and check the cover garment phase without drawing attention to myself. I also can walk outside and see what upset the animals and what not without going to the safe.

I do believe in the statistics, but I don't normally try and bring them up since many folks can understand the practice concept much easier.