Critique My Home Defense Setup: Bedroom

[Joseywales3]

If You Want Peace, Prepare for War

If you want peace, prepare for war. Sorry, I forgot the fancy Latin version.

If I were to go shotgun, it would be a 20 gauge. No need for all the bang and muzzle blast of a 12, nor the penetration of it, especially in an apartment. Hell, even a 410 will get er done. I performed some research on violent crimes many years ago and the racking of the slide is what gets em runnin anyhow. But if you need to let the lead fly, slugs could create friendly fire issues in any setting that doesn't have stone walls for a backstop. The logistics of a shotgun, especially with kids, are very challenging as well.

Myself, I have a 45, but am thinking of moving my Glock 23 for night stand duty. Mostly because it has a rail, with a light mounted, and the Arizona Response backstrap, which offers the same sight plane as my 1911. I do not, however, like the pop of the 40, and as I practice with the light, my hope is it will tame muzzle flip a bit.

My wife has the SP101 under her side and if you hold your hand up at 15 feet, she'll gladly fill it with hollow points. Redheads....

 

[tblt]

get a gunvault and bolt it to the floor under your bed.You can open it with out looking at it.one will run you about 120 bucks I love mine.

 

[Iron Mike]

Bed room gun

I have a similar setup with a Smith 25-5 in 45lc and speed loader in the night stand, also a Mossburg 500 under the bed.
Better to have it and not need it

 

[coloradokevin]

I didn't read through all of the posts, so sorry if these are repeat suggestions:

1) Get a dog, only if you like dogs. They mostly just poop, eat, and provide companionship... They often bark too. Unless your dog is vicious or highly trained, it may be of no use to you in an attack. BUT, the same mostly useless dog is very likely to let you know that someone is coming through the door (even my entirely useless 75lb German Shepherd/Akita would let me know about an intruder by whining and trying to play with the low-life)

2) Get some kind of lock on your bedroom door. We have nightstands on either side of our bed, and my wife and I each have a gun next to us when we sleep, and there is an AR-15 in the room just for the sake of it (This is either the result of occupational paranoia -as my wife calls it- or just simply that we found nice places to keep the aforementioned items, I suppose).

But, regardless, a gun does you no good if you are soundly sleeping when joe-dirtbag comes in and grabs it.

Also, you need to be awake to properly identify a target (versus, say, your kid coming into the bedroom), and you can't fight if you are asleep. A lock on the door provides a bit of a 'reactionary gap', if you will - even if it is just a bathroom type lock. It is quite simply just another obstacle for the burglar/attacker to defeat, and they will quite possibly make some noise in the process.

3) Be smart about how you store your guns in the bedroom setting. I've seen people who keep weapons chambered and unholstered on their nightstand (few and far between, granted). This is foolish behavior that is likely to lead to an accident if you are reaching for the gun in the middle of the night (or if perhaps you are groggy and reaching for the snooze button on the alarm clock). My nightstand gun has a loaded magazine, but is not chambered. We also have no children in our house, and my wife and I both know how to use guns. So, for us, it is not a problem to leave guns unsecured when we are home! In CCW situations my weapon is always chambered, but for home defense it is not... Quite simply, if I don't have time to grab the gun and chamber it after waking up from a sound sleep, then I was already too far behind the curve to effectively and safely defend myself, IMO (this is also coming from the standpoint of a sound sleeper).

4) Work on the entire package at your house. Motion lights and appropriate landscaping designs go a long way to prevent unwanted visitors in the home. If nothing else, it may save you some grief when the burglar comes to your house while you are away (which is the far more likely scenario).

5) Consider a tactical light for your bedroom handgun. It is always better to see your attacker, and to have definitive target identification. Lights are fairly cheap these days, and many guns (ie: Glocks) have tactical rails already built in.

 

[VTKFJoe]

nice set-up but I repeat the be sure you are awake... I have my 19 in a keypad operated safe for just that reason.

Also, FWIW - since you live in an apt. and I assume you don't own a home the housing market is perfect right now for you. It is a buyers market and since you, as a first time buyer, are not a buyer and a seller - there are deals to be found.

Best of luck.

 

[Anonymous Coward]

Thank god you didn't shoot the ironing board.

Not every noise in the night is a home invasion.

 

[dewage83]

i personally like your set up. i also like the attach a light to gun. would never want to kill your dog/ upset neighbor(cuz her house just got broken into.) and like evryone said make it easier to wake up at night. motion sensors, alarms (cheap yet reliable because i know your in an apt.) but i keep my pump right between box spring and the bed frame. fully loaded chamber empty. and its not for the "rack the slide" defensive mechanism, (im a heavy sleeper) and i prefer to think of it as MY warning yell. unless your deaf you will hear it and KNOW your in danger. me and my girlfriend have played out this senario but i DO NOT believe it will stop someone whos already at the door. (the end part of his plan- excecution.)

 

[george29]

If you want peace, prepare for war. Sorry, I forgot the fancy Latin version.

Si vis pacem, para bellum

 

[collateral]

I hope that glock has night sights.

if not get some, or get yourself a weapon light

 

[tntwatt]

About the dog... read an article that interviewed felons. They said they left homes with 2-3 small dogs alone because they couldn't catch or kill them and they make alot of racket. Sure fire way to know someone's around.

 

[xjchief]

I'm no expert but I've given this a bit of thought and I think the first and foremost consideration is knowing that you've got an intruder. I have an alarm system that should go off and alert me to a window/door break in. 2nd line of alert is our dog. If either or both of those are going off I'm sure there is a problem. I have a 12 gauge and a handgun that I keep in the bedroom. We have kids so I have to keep them in my safe but I unlock it each night before we go to bed and lock it when I wake up in the morning. I tend to reach for the hand gun but only because I have a sharp corner out of our bedroom. The 12 is for my wife to defend herself in the bedroom.

 

[535]

Personally I'd keep the gun on the side of the bed away from the entrance to the room, you never know, if an intruder is quiet enough you could end up in a situation where you couldn't access the gun.

As for warning I have one of these.
If anything is within 100yds of the house day or night I know about it.

And a Taurus Judge next to he bed helps too.