Gun cabinets, loaded firearms and tactics....

[BBQLS1]

I don't have a bunch of guns, but I have more than a couple. I'm looking into buying a gun cabinet for storage and some security. Right now, I live in an apartment and won't be looking at an 800 lb safe, but I'll get one for my next house.

Now, I always hear that you shouldn't store loaded guns or ammo with your guns. I can see the basic reasons why, but what I want to do is secure my HD shotgun and nightstand gun there while I'm gone during the day (as well as the other guns). I don't have to store the rest of my ammo there, but it would be nice.

When I get home, I'd unlock the cabinet until the next morning. I don't have kids and would lock it all up if any came over. I plan on placing this in my closet as it's close to the bed and it's in the room we would go in if a home invasion were to occur.

Thoughts?

 

[Mainsail]

Inside my safe, my 590A1 is loaded (not chambered), my AR is likewise loaded (not chambered). The rest of my long guns are unloaded. My P239 is fully loaded, my 1911 is fully loaded, my Alaskan is loaded, my Taurus 85 is loaded, and both .22 pistols are unloaded.

 

[Yo Mama]

As a rule for my home, everyone knows which are loaded and which are not.

Any gun we rely on for the house is loaded, so the Mossberg, and 1911s are good to go. I have a mag for the ak ready, but only for the zombies.

Anything for the range is empty.

Also, I don't like to leave it locked over night, but with children in the home we have to also. Under my pillow is harder to reach into.

 

[mcwjr13]

I keep my nighstand gun loaded when I am in the house. I lock it in the safe when I leave. When I place it in the safe the mag goes with it. I also keep one loaded ar mag on the door of my safe just in case. I store my ammunition in plastic tubs on the shelf above my safe. I can lock the entire closet if any children come over that way the safe and the ammo are secure. When I am home my safe is unlocked as is the closet. When I leave gun goes in, safe gets locked.

 

[Little_Bigman]

When I get home, I'd unlock the cabinet until the next morning.

I wouldn't leave my safe unlocked at night ( kids) because I'd be concerned that the one day I forgot to lock it would be the day the burglar showed up.

Get the gun you need out of the safe and leave out till you're done with it.

Better still, let the gun you carry pull double duty and just have it on till bed time

 

[JImbothefiveth]

I'd avoid leaving a round chambered. I'd also reccomend that if you have a pistol, to just carry that with you while you're home, so even if it's locked up when guests are there, you still have a gun.

 

[Mainsail]

I'd avoid leaving a round chambered.

Why?

 

[Kleanbore]

I've never seen a cabinet that provides much in the way of security, and the gun cabinet is the first thing a crook is going to go for.

I would leave everything in it unloaded and get a quick-opening combo safe for your HD gun. Make sure its securely attached to something.

 

[MortalWombat]

I wouldn't leave my safe unlocked at night ( kids) because I'd be concerned that the one day I forgot to lock it would be the day the burglar showed up.

One way to prevent this is to leave the key (which is on your keyring with your house key, car key, etc) in the lock in the cabinet when you unlock it. You'll never forget to lock it because you'll need to take your keys out of the cabinet to leave the house.

 

[JImbothefiveth]

Why?

I usually keep guns, except for CCW guns that are being carried, with an empty chamber. But there are other reasons for gun safes.

Gun safes, especially if you hide them properly, can be hard to see in, so there is a risk of hitting the safety or trigger, or bumping those in to the safe itself. Also, if the gun does fail, it won't fire and harm your safe.

I still reccomend carrying a gun around with you, so you don't need to make it to the safe if someone breaks in.

 

[misANTHrope]

One way to prevent this is to leave the key (which is on your keyring with your house key, car key, etc) in the lock in the cabinet when you unlock it. You'll never forget to lock it because you'll need to take your keys out of the cabinet to leave the house.

If I did that, I'd lock myself out of the house.

 

[MortalWombat]

I'm only saying what I do, because I pretty much can't go anywhere without my keys. My front door doesn't lock itself, either.

 

[CoRoMo]

As a rule for my home, everyone knows [strike]which are loaded and which are not[/strike] to treat every gun as though it were loaded even if they know with certainty that it isn't or shouldn't be loaded.

Fixed that right up for you.

 

[BBQLS1]

Generally, I will carry until I go to bed, but I don't carry the shotgun around the house.

 

[expvideo]

As a rule for my home, everyone knows which are loaded and which are not.

Same here, but it's a simple rule... They're all loaded. That way there is no confusion about whether or not a gun is loaded. That being said, I don't have kids. If I had kids I might do things differently.

There is only 1 gun that I keep unloaded, and that is the 22 short revolver in my car emergency kit. I have a handful of rounds in a ziplock bag next to it, but since it's not a self defense gun, that's ok. It's only there for if I get stranded in a blizzard and have to eat squirrels for a week or something like that. The only reason it is unloaded is that in Washington State, you can't leave a loaded gun unattended in a car, unless you have a CPL. Since not everyone that might end up driving my car in an emergency has a CPL, it is easier to just avoid getting anyone into legal trouble and keep it unloaded.

 

[bradvanhorn]

I keep my safe locked at all times, and I keep a gun at hand at all times. Since I am not usually sitting in close proximity to the safe, I prefer to keep it secure. If I ever find myself in a possible shooting situation, I will simply have to rely on what I keep at hand (which I think is plenty adequate - unless a gang of thieves, a misguided SWAT team, or the much dreaded zombie horde has arrived).

I always hear that you shouldn't store loaded guns or ammo with your guns.

Like many gun related topics, this subject often stirs strong feelings in some people... I'm not averse to having guns and ammo stored together, and I assume every gun is loaded until I confirm otherwise. In my gun safe, most of my long guns are unloaded, but probably half of my handguns are loaded. I also keep more than a few loaded spare mags in the safe near the respective handgun, as well as a few spare boxes of ammo in the bottom of the safe. Although I am familiar with which guns are loaded or unloaded, whenever I retrieve a weapon from the safe I first check to verify loaded/unloaded status. In the event I grab a loaded gun that I don't want loaded, I clear the weapon and re-verify the unloaded status. However, if a gun is loaded, I usually want it that way, and once I've verified the weapon status I simply proceed with whatever I have planned.

 

[expvideo]

If I ever find myself in a possible shooting situation, I will simply have to rely on what I keep at hand (which I think is plenty adequate - unless a gang of thieves, a misguided SWAT team, or the much dreaded zombie horde has arrived).

Not to even mention a misguided gang of SWAT zombies!

 

[BBQLS1]

Another thing to remember is that I am in a relatively small apartment.

 

[stonecutter2]

Just my thoughts. I have one of the little pistol safes I describe below (I also live in a little apartment).

Get one of those little safes that you can open with a sequence of finger touches (a code you enter on pressure-sensitive buttons), which will flip open a door (and my Winchester model actually has a dim LED light in it). They come in various sizes so you can put more than 1 gun in it. This will allow easy access to your loaded nightstand gun, and make it easy to keep it loaded and ready to go, but still secure. If a bad guy gets in when you're not home, he's gotta break into your box to get your pistol, but odds are he'll just take the lockbox. An additional bonus is that he will not have your loaded gun to point in your face, if you walk in on him mid-heist.

The only drawback to the little safe is that it relies on batteries to run the unlock code. Check it often, and replace the batteries when you replace them in your smoke detectors. Mine has an indicator when the batteries are getting low, but I don't trust that - I just keep it set up with good batteries.

As for your shotgun, i'd suggest just putting it in a plastic rifle-type case, with a padlock keeping it locked. you can open the padlock each night, and relock it in the morning, or just rely on your nightstand gun and keep the shotgun locked up tight.

 

[mljdeckard]

Think hard about this one,You can get a Stack-On cabinet for about $100 at most of the shops that holds 8 long guns (albeit snugly) and will fit in the recess on either side of your bedroom closet. (You want to make it the LEFT recess, because otherwise the door will open into you, blocking your view.) It comes pre-drilled with 4 bolts where your wall studs SHOULD be in a normally constructed house. When you drill a few holes and bolt it into the wall, there is no room left to get in a prybar and rip it out of the wall. It's more secure than one might think. It's not easily visible to a casual glance, and in my closet, there is plenty of room in the recess to hang a long garment in front of it, and still look like there is nothing else in the niche. All guns in the cabinet are cleared, but I do keep a couple of stripper clips for the SKS sitting on the shelf, mags for the 1911, etc. I just figure that if you had to take the time to get into the cabinet, the remaining time to load isn't going to save your life anyway.

Of course one day when I have the means, I'm going to build Fort Deckard out in the desert, where I can shoot clay birds off my back deck and no one will care, and I will build it with a vault of significant size and weight designed into one of the basement corners, with the recess and steel reinforcement formed into the concrete.

Right now, my 1911 is on my person or within arms' reach, condition one pretty much all the time. In the closet or near the bed are my 870 and my M-1 Carbine. The shotgun is loaded, slide locked, no round in the chamber. The carbine is empty, with two magazines on a pouch on the butt. (That's my wife's primary.) This has nothing to do with scaring someone with the noise of loading, it's all to do with an acceptable level of readiness with little kids in the house.

 

[OOOXOOO]

If they are locked in a safe why not keep them loaded? Rule #1 treat all guns as if they were loaded. Go one step further and keep all guns loaded all the time. Unless they are being cleaned or worked on all my weapons are loaded ALWAYS. That includes the chamber. This even goes for my hunting firearms. Unloaded guns are expensive rocks.

 

[BBQLS1]

Thanks for the thoughts guys.

 

[rookie]

Modular Safe

I don't know if this was mentioned. And I do not know a lot about the company. But there is a modular safe available. I think the company is Zanotti. The safe comes in sections that easily go together. And can be disassembled if you move.

 

[esq_stu]

At least one handgun is loaded in each of three locked storage locations in my house. Chambered.

My two long guns outside the locked rifle rack, an 870 and an AR, are have loaded mags and are not chambered.

I have no kids at home. My wife knows my guns are loaded in the bedroom lock box and she does not touch them (she unfortunately keeps jewelry there.)