Gun under the pillow?

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I think I remember someone posting that they used to sleep with a 1911 on an empty chamber under their pillow until they woke up one morning to discover the gun chambered, cocked and unlocked. Stupid way to die, IMO. When I sleep with mine, it's in a holster on the nightstand.
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You must have one of those evil guns that run out and shoot people all on their own!!! You might want to consider putting more rules on it, a curfew and stuff, before it gets involved with drugs and violent crime.
 
:) I do. There's been one there for the past 12 years. (Ain't shot nobody yet!) Personal safety depends on the type of handgun and which of Cooper's 3 conditions it's kept in.

While nobody's mentioned it - except the guy who JUST POSTED above me - you can wedge or, 'sticky Velcro' (available at Radio Shack) a holster between the wall and the mattress behind the pillow that will keep the pistol readily available while at the same time pointing the muzzle at the floor.

The guy who lives across the street from me was recently shot 5 times while sitting in his dining room at 1:30am. (Bet he wishes he'd had a pistol handy, huh!) At another time, on another planet, I probably wouldn't behave like this; but, it's not the 1950's; and this is planet Earth. ;)






PS: If you're some sort of sleepwalker who does crazy things at night without any conscious control, then, I don't know what to tell you?

Maybe you should lock all your guns in a vault, wrap the vault with chains and a padlock, and give the key to your wife. :p
 
:uhoh: :eek: :what: Bang OOOPS!

Good way to lose more than sleep and not worth any of the risks.

What happens if you do not secure it or forget to even just one time and that one time someone gets a hold of it say a neighbors kid and he brings it to school or plays Wild Bill Hickock with his buddies or as can happen what if the worst happens and a ND occurs when you are partially awake?

Some people fidget with things while sleeping or even sleep walk.

An unsecured firearm is an opportunity for misuse theft and accidents that are preventable.

Most street guns were stolen from smash and grab burglaries.:banghead:

Safety first, allot of better options than loose under a pillow such as a holster or handgun vault attached in or under the bed or headboard.

A floating or loose weapon is an accident waiting for an opportunity.:cuss:

Better to layer your security start with outdoor motion sensing lights secure and lock all door and windows a good alarm helps as do dogs that are alert and bark a bedroom door lock or locks a cell phone pepper spray and house keys handy (toss keys out window to LEO upon arrival & stay secured in bedroom until the good guys have swept your house for the intruder) and a secure firearm close at hand but not where it can easily become a liability or worse.

Lethal force is the last option and the last thing I ever would want to do I would not want to be looking for my defensive handgun that may have been pushed bumped or moved to some distant part of the bedding or framework the one time I need it the most at 2:00 AM when the homeboy shopping crew is breaking into my living room.

Better to have one secure spot to find it each and every time the same place and either have it with you or secure it under lock and key when apart from it.
 
That idea originated in hollywood
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I doubt that. I've heard that Audie Murphy (war hero before he got to Hollywood) kept a gun under his pillow. It's a nice method to have the gun very close by if somebody manages to get in there with you before you're aware of it.

I've tried it with various methods - (always C&L, empty chamber) stuck in the pillowcase seemed to work best. If I left it under the pillow, I'd find the pillow halfway across the room and my head lying on the gun, or the gun was slung off the bed somewhere. Never disengaged the safety, certainly never chambered a round. Nice and loud when it went bouncing between the wall and bed on the way to the floor. No gunshot, just racket.

Discontinued it 'cause of discomfort. I prefer sticking it between the mattress and bed frame. It's still vertical that way, and it doesn't get moved. Allows a draw without major contortions. Also doesn't bounce down the wall, scraping up the plaster. :p

it's in a holster
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Hope it's kydex... I hear that long-term storage in leather can mangle the finish of your gun.
 
Not me, for sure!

I have a small gunvault mounted nearby. Gun goes in but vault stays open at night. In the morning/while I'm away the vault gets locked (can't carry at work :cuss:)
 
I recall documented cases of people shooting themselves with guns kept under pillows, just googled "shot with gun under pillow" and found these 2 right away. I know there have been fatalities as well.

July 1, 2007
In a truly odd story, a Florida man is currently recovering a head-shot he didn't even know had happened.
The ABC (among others) is covering a story where it appears the man woke up in the middle of the night with a head ache so bad, he thought perhaps he was having an aneurism. He asked his wife to drive him to the hospital, where medical staff immediately gave the correct diagnosis; "it appears that you've been shot".
Police have since arrested his wife on firearms related charges after finding a gun and blood soaked rags hidden in the house. It appears she is so paranoid, she sleeps with a loaded gun under her pillow, which she fired when the burglar alarm sounded at 4am.
Given that she is a convicted felon (drug trafficing) and not allowed to own a gun, she attempted to hide the evidence from authorities.

June 13, 2007
Officer Shot by Gun Kept Under Pillow
A police officer was shot in the wrist when the service weapon that she kept under her pillow went off. Albany police Sgt. Kinshishi Adams, 34, was lying in bed Sunday when a .40 caliber pistol she kept under her pillow discharged and struck her in her left wrist, Dougherty County Police Chief Don Cheek said.
note: it was later revealed that she admitted dreaming about firing her gun and actually grabbed & pulled the trigger.
 
I was guilty of it.. FEG .380 loaded but de-cocked in its military flap holster. Not fun to wake up with a crick in the neck from sleeping on it. Can move around while you roll over in your sleep. never worried about an AD with it in that state... bad idea to store a gun in a leather holster for long periods, though mine never rusted.
 
No under the pillow for me. I keep my boxspring/frame flush against the wall, and my matress down a couple inches. I have my gun in holster-not chambered with barrel pointing toward the floor. Its safe, and I sleep on my stomach so the gun is set up so my strong hand can grab it naturally and immediately. I also velcro the holster to the side of matress so when I pull gun holster stays put. I can be cocked and ready in seconds but it has to be intentional. I used to have a padle holster set up on the side of the bed, attached to the frame, but I like my new way better, its more natural to grab, and if for whatever reason if someone snuck up on me sleeping, they cant see the gun, as before they could have.
 
under one scenario i can see having a pistol under the pillow. if you sleep in a loft bed and don't have a night stand that high, and you can't put anything on your walls. in which case yea. go ahead and put something under the pillow, maybe something that's single action only and with an external hammer, uncocked. and if it has a safety that will engage while the hammer is down, use it. and maybe a towel under your pillow so oil doesn't seep onto your sheets and mattress. i knew somebody like that. but i'd say chris's biggest problem wasn't safety. it was moving out of his mom's basement with brick walls all around after celebrating his 32nd birthday :)
 
i sleep walk at times, so no. i dont risk it. iv only recently started keeping one in my night stand when im home. started with 2 weeks of empty gun empty mag nearby to make sure i dont try to load.
 
I've had one in my bed for most of the last 20 years or so. I live alone and I don't toss and turn or sleep walk and it's pretty hard to chamber a round in a 1911 in your sleep. For those that don't sleep so well I'll respect your decision but I've had to back two somebodies out of my home once in my life and I'm not going to spend 10-15 seconds fumbling around looking for a weapon. On the other hand I do put it in the night stand when I have company, and have also done so when not living alone.
 
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I know a guy who jokes about it in bed with him and when it is warm he knows it is close enough and when he wakes up because it gets cold he then holds it close and warms it up again:what:
:cool:
 
Have I slept with a gun under one of my pillows? Yes.

Do I make a normal thing out of it? No

My night stand holds my gun much better.
 
I read once about a woman who grabbed a .38 out from under a pillow during the night when she had an asthma attack. Somehow she got it confused with her inhaler.
It's a terrible thing to think about happening to anyone.
I also don't want to repeat that.
But I could see screwing a kydex holster or something to the bed frame somewhere that it would be in reach quickly but far enough away that you couldn't get to it unintentionally.
 
No pillow-gun for me. I toss and turn and move my pillow around in the night. My Smith is on the lower shelf of the bedside table, right by my hand if I roll out of bed. I want my bedside gun to be in the same place and in the same orientation ALL the time - can't have that if it's under a pillow.
 
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