Guns and kids?

[hossdaniels]

Dont hang out here much as I probably should, so I have a few questions about storing HD weapons safely away from kids. I am a new parent, first child is 6 months last week, and my wife says that #2 will be here in august!!!

For now I have a 9mm M&P laoded with 18 shots and a extra 17 round mag in the bedside drawer, along with a flashlight and a knife.

I have a 870 with a flashlight mounted, loaded with 5 rounds of #1 buckshot, and another 4 rounds on the right side of the stock. It sits on top of a bookcase, maybe 4 feet from my bed, and 6 feet high.

I have seen the small pistol safes for sale and I am thinking about getting one. What do yall have?

Anyone with kids able to store a loaded shotgun in reach? I always considered the shotgun what I would grab in a "*** was that" moment. The pistol was just insurance to make sure I would be able to get to the shotgun.

I plan on teaching them the joy of shooting and hunting, along with a very healthy respect for all firearms, but I dont want them to have access to them on their own for the first 12-16 years or so.

 

[B yond]

Like you I keep a pistol and shotty for HD, and I have a kid.

The pistol (with a light) is my "checking out bumps in the night that are probably false alarms" weapon, and it lives in a small pistol safe with keypad entry that is mounted to my very heavy headboard. I've practiced punching in the access code and removing the weapon in the dark while laying down and I'm comfortable with this setup.

The shotgun lives in a stack-on "gun locker" that is bolted to the floor and wall in my bedroom closet. The key for this is in the pistol safe.

The shotgun is for when I know there's someone in my home and am barricading the family in a room waiting for the police to come clear the house for me. I wouldn't use it for investigating noises as I think it's too cumbersome and easy for the other guy to take control of at indoor range.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

Put the shotgun over the bed on a gun rack (out of a toddlers reach), keep the pistol on you or locked in a box.

My shotguns are over the bed, over the bathroom door (on 2 hooks), and over the back door. My 1911 never leaves my side...at night my bedroom door is closed and locked, we have a monitor so we can hear the little one (2 years old) if he gets up for anything.

We also have a hideaway 9mm in the living room (out of a childs reach), its in one of those clocks from Sprtsmans Guide.

 

[Byron Quick]

I don't have any kids so I have to relate what I've seen others do.
1)The most secure place for a handgun while you are awake is in a holster on you.
2) The bedside vault is good for when your are asleep.
3)I've seen shotguns kept on pegs above the door of the bedroom closet. Out of kid's view and readily accessible. This coupled with a solid door and a good lock which is used is secure from kids.
4)A locked solid door added on the hallway leading to the bedrooms.

 

[mljdeckard]

My idea of safe, but available, is to have my 870 loaded, no round chambered, with the slide locked. Also, my M-1 carbine with two magazines on the pouch on the butt. My 1911 is condition one and either on my person, within my line of sight, or under lock and key at all times.

 

[X-Rap]

All that has been said is good info and hats off to you wanting to bring your kids into the world of shooting. The big problem you will encounter in the future is other uneducated kids in your home or yours in their home. The danger lies in the ignorant.

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

my first child is 7 and her personality is such i felt safe with a shotgun ready. child 2 is 19 months and already has shown me that i had to make a change. very different personalitys. gonna get one of those safes with the finger print lock. second kid reminds me of me

 

[hossdaniels]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I like the idea of a pistol vault with a key to gun locker inside(along with pistol, I could mount the light on the pistol.).

I have been thinking about me and the wife getting our ccw permits(she's a drug counselor, crackheads all day). The ccw permits are more for her, even with the permit I'm not sure how often I'd actually carry(I'm always laying on something, wet, greasy, regular farmer stuff with a pawn shop 30/30 in the truck). Thanks for the help, and any more suggestions are welcome.

 

[zombienerd]

Well, I think I'm the first to say it in this thread, but don't forget that instead of only childproofing your guns, you should also be ready to gun-proof your kids.

My daughter got her first introductions to firearms when she was old enough to understand "no". She's currently 3 months shy of 4 years old, and knows what to do if she sees a gun at our house, or any of her friends. She knows not to touch it by herself, and we have tested her to make sure that curiosity doesn't get the best of her (left a few airsoft "replicas" laying around one day, she came and grabbed mommy when she saw one on the floor, and of course asked if she could hold it).

We have an "open door" policy with our guns, if at any time my daughter wants to see/hold one, all she has to do is ask. Even at her age, she knows the 4 rules, and obeys them 95% of the time (kids will be kids, of course). We have not actually let her shoot any of them yet, but I plan on her "first shoot" being this summer, with a .22 single shot or such.

For our "childproofing" we do keep our guns and ammo in a safe, locked.

The carry pistols are kept in a nightstand safe when not being carried. We leave it unlocked at night, for easy access if necessary, and the kid couldn't get to our night safe without crawling over us, waking us up.

We usually keep the pistols for main line HD/Bump in the night stuff, but if I know someone's in the house, I'll be grabbing the shotgun from the safe (numberpad type entry, it's quick to get into) and getting the kid into my room, holing up and calling 911. I hope for the perp's sake he doesn't take one step up the stairs.

 

[wyocarp]

My dad did it this way. All the guns were locked up in his bedroom until we were old enough to understand. His bedroom was strickly off limits. I'm nearly 50 and I haven't been in my parents bedroom more than three or four times in my life. By the time I was ten or so, the guns were in a case in the main part of the house.

It takes a lot of teaching. My son at 17 has full access to my guns, but he gets a lecture about that numerous times a year and a lot of teaching from me. I also have paid a lot of money for him to take classes in self defense, gun safety, concealed weapon courses, etc.

 

[Fred Fuller]

hoss,

Congratulations on your burgeoning family, and best wishes for all of you!

I see you live in the old north state too. Please don't forget- NC has a "safe storage" firearms law. Even without such a law, I don't think you ever want to leave unsecured firearms within reach of children. By 'unsecured,' I mean unlocked and not under direct adult supervision. In other words, if you aren't wearing it, carrying it, or watching it, the firearm needs to be locked up.

The small safe or lockbox is a good approach for a handgun, there are similar safes that to the surface of a wall or even between wall studs that will hold long guns. I like Mossberg's LocBox ( http://www.gunaccessories.com/mossbergaccessories/locbox.asp ), it's simple and secures a shotgun to a wall stud behind a door, inside a closet, or behind a drape.

The way its lock is set up, you cannot remove the key when the lock is unlocked. One possible approach to managing this system is to unlock the LocBox when you go to bed, leaving all your keys hanging in the lock. Since you aren't apt to go far without keys, you'll have to lock the LocBox to retrieve your keys.

There's a similar thread running in the Shotgun forum right now also, fwiw- http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=425660

hth,

lpl

 

[mljdeckard]

Of course I will gun-proof the kids, but It's not a simple or short-term process. My kids are 2,4,7 and 10. The 7 year old is more mature than the 10 year old. The 2 year old has a very mild touch of a spectrum disorder (possibly autism) that will need to be worked around. It's not as simple as just familiarizing them, and then leaving guns lying around. And even when I do, it won't be too many years before I have grandkids running around. There will always need to be a degree of protection.

 

[CoRoMo]

This is my choice for the bedroom.
Two shotguns and one AR fully loaded.

Also recommend two of these type safes, one on each side of our bed.
A handgun for each the wife and I and a few boxes of ammo.

For $300, you can get all three of these safes.
That'll keep the kids out of them and everything is loaded and at the ready.
The rest of my guns will rest, unloaded, locked up in a larger safe that is anchored to the concrete floor in the basement.

 

[hso]

The big problem you will encounter in the future is other uneducated kids in your home or yours in their home. The danger lies in the ignorant.

Excellent information given, but this is something that can't be over stated. Remember that until your kids are old enough to train they fit this category as well as visiting munchkins.

Over the door is good, but it becomes excellent when you recess the drywall and add a little ornamental molding to hide the shotgun. It does require you to keep the location a secret from your kids because they might be tempted to show their little friends the "cool hiding place". Of course, it's the same with anything.

Remember that anything you're going to hide to keep secure take all the extra steps you can to really hide it so that no one ever suspects it is there. And then lock it down.

 

[gdcpony]

I have 3 kids. My 2 oldest (10 and 8now) both shoot. They both have weapons in their rooms. They each have a rack with a locking lower compartment and they have the key (we keep the spares) to that as it houses the ammo for them. Most of the rest are in a glass cabinet locked with the ammo locked under it. I do have an AR just under my bed with 2 mags, but the bolt group is in the head board cabinet, making it inert. My wife has my shotgun (H&R Ultra with a rifled barrel) and three shells (2 #6 shot and one slug) on her side the same way (shells put away).
I wouldn't even go this far for safety if it weren't for a very curious 2yr old that loves "boom boom's". Every action in the house is open and if I see one not, I clear it right then. He is learning not to touch (the inert AR is his favorite), but it is taking some spankings to do it. I figure by the time he's 3 everything will be fine, but I'll keep things reasonably safe until I trust him with his own gun.
I would lock them all up except that the girls' real father has made threats (he hasn't even seen them in 4 years!) to take them. We are preparing to light a fire in that respect with adoption proceedings.

 

[Regen]

870 loaded, no round chambered, with the slide locked

An 870 with slide locked open is nearly impossible to use unless you know about the little release thingy.

 

[X-Rap]

Slide doesn't lock open. The little thingy is to unlock when its in battery and save having to shoot the chambered round. Depending on the wear and weight of the gun, lifting by the forearm will put it into condition 1.

 

[YammyMonkey]

Little Dude went shooting for the first time the weekend after he turned 3. Before that I would stop & show him a gun if he asked. Still do. We worked on the stop, don't touch, leave & tell an adult protocol since he was old enough to show an interest in firearms- probably 1 1/2 years. We rotate practicing the gun safetyrules above, our address, my phone # & momma's phone # on the drive to school every day. 5 reps each day in the car.

The standard load out for HD is my pistol & spare mags on my belt on my pants on the floor next to the bed with the AR leaning up against the bed on my side. Momma has her pistol & reloads in her purse on the floor on her side of the bed.

The only time he can get into our room is when one of us is in there with him. Even if the adult only has to step out for a moment he comes with us. If we have to do something like take a shower then he goes in the high chair.

 

[ReadyontheRight]

An 870 with slide locked open is nearly impossible to use unless you know about the little release thingy.

Or if you pull the trigger and rack the slide that just started sliding back.

You might gun-proof your kids, but you can never gun-proof their friends.

And unless you are Jason Bourne, 007, Rambo or one of those Mr./Mrs. Smith critters and you are EXPECTING an attack (in which situation, keep a pistol in hand, under pillow. Better yet...don't sleep), I suggest keeping your forearm somehow locked up when sleeping or if it's not on your hip.

Kids quickly learn to drag chairs over to gain height and they can climb. Lock 'em up. I suggest a Gunvault for handguns and a LongGunVault (no longer made) for a Rem 870 or Mossberg 500. Or trigger locks. I don't like keys that I can lose, so I go with combination locks.

My Dad kept a .22 leaning behind the back door and a 12ga in the back closet. Not one of my friends ever considered touching either.

Those days are gone.

 

[ReadyontheRight]

The only time he can get into our room is when one of us is in there with him. Even if the adult only has to step out for a moment he comes with us. If we have to do something like take a shower then he goes in the high chair.

That WILL change as he gets older.

Kids find stuff. And they get to a point where they do not tell you they found stuff. I know from being a kid and watching my kids.

 

[B yond]

Seriously, lock them up and practice getting them out fast.

We keep HD guns to protect our families, not endanger them.

Children are not adults and their brains don't work like ours do. We cannot be 100% they will do what we want them to do when we're not watching.

 

[hossdaniels]

Thanks for all the replies. It pretty much confirmed what I already thought was true. I'll lock them up. Kids are going to be kids and their friends are even worse.

 

[YammyMonkey]

Quote:
The only time he can get into our room is when one of us is in there with him. Even if the adult only has to step out for a moment he comes with us. If we have to do something like take a shower then he goes in the high chair.

That WILL change as he gets older.

Kids find stuff. And they get to a point where they do not tell you they found stuff. I know from being a kid and watching my kids.

Absolutely. Another few months & he won't fit in the high chair. As the situation changes so to must our tactics.

 

[shiftyer1]

You still have a couple years to really worry about it. Take the time to come up with the best option.

 

[possum]

my xd with light is on the night stand, no round in the chamber, and a spare mag beside it. 870 directly under the bed rack it(and no not for the bs intimidation factor either) and it is good to go.