I carry around the house does this sound crazy

[Stevie-Ray]

If I felt I had to carry a gun in my own home I'd move! Oh sorry, it's just that I've heard that crap so much, I wanted to know what it felt like to spew it first. And it's just as idiotic coming from my own keyboard.

I'm gratified to see so many carrying at home just as I have for many years. Especially all those moderators that have spoken up for the process. As some have said, pants on-gun on! Same goes for me.

 

[doc2rn]

Ruger LCP in .380, can even be warn with scrubs the thing is so light you can forget its there.

 

[armsmaster270]

I carry all the time. This is my daily EDC.

 

[Mastrogiacomo]

With ammo being so hard to get these days, is the .380 easy to find?

Laura

 

[Sauer Grapes]

Carrying in the house isn't strange to me. Your wife/girlfriends sister? She needs to worry about her own life, or get one.

 

[gordyt]

According to FBI statistics there were 2,600,000 home invasions in the U.S. in 2011. That equates to an average of 1 every 12 seconds. I'm sure rates were much higher in some areas and much lower in others.

I carry everywhere I am legally allowed to carry and encourage friends and family to do the same.

 

[410.bird.shot]

It's my understanding most burglaries occur in the daytime--I know my parents' house was hit between 11am and 2pm because my sister was gone during that timeframe a few years ago. Mine was hit at about 1pm in 2009 by my roomie's acquaintance. Nowadays, I even lock up when I walk to dog. I don't usually carry at the house but this thread is making me seriously reconsider.

 

[kwguy]

Home invasions are violent and fast. Faster than some folks' ability to run to a safe and retrieve a defensive firearm...

 

[horsemen61]

Thanks guys for all the responses and yes I agree but you can't pick your in laws

 

[coloradokevin]

Hmmm... my first attempt at posting this apparently didn't post, I'll try again.

You guys can do what you want, and I won't fault you for it, but I have no real interest in wearing my gun 24/7. I already wear it whenever I leave the house (required at work, smart when I'm not), and I like to be comfortable when I'm at home. I'm usually in sweat shorts and a t-shirt around the house, and that attire doesn't support CCW'ing around the house.

As I type this I'm laying on my couch in gym shorts, and I'm quite comfortable. If I needed my gun I could have my CCW in hand in no longer than it would take to draw. It's sitting on the table next to me (just because I put it there when I took my belt off when I got home this evening). If I was away from this gun for a few minutes I could easily get to other guns throughout the house in mere seconds. I don't see any threat to my safety that necessitates wearing a gun around my house. We also don't have any children here, so we can pretty much leave our guns wherever, without concern of little ones finding them.

 

[ironworkerwill]

I thought carring at home was normal. It is your house.

 

[Chilibreath]

Just my opinion but, yes, carrying around the house is ... strange. Unless you live in a ghetto environment and know neighbors who have been robbed inside their own homes/apartments, carrying at home may be an overreaction to a non-problem.

 

[Potatohead]

Just my opinion but, yes, carrying around the house is ... strange. Unless you live in a ghetto environment and know neighbors who have been robbed inside their own homes/apartments, carrying at home may be an overreaction to a non-problem.

Ever heard of "violence of action"? Hit 'em hard and hit 'em fast. That is how home invaders will most likely be going about their business.

 

[Potatohead]

If I was away from this gun for a few minutes I could easily get to other guns throughout the house in mere seconds

Are you sure you will always have "seconds"?

 

[coloradokevin]

Are you sure you will always have "seconds"?

Even a SWAT team breaching a door fails to do so "instantly", even as they continuously train and strive to achieve such an ideal. If I'm three seconds or less from a gun I still like my odds against the typical home invading dirtbag. I have deadbolts locks, two doors on the house (they'd have to open a screen door, then kick or otherwise breach the wood door), a couple of large and alert dogs, and very little risk of home invasions in my neighborhood... there hasn't been one here in the last two decades that I've been able to discover.

So, again, if you feel it necessary to wear a gun 24/7, you have every right to do so. I don't believe that it is comfortable or healthy to live at such a "high alert" level at all times, especially when there's no reason to suspect that such a threat is very likely. Even as I type this I'm probably finding myself in my least armed condition... I'm sitting on my couch again (where I usually type these posts). My front door is about ten feet away from me. My gun is sitting on top of my night stand, just inside of my bedroom (where I left it last night). If some criminal decided to breach my door right now, I'm approximately 7 stride lengths away from my gun. I'd be out of sight of the door in two strides, and there is currently 160lbs worth of very home-protective dogs sitting between me and the front door.

Unless I'm invaded by a ninja, or a bunker-busting bomb, I still like my odds of being able to get hands on a weapon if I ever actually need to. In fairness to your point, a gun on the hip obviously saves a second or two compared to a gun on top of a table that is 15 feet away. But, again, life is about risk management, and I feel pretty darn secure right now (I'm also under no illusions about criminal activity -- I've been a ghetto street cop for quite a few years now, and I've seen quite a few home invasions where I work, most typically because of drug-related activities in the invaded home).

 

[kwguy]

When microseconds count, the gun is only seconds away...

 

[HOWARD J]

@chilibreath

Glad to see there is someone on here that lives in a total crime free area---many of us do not have such a luxury.
Stay safe,
HJ

 

[morcey2]

If I'm not asleep or in the shower, I'm carrying. It's always within arms reach even when I'm not. (legally prohibited locations such as courthouses and post offices excepted. I avoid them like the plague.) Ask her what would be the first thing she would do if someone was trying to break into her house. Answer? She'd call for someone with a gun to show up to save her. Just tell her you're cutting out the middle-man.

Matt

 

[JustinJ]

I don't carry inside me home. I do have a few firearms strategically placed though. I also have dogs more than capable of deterring threats and defending against them. Plus, I live in a neighborhood so forcing entry unnoticed would be challenging for potential home invaders. Also, my city and area are relatively low crime.

 

[j1]

If you want to carry anywhere it is legal listen to no one. Just do it.

 

[Kleanbore]

I really, really do not expect to have anyone enter our house unlawfully when we are at home. Yes, it has happened, and on two of the three occasions the invaders had murder in mind, but it has not happened for a very long time.

When it did happen, I was able to access a firearm timely each time, and to put a quick end to trouble without firing.

I assess the likelihood as remote; the two remaining questions are (1) the severity of the potential consequences, and (2) available mitigation strategies.

Regarding the first, suffice it to say that I do not want to be helpless in the unlikely event of unlawful entry.

So--what to do? There are three relevant factors:

1. Unless forced entry were to occur just at the moment at which I happened to be in close proximity to a stowed forearm, it is unlikely that I would be able to get to it at all--it's a matter of house layout;
2. I carry when I go out, and what I carry is concealed, compact, light weight, and comfortable;
3. when it is on me, my firearm is not accessible to a burglar or to a wandering child from outside.

When someone posed the question here or on TFL about carrying in the home a few years ago, I was dumbfounded. Why on Earth would anyone ever perceive the need to do that? Good heavens!

Upon reflection, however, I came around to a different point of view. I put it on in the morning and take it off in the evening, and that's that. No big deal.

The likelihood of needing the firearm on any one day, or in any one season, is remote--very remote; the potential consequences of a home invasion are extremely severe; and mitigating the risk is effortless.

 

[coloradokevin]

When microseconds count, the gun is only seconds away...

Yeah, but you'd be even quicker to the fight if you just kept the gun in your hand at all times. When nanoseconds count, the gun is only microseconds away. Seriously though, I'd love to see any team of people (good or bad) who could force entry into a home quickly enough that the unit of required measure would be millionths of a second!

Please understand that I'm being a bit factitious with my 'gun in hand' example at the moment, but the overall point is valid: you can almost always be more prepared. If I absolutely knew that a threat was going to come through my door this evening I wouldn't choose a pistol on my hip... I'd be holding my work rifle, wearing my ballistic vest and ballistic helmet, and have 6 spare magazines for the rifle hanging from my web gear, along with a pistol and three magazines on the belt. But, the obvious point I'm driving at is that you DONT know if (or when) a threat is coming. Some would argue that this gives you a reason to carry all of the time. For me, my home is the place where I can relax the most. I can still have a gun in hand VERY quickly if I need to. But, there's no risk assessment I can perform that suggests that I MUST keep it on my person at all times, every day, even as I lounge around the house.

 

[Claude Clay]

so how about if half a block away from you in your oh so nice zip-code home is the last stop for the bus that comes up from the inner-city. no stores in any direction for 1 mile so those getting off are a few commuters and caregivers, day maids and often those looking for a ride back home -- open, unlocked garages for bikes and the occasional car with keys in it. and open doors have led to much tragedy in the suburbs.

just had another rash of these thefts, cluster events every few years.

also hot days mean open windows and even front doors; security being the time it takes someone to cut the screen and flick the latch-lock.

so a gun is like a fire extinguishers in my home -- one within 4 steps of anyplace in the house. though the gun is better hidden: stuffed between cushions of a sofa is one place.
and when outside mowing or washing a car a P380 in a Holdster is in my pants pocket.

there is a line between prepared and paranoid
you seldom get to choose when and where bad will happen
play or don't play the 'what-if' game yet often just a bit of tweaking
can yield positive results when and if...

 

[Potatohead]

Even a SWAT team breaching a door fails to do so "instantly", even as they continuously train and strive to achieve such an ideal. If I'm three seconds or less from a gun I still like my odds against the typical home invading dirtbag. I have deadbolts locks, two doors on the house (they'd have to open a screen door, then kick or otherwise breach the wood door), a couple of large and alert dogs, and very little risk of home invasions in my neighborhood... there hasn't been one here in the last two decades that I've been able to discover.

So, again, if you feel it necessary to wear a gun 24/7, you have every right to do so. I don't believe that it is comfortable or healthy to live at such a "high alert" level at all times, especially when there's no reason to suspect that such a threat is very likely. Even as I type this I'm probably finding myself in my least armed condition... I'm sitting on my couch again (where I usually type these posts). My front door is about ten feet away from me. My gun is sitting on top of my night stand, just inside of my bedroom (where I left it last night). If some criminal decided to breach my door right now, I'm approximately 7 stride lengths away from my gun. I'd be out of sight of the door in two strides, and there is currently 160lbs worth of very home-protective dogs sitting between me and the front door.

Unless I'm invaded by a ninja, or a bunker-busting bomb, I still like my odds of being able to get hands on a weapon if I ever actually need to. In fairness to your point, a gun on the hip obviously saves a second or two compared to a gun on top of a table that is 15 feet away. But, again, life is about risk management, and I feel pretty darn secure right now (I'm also under no illusions about criminal activity -- I've been a ghetto street cop for quite a few years now, and I've seen quite a few home invasions where I work, most typically because of drug-related activities in the invaded home).

Fair enough...When I take mine off, I find I usually get more than 7 strides away before it's over though. Not the same for everyone though. You are probably more used to not getting to far away from it.

 

[two gun charlie]

The only time my fire-arm is not on my hip is when I shower and when I sleep