It was just a dream but...

[NorthBorder]

I learned a valuable lesson about myself. Basically, I keep a gun far enough from me when I am sleeping, that I have to wake up to get it. Not on the headboard or night stand. Years ago I thought I needed to sleep with a handgun beside me. Then one night I dreamed (dreamt?) there was someone breaking into my house and coming into the bedroom. In my dream I had 3 options; pretend I am still sleeping, punch him, or grab my gun and shoot him. I opted to punch him. Well, I hit my wife right in the eye. Needless to say, she woke up swearing.. And I resolved to be totally awake whenever I reach for a gun.
So... tell us about your dreams Mr. Freud.

 

[Saakee]

I actually document all my dreams online but the only gun dream that I can remember having at the moment is having John Wayne teach me how to cast lead slugs/reload shotgun hulls and cut down an over-under for stage coach work. It was surprisingly dead-on for me not knowing how that stuff was done at the time.
As for guns near me while sleeping: my rifle is near me, unloaded and my glock is across the room with a full mag but no chambered round. I have bad habits when more asleep than awake.

 

[conrad427]

great story. I suppose a person has no business having a gun untill fully awake. But i suspect one would awaken quickly. no sense jumping up and shooting one of your kids, they might be cross with you. saakee i would bet that the duke was speaking to you from beyond the grave.

 

[Trent]

Been too many people in the past shot by guns under the pillow / on the nightstand / etc.

I keep two weapons nearby when sleeping, but neither of them chambered.

Anything else is just a problem that's found a place to happen.

 

[holdencm9]

I actually don't really dream too often, and am a pretty heavy sleeper. My wife gets worried about the shotgun under the bed. She thinks she will get up to use the restroom, I will get spooked, and shoot her. I know this has (allegedly) occurred before, but the key is that I only wake up if she wakes me, and I have already resolved that the plan is to get her and myself behind the bed and paint the door with the bead sight. If she isn't next to me I wouldn't be shooting.

Oh yeah, I also just have a full mag but nothing in the chamber, and safety on. So I don't worry about myself manipulating the controls in my sleep. But I think it can still be done very quickly if I am awake.

 

[doc2rn]

I have awoken suddenly on numerous occassions and one thing I notice is the first thing I grab is my Moss 500, fully loaded with safety on. I hate it when that happens but better to be prepared than caught slackin.

 

[ArtP]

I have had a re-occurring dream where I'm in a self defense situation but my hands are too weak to properly hold the gun and too weak to pull the DA trigger.

When the hammer is finally released the bullet has barely the power to leave the barrel and the round is completely ineffective. I may as well be tossing marbles. Multiple shots, multiple low velocity "marbles". Perp keeps coming.

Frustrating.

A couple of actions that require cognition to perform are required before I can reach a loaded gun and I'd have to be mostly awake to do them. But I have flailed my arms in some awkward attempt to swing on someone in a dream and hit my long term GF a couple times and hurt/annoyed her.

 

[Nushif]

I guess I am underprepared, but I can honestly say I have never simply pulled a gun because I woke up. 8(

All kidding aside though, I understand this whole condition yellow thing, but man ... I would call that high-strung. 8)

 

[Nushif]

[edit]
Duplicate!

 

[cleardiddion]

I actually must've drank some nightmare fuel last night before I went to bed.

Basically, it was some sort of horrible version of Groundhog Day where every time I fixed one mistake some horrible thing cropped it's head up.

One that stand out in particular was where I was holed up in some sort of office complex, one of the newer shiny ones that are almost all glass; with my girl, my supplies, and my guns. Stupid place to be in some sort of emergency but it was a dream so cut me some slack. Anywho, round one I was being complacent and two burly and none too friendly guys came in right through the front doors and clubbed me upside the head.

Second time around, I was right back where I started. It took me a while to shake off the shock when I remembered what I needed to do. So, I grabbed my gun (don't even recall which one) and sprinted to the front door. I could see them coming and they could see me. Well, I slammed myself against the door in order to block it while I figured out a way to lock it. In my haste I'd dropped my gun just out of reach and I couldn't get to it while bracing, a la that one scene from Jurassic Park. They eventually just over powered me.

Third round I managed to remedy my previous mistakes but still couldn't figure out the way to lock the door. As I desperately held the door shut it finally locked and I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I looked up to see one of the perps raising some sort of pistol. I woke up right after I saw the rounds penetrate the glass.

Seriously, nightmare fuel. It doesn't help that that wasn't the only such dream but it was the only gun one.

 

[Nushif]

Yeah ... I'd lay off the TV and the fear literature for a bit. *le nod*

 

[Thefabulousfink]

Another option for handguns is to leave it in a good holster that covers the trigger guard and doesn't fall off. I keep my 1911 on the nightstand in cheap Uncle Mikes kydex OWB. I never use that holster for carrying, but when I wake up suddenly I can grab the gun in seconds, but still have to engage my mind to remove the holster. Total time passed... about 3 seconds, but by then my mind is awake and I can asses the threat without fear of putting a round where I wouldn't want it.

P.S. and yes, I have woken from a dream suddenly and could swear I still felt the indentation where someone had grabed my shoulder. (pulse was up around 175).

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

I actually woke up the other night to a crash, hopped straight up out of bed, loaded one in the chamber and inserted the magazine into my pistol and cleared my house. Funnily enough, I was dreaming about the crash, and am quite happy that I have the sensibility to do all of that from deep sleep to fully awake darn near immediately.

 

[mortablunt]

Can anybody else attest to one of their earliest memories being a dream in which they ended up dead in a gunfight in a ruined apartment? It was just a dream, but it felt too real, and I didn't recognize the language being spoken at all. I later learned it was Russian and that I was hearing German and the gun I was wielding was an SVT-40. Crackpot theory: reincarnated dead soldier (LOL, but that might explain a lot.)

 

[ultradoc]

I like Saakee's dream with the Duke. I can't remember the last dream with a gun but I do keep a pistol next to my bed [on my night stand] and a shotty.

 

[lowerunit411]

I know this is weird but i remember having a dream about being in a "cowboy and indian" movie..yep....i was a cowboy and i remember the "director" staging the sene where there was to be a battle...well when the "indian" rode past and shot the arrow at me...it stuck me in the belly...it was a real arrow..i remember thinking...damn ive just been shot! that was years ago but i remember it vivdly still today...i need to lay off the caffiene i think.

 

[MedWheeler]

I keep my bedside gun up on top of a computer desk hutch next to the bed, high enough to require that I actually get out of bed, stand up, and reach for it. I'm pretty good about being snapped quickly from deep sleep to well-aware.
I've had lots of gun dreams, particularly when I worked in law enforcement, but nothing like that.

 

[rbernie]

So... tell us about your dreams Mr. Freud.

No.

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