Keep your guns locked up and way from ammo!

[brockgl]

--Is what I keep hearing from everyone! It seems crazy to me to keep my guns locked up in one part of the house and all ammunition locked in the opposite side of the house. What then is the point of having a gun for home protection? I am starting this thread, because my wife and I just had our first son. He is 9 months old now and soon he'll be to the age where he can maneuver around quite easily. Obviously, I would never go to the extent of locking all guns in one side of the house and all ammo in the other. However, to you all with young children, what advice would you give me for keeping the young ones who are too young to train how to use a weapon away from danger? I currently keep three loaded guns in the house. A Remington 870 shotgun (Daddy's go-to gun for home protection) which is on the second rung of my gun rack on the wall next to my bed; a Sig P229 .40 cal (Mommies go-to gun for home protection) which is inside her nightstand; and a CZ 452 Ultra Lux .22 (The go-to gun for varmints that may roam onto the property that need to be disposed of). None of these guns are chambered. All need to be racked or pumped to load their first round. Also, the shotgun and the rifle have safety switches which are on, and the Sig has a pretty heavy trigger pull that i think any young child would definitely have a hard time with (that is if they actually knew to rack the slide and were strong enough to do it).

I feel completely safe. The wife knows how to use all the guns mentioned for any of those occasions. However, I am definitely up for hearing some advice, and/or what others do for keeping their guns away from the babies.

 

[FourTeeFive]

I would be more concerned with coming home to find someone else inside holding that 870.

 

[markk]

Keep your guns locked up and way from ammo!

--Is what I keep hearing from everyone!

Who is this "everyone" from whom you keep hearing this?

 

[Tyris]

The baby cant chamber a round, and wont have the hand strength to do so (with pistol) for probably another decade at least.

I dont see a problem.

-T

 

[brockgl]

Who is this "everyone" from whom you keep hearing this?

Everyone = obvious antis like the news, my son's pediatrician, some family members not inside my immediately family, etc...

 

[brockgl]

I would be more concerned with coming home to find someone else inside holding that 870.

So, is your advice that I should indeed lock my weapons in some way so that an intruder cannot turn my own guns against me?

 

[Dksimon]

I think you should be fine.

 

[kingpin008]

Ideally, if you're not home, they should probably be locked up. If a badguy breaks in and you're away, they should have to at least have to work a little bit to steal them instead of just grabbing 'em out of a nightstand or off your gunrack.

 

[ArmedBear]

So, is your advice that I should indeed lock my weapons in some way so that an intruder cannot turn my own guns against me?

Hell yes! When you're not there to use the weapon on an intruder, you want to make sure you don't make it easy for him to use it on you, or your wife or baby.

IMHO, if you don't plan to use a particular gun for home defense, keep the gun locked up and the ammo separate.

I've got a pile of old milsurps I got real cheap "just cuz" a while ago. I don't plan to use them for home defense. They stay locked up. Same for the hunting rifle, .22's, etc.

There are also ways to lock up guns that leave them quickly accessible, if you DO plan to use them defensively, but will be leaving them at home when you're not there.

We have loaded and ready pistols, and reloads, in a quick-access safe. I can have them out whenever it's appropriate and lock them up quickly otherwise -- knowing that, even locked up, I can get them again in 5 seconds or less.

I like the digital-keypad style long gun safes, too. They open really fast, but they lock up, too.

Seems to me, if you aren't in control of your firearm at a given time, it should be stored in such a way as to not give others easy control of it (kids, burglars, dogs -- yes, a dog killed a hunter this year by knocking over a shotgun and stepping on the trigger). Better safe than sorry.

 

[Wetawd]

I think u should be fine. But give it a year or to, with some determination and experimenting your child will be able to rack the slide. My little brother is 4 and and he can completely field strip two of guns and I am teaching how to strip another one now (he does it all without any help from me in any way).

 

[Diggers]

I don't think its antis saying keep your ammo and guns separate. I've heard gun people say it as a safety measure.

I don't think antis would think about such things.

Any how I don't really understand the logic of that.

Why does locking up your gun and ammo in the same place make an unsafe situation??

 

[Avenger29]

The baby cant chamber a round, and wont have the hand strength to do so (with pistol) for probably another decade at least.

I dont see a problem.

-T

You probably shouldn't rely on that (and revolvers don't need a slide to be racked for chambering). Doesn't sound very safe. And you shouldn't underestimate children, no matter how young they are.

Relying on trigger locks is also bad. You need to get a safe/RSC as soon as you can. Many people lock the safe when they are away and unlock it at home, or put in all but the last combination when they are at home.

 

[distra]

I have a 3yr old so I think I can address this first hand, pax feel free to jump in. I have my HD guns in a safe with loaded mags next to the bed. My reloading supplies, powder, primers and loaded ammo are all in a locked cabinet in the downstairs. The deal is you want to have redundency in the system. The first thing is education. At 9months there is not much to do, but keep them away, however @ 3yrs old they understand a bit more. We have never kept our firearms out sight, that's rediculous and can cause more harm through curiousity later. We've educated the boy about touching and that he can only touch when we are around. We've also started muzzle discipline since he likes to "skeet" shoot with the vaccum hose He does pretty well, but it's constant reinforcement on the rules which will continue through out his life. With number 2 due this summer, I decided to build a nice secure cabinet for reloading supplies which leads me to the second level of redundency, security. Locking the firearms up keeps the bored kids from getting into trouble. Keeping the ammo separate except for your HD weapon is the third layer. NEVER under estimate your kids ability to learn and observe what you are doing i.e. don't let him watch you open the safe. They learn fast and comprehend more than we can imagine at an early age. The three levels again are educations, locking the firearms up, and keep the bangy things in a separate spot if they do get in the safe.

Added: If you reload, please keep powder and primers locked up. These can be just as dangerous i.e. box of primers and a hammer.

 

[3KillerBs]

Go to www.corneredcat.com and read the articles on guns and kids.

I have 4 kids. All of them are clever, curious, and strong. A gun in plain sight on a wall can be readily accessed by a clever, curious 2yo.

If you go back a couple weeks you'll see threads about a 3yo fatally shooting herself in the head.

Kids are smarter than you think. They grow faster than you think. There is no such thing as too much redundant safety when kids are involved.

My kids are good, obedient, well-meaning kids. But like all kids they are subject to having "good ideas". Just yesterday my 8yo thought that he should take our cockatiels outside and let them fly around in the fresh air for a while. Fortunately, he asked if he could.

The now 14yo once almost set the car on fire only a couple years ago. The now 16yo could disassemble the baseboard hot water heaters by the time he was 18 months old. This morning the 2yo, sent to carry an empty coffee cup 10 feet across the room from one adult to another, tried to grab the coffee pot and pour the cup himself.

You need to protect your kids from home invaders. But first you must protect them from their own curiosity and their own ignorance of the consequences of their actions.

Any gun that is not on your person and under your direct control should be locked up in a way that would protect them from an adult.

Quick-access safes for defense guns are available.

 

[bogie]

Some folks also need to lay off the coffee!!!!!!!!

 

[jrfoxx]

If the 870 is high enough to be sure its out of reach, I'd say that ones fine. For the ones in the nightstand, you can get those child proofing dealies for the drawer. My understanding is that they dont "lock" it per se, so an adult can sill open them just as fast and easy as normal, but a young child doesnt have the strength, or the design is such they cant figure out what to do to open it. (It beleive there are several types and there are different ways they work, so you'd need to personally check them out to see what seems safe for the child, but is still as fast as normal to open for you and the wife.) just a thought.

I havenever used the drawer thingies, only seen them in use in friends homes (and thus have manipulated them a only couple times), and have neve personally had a small child in my house 24-7,since I have owned guns, but HAVE livd with women wit small children, and had freids who had gus and had some, so I knowthat the little buggers are fast, quiet, and sneak, but the child proofing things seem to work well from what I've seen, and been told, and they dont seem to slow dwn an adult who knows how to wok them, so hey are something to consider at least. My stp daughter was 11 when I met her, and in 16 now, so luckily, I didnt have to worry about toddlers and such with my guns.

 

[btg3]

a nice secure cabinet for reloading supplies

... is what my dad failed to have, so his son progressively experimented ... and amazingly didn't blow anyone up.

 

[Black Adder LXX]

I feel completely safe. The wife knows how to use all the guns mentioned for any of those occasions. However, I am definitely up for hearing some advice, and/or what others do for keeping their guns away from the babies.

I definitely second reading the ENTIRE site www.corneredcat.com - It has really helped me out a lot with my 4 little ones.

As far as the ammo separate from the guns. Well, they do load themselves and come after you when you sleep...

What I do, is target/range pistols are locked up unloaded. HD guns are ALWAYS loaded, safety off where applicable, and locked in small gunsafes with keypad entry, throughout the house. That's just what I do.

I really like what pax talks about on cornered cat though, about carrying it around the house on her so it's constantly under her control. I'm just not 'there yet' with my wifey and am just glad she's coming around on getting her permit in the first place. That will be next year's issue for now...

 

[dmazur]

I can't seem to get a link to the product, but if you go to this site and select "gun safes" and then click on the "Phoenix" logo, you'll see their three products. They make two for pistols and one for rifles, which sounds like what you need. Expensive at around $700 (incl shipping), but this takes care of storing guns where kids can't get into them, yet quickly available.

http://www.gunlocker.com/SafeSite_content.html

I have one of the smaller units with the "door holsters", as I don't have any loaded long guns in the house. They're stored in a separate safe, which is quite time-consuming to open.

The Riflelocker is identical, but longer. It fits between studs in a bedroom closet. The keypad lights up when you press the first button in the combination. (I'd choose a corner number, like 1 or 3 maybe, for the first digit so you can start off by touch...after that they're illuminated.)

 

[CU74]

I don't worry a whole lot about my guns finding the ammo stash, loading themselves and coming after me.

All of our children are grown and gone - it's just the wife and me at home - so we keep our "social work" firearms loaded. Guns in the basement are in a lockable cabinet with ammo in cans nearby. Guns out in my shop are either in a locked cabinet, (semi-auto/lever) or in open racks with the bolts removed. I have multiple cases of ammo stored in the same room. Never had a problem with the guns loading themselves..........

 

[klover]

chambered rounds in a house fire

can be a drag for the firemen that might enter. If you keep it loaded, you might want to secure the muzzle in a safe direction.
No little kids here, and the doors are very, very stout.

 

[Tyris]

You probably shouldn't rely on that (and revolvers don't need a slide to be racked for chambering). Doesn't sound very safe. And you shouldn't underestimate children, no matter how young they are.

Original poster mentioned nothing of revolvers.

-T

 

[Kind of Blued]

Why does locking up your gun and ammo in the same place make an unsafe situation??

For the same reason that guns kill people. They are evil and have a will of their own.

 

[RoostRider]

I'm with the keep it away from the child (kids can do amazing things, even by accident) and keep it locked when you are not home.... best is locked even when you are home (speed safe)...

I haven't seen any in a long while, but I have a clock radio with a safe inside and a 4 digit lock (hidden under a panel)... this works great as it is easy to get at, locked unless I need it, and doesn't even look like a gun safe....

Unless you are gang bum rushed in your home, I can't see needing more than one loaded gun easily accessible...

 

[Paragon]

The baby cant chamber a round, and wont have the hand strength to do so (with pistol) for probably another decade at least.

I wouldn't rely on that. If a kid were to hold the pistol with both hands on the grip and try to push the slide/hook the sights against something like a door jamb or a table and push with his body weight, I bet he could rack the slide. Safeties are just switches, no different than turning on a TV. My 2 year old nephew understands how a pistol works (i.e. slide needs to be racked, trigger needs to be pulled) from watching his daddy play on the X-Box. I love my son a lot more than my guns, so I keep mine locked up. I have 2 quick access safes, one in my bedroom, and one in the closet downstairs, both with a pistol in them. The few seconds it may take me to get to them are worth not putting my kid at risk.