Kids n the house, loaded gun in the house. Location?

[Tinks 69]

As we all know, having your gun unloaded, locked, or hidden too well does you no good at a time when you would actually need it.
In the same regard the weapon that was supposed to protect my family could potentially destroy it.
My children are still young, the oldest is 3 1/2. So keeping the pistol out of their reach isnt too much of a problem, yet. But it is time to think about relocating it. I need a place that is close to the bed, easily accessible and that will be safe from the kids for years to come.
I have been thinking about getting a box style picture frame (saw one @ wally world) that has a hollow space behind it big enough for a pistol. I would put a hinge on 1 side and a pin style locking mechanism built into the top. I would hang it high next to the bed.
I have also been thinking about cutting a hole behind a picture to build a velvet lined cubby to keep it in.

My question is how do you parents out there handle this dilemma? Close enough and ready to use but not a threat to little curious hands.

and

How many weapons do you keep in the house? Obviously it wont do you any good if you're on the wrong side of the house when you need it.

Thanks for the help.

 

[rhubarb]

On my hip.

At night, it's under the mattress.

 

[rollback88]

Nearby. Only need to insert mag and rack slide.

--jcd

 

[DouglasW]

I'd say a push-button lock box would be your safest bet, mounted securely somewhere nearby -- nightstand, bed-frame, recessed in the wall, etc.

I was going to recommend one of the boxes from handgunsafe.com...but just read on their website that they "no longer manufacture handgun safes". Anyone know why? Were they another victim of increasing liability insurance costs?

Other options would be something from Gunvault or V-Line BTW, I strongly prefer the ones like V-line with just a simplex mechanical lock -- no battery to worry about like on the Gunvault. And I don't see the wisdom of a keyed back-up either. K.I.S.S.

 

[kludge]

I have a Honeywell lock box with push buttons. $25 @ Wally World.

 

[KABA]

It would seem the perfect solution to this would be an under skin Micro Identification chip like some pet owners use. One of those plus a firearm lock box keyed to open with proximity would keep firearms away from children but readily accesible to whoever had the chip implanted.

 

[JoeShmoe]

I use a bedframe mounted kydex holster for my USP. I leave a spare mag on the nightstand next to the flashlight. In the morning when I get up the first thing I do is put the gun on my hip, or in the safe. The spare mag on the nightstand reminds me to put the gun away. It needs to be routine.

Don't try hiding guns, with kids in the house. They have a way of finding things. If it's not on your person it should be in the safe.

 

[distra]

I have a 2.5 yrs old boy and one on the way. I use a Gun Vault electronic locked safe. Pistol is close to the bed and ready if needed. 870 has a Life Jacket on with the mag loaded and 5 rounds in the side saddle. The rest are locked up in the big safe. I'm building a cabnet for ammo, powder and primers in the basement. I worry about curious boys hitting primers with a hammer so I want those locked up as well.

 

[geekWithA.45]

Kaba: despite NJ mandating such guns when available, the society of engineers has deemed such "smart guns" to be infeasible and unreliable for the forseeable future.

As for me, I keep my defense guns with a mag in, empty chamber, in a fast access pistol safe near my bad.

 

[shadowalker]

I've gotta second having it on the hip as the safest place, fastest access too.

I have a 13 year old in the house and now a 4 month old, me being armed is just a part of life in my family and is "normal."

For at night storage Gunvault makes a good product, we have two, one on each side of the bed. It is a good way to keep them out of little hands and still keep them accessible.

 

[tmajors]

I store my sidearm in the best and safest place available...holster on my belt.

 

[igpoobah]

Got a gunvault deluxe by the bed. Love it. The deluxe has the A/C adapter and light inside.

 

[igpoobah]

Duplicate

 

[mekender]

It would seem the perfect solution to this would be an under skin Micro Identification chip like some pet owners use. One of those plus a firearm lock box keyed to open with proximity would keep firearms away from children but readily accesible to whoever had the chip implanted.

such laws have been proposed, and this would be a problem if say im sitting around with friends and i get hurt in an attack, my friends would be unable to use my firearm...

or if im at work, my wife cant use my firearm...

or what if the chip in my hand gets damaged some how, then i cant defend myself...

sorry, ill take my guns without this technology...

and at 3 1/2 years old, its about time to start teaching "dont touch"... by 5 the kid should know how to shoot and be safe with the gun... my 9 year old is a better shot than i am, and damn sure just as safe as i am with guns

 

[yhtomit]

GeekWithA.45:

despite NJ mandating such guns when available, the society of engineers has deemed such "smart guns" to be infeasible and unreliable for the forseeable future.

Glad to hear this -- can you provide a link to a statement from them? I would like to have that on hand for easy reference whenever people smugly talk a out their own version of "common-sense gun regulation."

timothy

 

[doc2rn]

Don't try hiding guns, with kids in the house. They have a way of finding things. If it's not on your person it should be in the safe.

This is my stand with my 6 yo also, cant give better advice so I will
+1 Joe

 

[mokin]

I've got one pistol I carry cocked and locked that goes under the bed when I take it off. I've got another I keep for my wife with a loaded magazine but an empty chamber. I figure by the time my one year old daughter can rack the slide she'll be old enough to learn how to handle it and the consequinces.

 

[bensdad]

Some good posts. Pretty personal decision, and I wouldn't fault anyone for how they deal with this issue - within reason. Of course, "reason" can mean some radically different things.

I have an 8yr. old girl and a 5yr. old boy (Ben). I keep a 9mm on top of the china cabinet in the room I sleep in. My wife keeps her Bersa in a top drawer in her chest of drawers. Both guns are cond. 3. Neither of my kids can rack the slide on my Daewoo. I check every week or so. We also have a Mossberg 500 in the walk-in closet, way up on the top shelf. That's my wife's go-to gun if she hears shots downstairs and has time to get the hammer of God. Both kids shoot .22s with me and don't have a fascination with guns. I let them handle any gun they want whenever they ask.

I know it doesn't diminish the importance of being safe with firearms, but it helps me keep my perspective when I think about things that pose more ligitimate, significant risks to my kids than the guns in their home. Those things include but are not limited to: poisons in the house, car rides, walking two blocks to a friends house, boating with the family, biking with the family and swimming.

 

[KABA]

Kaba: despite NJ mandating such guns when available, the society of engineers has deemed such "smart guns" to be infeasible and unreliable for the forseeable future.

As for me, I keep my defense guns with a mag in, empty chamber, in a fast access pistol safe near my bad.
__________________


Geek,
I'm not talking about a so called "Smart Gun" here. I would agree that they're too unreliable partly because building a scanner into a gun that is both dependable and ergonomic is problematic.

But a gun safe with an RFID reader mounted close to your bed is a different matter. It could be powered off of house current with a battery backup. And it would preclude the requirement to punch a code, use a combination, or a key to access it late at night when you're asleep and hear the door crashing down. And it wouldn't require turning on a light or putting on your glasses to punch a combo or find a keyhole. Just waving your hand near the safe would be sufficient to activate the unlock.

It would only need to be lage enough to store one HD gun and perhaps a spare magazine. And it could have either a combo or key access as backup.

 

[1911 guy]

I keep an AR, shotgun and 2 handguns with a 3 Y.O.

Here's what I do for now, the two longarms will need rethinking as my son grows.

The handguns are either on our persons (wife and I) or locked in safes (one each side of the bed) when we are sleeping.

AR is Cond. 3, mag locked, decocked. Son cannot work charging handle.

Shotgun is on wall rack, also Cond. 3. Son could work pump action, but does not have enough hand strength to work manual safety. Also, he's WAY to short to reach it. My wife has to stretch.

Within the next year, I'll have to change the AR to a more secure position/condition. Another couple years, the shotgun also.

 

[armoredman]

CZ PO1 on me at all times when vertical. No joke. Wife has hers on, as well. Safest, easiest access, just conceal when unexpected company/neighbors drop by. None of thier business.
Nightime a few differant locations easy to hand, completely out of sight, impossible to access from outside the bed.

 

[Eyesac]

Couldn't have said it better

I have an 8yr. old girl and a 5yr. old boy (Ben). I keep a 9mm on top of the china cabinet in the room I sleep in. My wife keeps her Bersa in a top drawer in her chest of drawers. Both guns are cond. 3. Neither of my kids can rack the slide on my Daewoo. I check every week or so. We also have a Mossberg 500 in the walk-in closet, way up on the top shelf. That's my wife's go-to gun if she hears shots downstairs and has time to get the hammer of God. Both kids shoot .22s with me and don't have a fascination with guns. I let them handle any gun they want whenever they ask.

I know it doesn't diminish the importance of being safe with firearms, but it helps me keep my perspective when I think about things that pose more ligitimate, significant risks to my kids than the guns in their home. Those things include but are not limited to: poisons in the house, car rides, walking two blocks to a friends house, boating with the family, biking with the family and swimming.

 

[roo_ster]

I own two of these from Wally World:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=2221464

One under each night stand. Each holds two handguns, ready to roll.

Long guns are in a deadbolted closet.

I haven't figured out a way to keep a long gun both ready to roll and safe from kiddos.

I have two kids, 3YO & 2YO (17 mo apart). I am starting gun safety instruction, but they are not old enough for me to rely on it yet.

 

[Chuck R.]

Both of my HD guns (SIG220ST & Benelli M1S90) are loaded and secured in V-Line steel gun safes with push button simplex locks and the same combination. They are very quick and save me from trying to hide my HD guns. When I return home my CCW gun is locked up in my main safe when not in use.

When I was a kid, we had unsecure guns in our house, lots of them, so did my cousin. It was pretty much common knowledge back then, our families hunted and most of the neighborhood kids new it. All of us had been taught the proper respect for firearms.

Then a 14 year old friend of my cousin broke into his house one afternoon and committed suicide with one of their rifles. Both families were devastated by it. My uncle and cousin never felt the same way about firearms again and all their guns were moved up into their attic.

Keep in mind, this was the early 70s back in the days of personal responsibility, when folks placed blame where it should have been. But still the two families that were once close were never the same again. I hate to think what would happen in today’s litigious society if the same thing were to happen and I'd rather not mortgage my sons future for those few extra seconds it takes for me to gain access.

I personally don't want to risk that through my action or in-action somebodies child was killed or injured regardless of fault. So I believe that the potential risk of someone gaining access to one of my loaded HD weapons to be greater than the extra few seconds it takes me to open a container. So my stuff stays locked up unless in use.

The cost for a couple quick access storage containers or any security system is pretty cheap compared to the peace of mind they provide.

Chuck

 

[Chuck R.]

Sorry Double Tap!


Chuck