Sleeping With or Near a Gun

[atk]

Gun under the pillow would make me nervous. I have a tendancy to move around during my sleep, and may grab at it and cause a ND. I'd also hate to have it pointing at my head (yeah, I know, they don't just go off, but I still don't like it) when I move about. And if it's unholstered, I'd worry about it getting caught in the folds of the pillow case and my movement shifting its position so as to cause a discharge.

 

[10-Ring]

I've got a pistol in my nightstand. I've had it there long enough & have practiced w/ it enough that I'm pretty secure with it there.

 

[MarkDido]

<<The .45 sleeps on the bed with me when my girlfriend isn't around.>>

I too sleep with a .45 when the SO isn't around, and a pair of .38's when she is.....

Sven, I am soooooooooo sorry but I just HAD TO!

 

[HBK]

Nice...38s...you lucky dawg!

 

[Logistar]

But are those .38's "Special"?

 

[DrPsycho]

Currently residing in Sydney Australia, I don't have the luxury of this dillema. All I have is a tactical flashlight hoping to blind any intruders - no part two or plan B. Maybe I'll go buy a toy gun and hope I could brandish it to scare them away.

 

[Billy Sparks]

I want to post what I used to do and now what I do and why I changed. Years ago I keep a 3" .357 beside the bed in the night stand in a case. My thinking was that there is no way I can not open a drawer unzip a case and retrieve a pistol and still be asleep, right? Wrong. One night I wake up rolling out of bed pistol in hand (finger off of the trigger). In my sleep I had opened the drawer, retrived the pistol out of the case and turned on the light before waking up. What I did was purchase a pistol safe and bolt it into the a shelf in the closet. Before going to bed my wife unlocks the safe and we sleep happily....and safely.

True story as related to my by John Farmham in his Basic pistol class. One of his students awakens to pistol shoots he retrieves his gun and only then realizes that the pistol shot he heard was from his gun. The round passed through a exterior wall and harmlessly into the night.

 

[foghornl]

Used to sleep with my Super Blackhawk under my pillow, until the morning I woke up, moved pillow to pull up the covers, and found the hammer was back.........



Now the 'things go bump in the night weapon' is called the "bedside table companion". Guess where it is?

 

[ShaiVong]

'ol skunky 'ol pal!

This is what I do, and its worked well for me:

Insert Glock in an Uncle Mike's in-the-pants holster with velcro break.

Insert holster muzzle first between matress and box spring, on other side of bed from door, on my side of the bed.

Position weapon so almost all of the holster (which has a non-slip texture) is between matresses, but full handle of weapon sticks out.

In bed the sheets/blankets cover pistol, and I have it positioned so if im laying on my stomach, my hand drops straight down to the handle. Easy to draw, and well concealed.

When your laying on the bed, the pressure of your weight holds it there like a vice.

 

[spacemanspiff]

cocked & locked, holstered, right in front of my head. i dont have a bed, just a thin pad on the floor with some blankets (better for the back).
i have been known to do unusual things in my sleep, but removing the weapon from its holster takes too much motor skills.
the 12 gauge is not far away either. i have strategically placed extra shells throughout the house in case i have to advance or retreat from my original position while firing.
i wake up quickly, with no real grogginess.

 

[RandyB]

keep the 870 in a under the bed gun safe, unlocked in the evening (chamber empty, mag. is loaded with #1 buck)
Keep the .357 or .45 on the floor next to the bed. Oh and my night stand is a handgun safe whcih I lock the handgun up in the morning. I plan on getting one of the keypad punch pistol safes ASAP and keep that on the night stand. I also have a 6 cell mag and a surefire 6P to see with if needed.

 

[RandyB]

Oh and when the Mrs. is home, she keeps her ".38's" unholstered.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Mine is in my nightstand in a closed drawer.

I've never grabbed it by mistake before...

 

[Dr.Rob]

I've slept for years with a holsters DA auto or revolver under my pillow and I've noted a few things.

#1. I needed 2 pillows as the gun made sleeping uncomfy.

#2. When you have a serious GF, she might not like this practice, so it goes in the nightstand, still holstered.

#3. When confronted with an unexpected sleep-over, take a few seconds to put the damn thing in the nightstand.

#4 when you wake up and find that in your sleep you've manged to push your holstered gun across the bed, under the second set of pillows it might be time to secure it better.

#5 There is no such thing as a tactical duvet cover and the idea of drilling holes in the back of a cherry wood sleighbed headboard seems even to me, unreasonable.

#6 slip the holster between the matress and head board. Note scratches in headboard from spring clip holster.

#7 Decide I need cheaper furniture. Throw the damn thing back in the nightstand.

 

[Navy joe]

I know I can program alarm clocks in my sleep and I once set up an entire dinner date over the phone while asleep. Of course I didn't know this, so I forgot it. I was told that I sounded pretty coherent.

I took an afternoon nap one day. While in the midst of this sleep I realized that I needed to wake up so I started having a dream about having to get up. Somebody in the dream was shaking me to wake me up. As I passed from sleep to semi-wakefulness that someone turned into a man standing over my bed shaking me by my throat. Naturally I grabbed the nightstand 1911. When I fully came to it became a "So there I was.." ...Pointing a cocked and now unlocked 1911 towards a corner of my bedroom with my other hand locked firmly around my throat. Had to clear the whole house to convince myself of what happened.

I now keep whatever it is holstered and nearby, at the very least I have to sit up or fall out of bed and then use two hands. Sometimes just a flashlight with a shotgun cruiser ready across the room.

 

[444]

Just curious, why would anyone want to keep a gun under their pillow ? What would be the advantage of this ? I see numerous disadvantages.

 

[ShaiVong]

They should sell special 'tactical pillows' that have a hollow inside for your pistol. Put a little laser sticking out the other end so you can fire it inside the pillow

I can think of one kalifornian rodent that would love a tactical pillow! Untill, of course, its determined to be dangerous to the 'children' and is outlawed.

Imagine groups of thugs with preban pillows! Brings new meaning to a 'pillow fight'!

 

[Soap]

My 1911 in condition 1 is within arm's reach.

 

[PATH]

.357 within reach and other options available within easy distance. Yapping dog lets me know someone is about.

 

[tlhelmer]

Glock 21 with night sights and M-3 above my head.

Loaded Benelli M-3 next to the bed.

 

[Silver Bullet]

Loaded 92FS with round in chamber, hammer decocked, safety on, parked in the drawer of the nightstand. I'm giving some thought to buying an extra kydex holster and attaching it to the back of the bed somewhere (no headboard). When kids are in the house, I just lock it up; they're not over very often.

And, per Rule Number Four, if I wake up to a strange noise, the first thing I do is reach for my wife to determine if she is in bed. If she's not there, I don't reach for the gun.

This has only happened twice; I'm a heavy sleeper.

 

[kentucky bucky]

sleepwalker danger!

I have a good friend that is a bad sleepwalker. When he is going through a stressfull time in his work etc. it happens more often. We hired into a job together and roomed together during 3 weeks training. He got more exercize during the night than I did all day!! Anyway, One night during a stressfull period in his life, he dreamed that his wife was taken over by a demon or something. (I wonder what Sigmund Freud would say about that?) I the dream, every time he would turn away from his wife he could see her turn into a hideous creature out of the corner of his eye. (believe me she was not creature-like at all. ) He decided that he needed to kill the creature with his 9mm that was at arms reach on the night stand. His wife luckily heard him get up just in time and deflected the weapon, screamed, and slapped him back from the "Twilight Zone". He remembered the silly dream and was scared to death when he realized how close he came to killing his wife and destroying his family. The pistol found a less accessible hiding place and as he got older I believe the sleepwalking got better. I hope for good Because of this, I started keeping my .38 and one of those tactical flashlights in a drawer 2 steps from the bed in a place that I can easily find in total darkness.

 

[Pocket Pistol]

When wife is home I have it slipped between the mattress and the box spring, Loaded, chambered and holstered.
When the wife works nights it is under my pillow.
"it" changes depending on mood and feelings at the time.

 

[Byron Quick]

I move around too much to put one under the pillow...besides I usually have at least one arm under there. I've taught myself over the years to stay away from the right headboardward corner of the bed. I keep my handgun there. Magazine pouch beside it. Night stand sits directly beside the headboard...shotgun there.

 

[Kevlarman]

I have a sort of nightstand that sits at the head of my bed, on the right side. It's oriented so that the back is towards my head. This particular stand was made to hold a printer, and as such, it has a little gap in the back so that you can pass the perforated paper through (yes, it's that old). The gap is just about even with the top of the mattress.

Anyways, it's perfect to keep my pistol inside the drawer, since all I have to do is extend my right hand and reach into the gap.