So what do you do with your gun at night?

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Chris-bob

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Let me explain my situation. I have three kids under the age of eight. A wife and no pets.(goats and chickens live outside)
Currently, if there is a bump in the night, I have to grab the keys off my nightstand to open the pistol cabinet above my head. I would like a better system, something that would be quicker access to my pistol. I can't leave anything unsecured because my kids tend to wander in the night. What are some good options out there that some of you have tried and like? Wife will not let me have a dog(yet).
 
What kind of gun are you talking about and how young is your youngest?

I have six kids and can help if you can give me a bit more info. Until I know more here is one thing you should definitely do regardless.

Lock your bedroom door. This is the right thing to do in all circumstances. In will allow you to have quick access to your firearm and will slow down any intruder trying to get into your room not to mention that it will signify his ill intent. A burglar who is just after a grab and go will pass by a locked door and will also leave the children alone.

A side benefit is that you and the misses will be able to have that special moment, uninterrupted by either a curious child or by having to get up to lock the door.
 
The first thing I would throw out is that wherever the gun ends up it should be in the same place every night so you don’t have to think about it. I have a head board with a shelf on it that's where my gun is every night. I can’t imagine anyone getting that close to my bed with out me knowing about it.

Have you considered leaving the key in the lock of the lock box?


Final thought, dog or no dog these work very well on every door of the house and will slow down a crook long enough for you to get your head together

http://www.walmart.com/ip/10756576?...1=g&wl2=&wl3=21486607510&wl4=&wl5=pla&veh=sem
 
There are safes and lock boxes available, but here's one idea:

Keep it beside your bed, just slightly out of reach and in a holster (so you will not accidentally grab it in your sleep), and lock your bedroom door.

This way your kids can't just wander in to your bedroom and grab the gun, and neither can any intruder.

If your kids need you in the night they can just knock on the door.
 
I keeps my play purty next to my bed about a foot away within easy reach on a bookshelf. If kids are present I stick it under the mattress..without letting anybody know where it is of course.
 
Lock Your Bedroom Door !
Keep the gun on your nightstand and return it to the safe or wear it when the door gets unlocked.
Believe me, Lock the Door. The kids are safe, the gun is secure and no one ends up crawling in bed with you two in the middle of the night.
 
Fortunately our skillet lickers are grown but do get overloaded with grand chillins on occasion. Cant afford no fancy safes thanks. We bees careful..lol.
 
If I'm sleeping in my own room (my wife and I sleep apart often due to differing sleep cycles and work schedules), my daily-carry piece is on the top of the hutch of the desk right next to my bed. In fact,it actually sits on top of a lock-box that sits there. Way too high for my four-year old daughter to reach without climbing onto me first, and would still be out of reach. Also insures that I'll be awake when I draw it, as I have to sit up and stand to reach it myself.

When I do "stop by for the evening" in the master bedroom, it goes beside my side of the bed in a retention holster that cannot be undone without enough effort to wake me.

Once I'm up, it goes back on my hip (or, on rare occasion, into the lock-box already mentioned above.)
 
Gun Vault with electronic keypad sits next to my bed. Very easy to get on and out of. I have an identical one in my bathroom that holds my EDC, so I'm very used to keying in the code. Teach kids, train kids, love kids, but don't "trust" them to not do exactly what you did as a kid. I know that by 6 or 7, I could access my dad's gun and was taking my grandfather's out of his locked rack... Unbeknownst to either. Kids will find the way.
 
On top of the dresser or on the closet shelf.

In my house, we have an ....unconventional child situation. We share custody with her ex for one child literally 50/50. He is well-conditioned, likes to shoot, (only .22s so far,) and knows exactly what happens when you mess with a gun. I can leave any gun on the table and he won't play with it. My two middle boys come every other weekend. They are also well-conditioned. All three of them are well-trained not to enter our bedroom at all without knocking. I don't worry about these three. We also have one (ex step-child) who just turned 16. He's a bit loopy and doesn't make great friends. He will be ok, but he has some learning to do. My youngest is autistic, and has no concept of guns or death, but loves to play with anything that has moving parts. When either of THESE TWO come over, everything is a lot more secure, locked up, keys on my person.

It depends on the kid, the house, and the situation, everyone is different.
 
I don't understand parents who just let their kids in the room when they want. Our kids are not allowed in our room, at all.

If they wake up and come out of their room before we wake up they stand at our *open* door and wake us up. No coming in our room.
 
Only the 2 year-old wanders into the room uninvited. The 8 and 6 year-olds know better and are to the point that they know not to touch firearms unless we are shooting at the range or I invite them to help clean the guns. I am an odd sleeper. I can sleep through normal things like the kids getting up to use the bathroom, a rooster crowing, an earthquake or 100 mph winds, but will wake up if I hear anything out of the ordinary. Right now I keep my keychain on the nightstand next to the bed. Above that is a Sentry locking gun cabinet with my XD9, S&W K frame, Kel-Tec PF9, Charter arms undercover all of which stay loaded. The wife has a spare key hidden in her flimsies drawer. I don't mind the setup I have now, but would like quicker secure access without having to open a gun cabinet, but still have the XD somewhat secure.

As for closing the door, my wife doesn't like it closed. We live on the corner of a road with lots of foot traffic. When we bought the place, I had to rebuild the wall due to the front door having been kicked in 27 times too many. People wander through our yard all the time as if it was a shortcut. (we plan on moving this fall if the house sells)
 
If the front door is going to get kicked in, I think I'd want a second door to slow someone down.

I'd also put up some hedges or something.


I certainly wouldn't want to think that someone could kick in the door, and have nothing but a short distance between me and them while I'm fumbling with a lock.


If nothing else find something that takes some strength to open, something that the 2 year old can't force open but you can easily enough.
 
ChaoSS said:
I don't understand parents who just let their kids in the room when they want. Our kids are not allowed in our room, at all.

If they wake up and come out of their room before we wake up they stand at our *open* door and wake us up. No coming in our room.
Click to expand...
This. When I was growing up, I was at NO TIME welcome into my parent's room without asking, and half the time it was no anyway. My kids will be the same way, but I'm going to add a dead-bolt just for added assurance that they will not find their way in there.

If they need or want something, they can ask.
 
Only the 2 year-old wanders into the room uninvited.
Click to expand...

You could lock your bedroom door and put a motion sensor chime on your two year old's door to alert you when he or she is up and about at night.

They are wireless and easy to install and typically under twenty dollars.

Your other two children can just knock if they need something.
 
I rebuilt the wall/door after buying the house. It will take quite a dedicated fool to kick it in now.

As for the kids, I'm not so worried about them going for the gun in the dark, more wanting quicker access for me or my wife without leaving it lying in the open.

Oh, and we all sleep on the second level.
 
Night and Day... because mine are 13 and 16 and both trained by me and hunter safety.

But... Ammo is in locked trunk, guns are in cabinet. Except my side arm which is either on me, in my nightstand loaded or in my truck. If I am going somewhere I cannot bring my side arm, it stays in my nightstand and the ammo goes in the locked trunk.
 
I caress it, kiss it goodnight, and put it on my nightstand.
 
Sleep with it under my pillows

I keep a .44 mag 3.5"barrel loaded one less so there is a empty aligned with the barrel.
 
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