To lock up your guns or not

[Nathan67]

I have a Ruger P-89 9mm that is my SD house gun. I currently keep it up high in my closet unloaded, but with a loaded clip in the extra clip holder in my holster. I also have a 3 year old boy (who is a toy gun nut) and a ten year old. I'm debating what is best and safest for my family. I have heard some say that a gun in the house is of no use in a high pressure home inavsion situation if its not loaded and easily accesible from bed (like a nightstand). At the same time I have young children to protect. Would that apply to houses with young children? I don't want my neligence to be the cause of a tragedy. I do take them shooting and teach them gun safety. I try to satisfy their natural curiosity by exposing them to guns and shooting safely and often. Howver I'm still reluctant to keep a loaded firearm within reach (visible or not) of especially my 3 yr. old. What are some of your opinions on this dillemma? Thanks, -Nathan

 

[sumpnz]

Get yourself a quick access pistol safe. I ordered one just recently from www.handgunsafe.com. I asked here what people recommended and that one seemed like the best. Not cheap at $170 (inc shipping) but a whole lot better than having your kid find and fire the gun. It's designed to allow quick access by simply punching in a user chosen permutation of the 4 lock buttons. It's a compeltly mechanincal lock, so batteries to mess with. But, there's also no key override so if you forget the combo it's locksmith/torch time - but this also eliminates someone finding the key or picking the lock.

I have a daughter who'll be 2 in April and son on the way. Up 'til now my wife and I have kept our guns in the headboard fully loaded and ready to go. But since my daughter is now getting old enough for the curiosity to be an issue we chose to go with the pistol safe.

 

[jiwilliams]

You need a safe

I'm in Houston. And not a week goes by it seems where I don't read about a child shooting a child with a gun found in a house. He$$ I can remember being a 12 year old and searching out my dad's pistol to shoot it in the back yard (we had several acres) when he and mom had gone to the store. Thankfully I didn't have a young brother or sister.

Now I have a 4 year old. And I live in a big city. And I have a CHL. So, I have a quick open gun safe mounted in the drawer of my night stand. It is the only way.

Don't think keeping the ammo in one place and gun in another will stop a curious child. And I agree, an unloaded gun is about as useful as a car with no gas.

 

[Taurus 66]

Is it small enough (with a rig) to carry on you? Why leave it unloaded in a closet? Right now you have "1 chance" to make things right, to increase your defense while protecting loved ones, by having it on you. You now have "0 chances" once your kid figures everything out and already has it primed and ready, or if you ever become the victim of a burglary, home invasion, or other.

You'd better carefully re-think exactly why you have that firearm if you aren't that serious about it.

 

[Atticus]

Ditto on the safe - if you can't carry it all the time. I just picked up a pocket pistol that I can can carry more easily (and secretly) at home. The kids are never awake when it is not in my pocket hoslter. My secondary pistol is in a handgun safe.

 

[liberty911]

Think of the worst thing can happen, then make your decision. Either carry it with you, or lock it up. Kids find a way to get into anything.

 

[KriegHund]

I have a Ruger P-89 9mm that is my SD house gun. I currently keep it up high in my closet unloaded, but with a loaded clip in the extra clip holder in my holster. I also have a 3 year old boy (who is a toy gun nut) and a ten year old. I'm debating what is best and safest for my family. I have heard some say that a gun in the house is of no use in a high pressure home inavsion situation if its not loaded and easily accesible from bed (like a nightstand). At the same time I have young children to protect. Would that apply to houses with young children? I don't want my neligence to be the cause of a tragedy. I do take them shooting and teach them gun safety. I try to satisfy their natural curiosity by exposing them to guns and shooting safely and often. Howver I'm still reluctant to keep a loaded firearm within reach (visible or not) of especially my 3 yr. old. What are some of your opinions on this dillemma? Thanks, -Nathan

Hiding it up high isnt the safest of methods either.

I suggest doing the following-

Keep the gun under a small safe type box during the day. At night, when you go to bed, take it out. Put it away again in the morning.

Home invasions do happen in the day, but i believe this is a good compromise.

Better yet, tell your son how absolutely vital it is he never touches the gun unless your around.

 

[torpid]

Another vote for http://www.handgunsafe.com/ .

It's really heavy duty for a pistol safe, and the mechanical simplex lock keeps your gun out of little (or big) hands, yet it can be stored loaded and ready to go in 2 seconds flat.

I use (and trust) mine everyday.

.

 

[Rotty]

This is really an individual choice, you have several options.
1)Keep gun or ammo seperate and locked up.
2) Keep gun and ammo together locked up.
3) keep em together ready for immediate us if needed.
4) keep em together, but need to charge them to use them.

3-4 you need to amke sure everyone in your house and guests too, understand that they are NOT TP BE HANDLED unless they know what they are doing, and you are confindent in what they can do, or wont do.
1-2 peace of mind from family, danger from intruders.

Youre choice, and you must be willing to live with the possible consequences either way.

 

[Blue Jays]

Hi All-

Heck, I'd be worried about a kid just sitting there and hitting four-number combinations until he finally got it right! The safes with finger-shaped pads make me even more nervous...just the correct sequence of four inputs is required to crack the thing open.

My preference would be for a safe that requires a key to be inserted before the keypad is activated. That would allow for true lockout capability by the parent. I wonder if such an invention exists for gunowners?

~ Blue Jays ~

 

[torpid]

This is really an individual choice, you have several options.
1)Keep gun or ammo seperate and locked up.
2) Keep gun and ammo together locked up.
3) keep em together ready for immediate us if needed.
4) keep em together, but need to charge them to use them.

3-4 you need to amke sure everyone in your house and guests too, understand that they are NOT TP BE HANDLED unless they know what they are doing, and you are confindent in what they can do, or wont do.
1-2 peace of mind from family, danger from intruders.

See my above post regarding your opinion of choice #2- my gun goes from securely locked to fully ready in hand in 2 seconds.

Maybe add:
5) locked up together ready for immediate us if needed



.

 

[KC&97TA]

I keep 2 fully loaded pistols and a surefire in my safe, with extra mags, key over ride on the safe being hid in a convinent place. I'd never leave any fire arm, out or just hidden. I unlock the safe when I'm home, lock it before I leave.

Being in Commy Kali, "it's the owners fault if someone steels a gun and uses it in a crime". We also have a 4 year old neighbor girl over alot to be baby sat.

I never had toy guns as a kid, we had real guns all over the house !

 

[ponyboy]

i have been an leo for 20 yrs. i have always had a loaded gun laying around. first you have to educate your children. this will not happen over nite. i started teaching my kids about 4-5 yoa. when i bought a new gun they wanted to see it. i made sure it was unloaded and showed them how to check it. i would let them play with it. this took the curosity of the gun away from them. as they got older i could come in a lay my gun on a counter and it would never be touched. if it needed to be moved they would come and tell me. now i am teaching my grand children. a lot of people will call this stupid. but i think it taught them how and what a gun can do. again the main point is education.....

 

[Kentak]

Do the responsible thing--dad

How would you ever live with yourself if the unthinkable happened?

My recommendation would be to keep all guns that are not needed to be available for home defense to be under secure lock and key.

For the defense gun, get one of those steel lock boxes with the electronic finger-button combo lock. I got one recently for fifty bucks from Gander Mountain. It's still worth it if you have to spend twice as much. Mine is firmly attached to a (non-removable) shelf in a cabinet next to the bed. I mounted one of those little push-on battery operated lights above the box, so I don't even have to fumble for room light (however, the light is not even needed as I practiced finding the buttons in total darkness). I can open the box in a matter of seconds. Inside is my .40 Glock and Surefire tactical flashlight.

I know everyone says the answer is to teach your kids to respect guns and to never touch them unless you're around, etc, etc. But, don't bet *their* safety on it. Remember when *you* were a kid?

Good luck.
K

 

[torpid]

first you have to educate your children.

Absolutely, but your kids may have "uneducated" guests over...

.

 

[torpid]

Heck, I'd be worried about a kid just sitting there and hitting four-number combinations until he finally got it right!

Blue Jays, many of the safes today have a lockout feature that ignores further inputs after a few unsuccessful attempts of the incorrect combination.

In fact, some of the electronic ones have a "tamper" indicator light if it's been tried unsuccessfully (but I personally avoid electronic safes from my experience).


.

 

[torpid]

Oh, sumpnz- the handgunsafe.com safe has 5 lock buttons.

 

[Taurus 66]

If you get careless at any time under your current conditions - if you slip and at one time leave a loaded magazine in the vicinity of the gun, now your kid gets hold of the weapon, and either hurts himself or someone else, you will have to live with that for the rest of your life.

If you don't carry your gun and you ever become a victim of violence, you will only have to worry about it for the rest of your life.

 

[Kentak]

Hi All-

Heck, I'd be worried about a kid just sitting there and hitting four-number combinations until he finally got it right! The safes with finger-shaped pads make me even more nervous...just the correct sequence of four inputs is required to crack the thing open.

~ Blue Jays ~

Not to worry. On my strongbox (not even an expensive one), there are four buttons, but you need to enter 5 button-pushes to open the box. AND, you don't have to use all four buttons. For example, you could decide to use all four buttons, or only, say, the first and third button. The combo could be 1-3-3-1-1, or whatever is easy for you to remember. There are millions of combinations possible that way. The kid won't guess it in years of trying because you won't tell them how many buttons are used or which ones.

K

 

[Desertdog]

My 2 cents.
In a safe when you are not home.
On your person, ready to go, when you are home.
Can you install a child safety catch on your nightstand next to your bed for storage while you are in bed?
If so, put pistol in safety catched drawer when in bed, and on your person, or in the safe when you get up.
The reason I suggest the child safety catch is, it will be quicker to get to the gun than trying to fumble with a combination in the middle of the night and should stop the 3 year old from getting the gun, at least for a few years.

 

[torpid]

I look at it this way:

Locking it up in a quick access safe is the best of both worlds.

If anyone considers 2 seconds too long to get a ready handgun out of safe storage in their home, then they should home holster carry to shave off that extra 1 second, and also keep retention.


.

 

[torpid]

Ha- Desertdog beat me to the punch with the home carry alternative.

However...

The reason I suggest the child safety catch is, it will be quicker to get to the gun than trying to fumble with a combination in the middle of the night and should stop the 3 year old from getting the gun, at least for a few years.

I think regularly practicing your combo clears up that concern, and many child safety latches can be a fumble issue in the middle of the night.


.

 

[Taurus 66]

I look at it this way:

Locking it up in a quick access safe is the best of both worlds.

If anyone considers 2 seconds too long to get a ready handgun out of safe storage in their home, then they should home holster carry to shave off that extra 1 second, and also keep retention.


.

There's only a 1 second difference between the two? Does the locked safe hover around by your side everywhere as you travel inside the house or is it positioned in one room?

 

[torpid]

There's only a 1 second difference between the two? Does the locked safe hover around by your side everywhere as you travel inside the house or is it positioned in one room?

I knew that was coming...


Yes it does hover.





Seriously though, I was meaning to compare it to (unsaid) nightstand storage (as in the safe is basically the same, but secure), but wanted to point out that home carrying is safer than just leaving a ready to go gun in the nightstand or somewhere else unsecured in the house.

I did that poorly.

So:
If you feel comfortable not having the gun instantly ready via home carry, I recommend using a quick-access safe wherever you plan to store it, as it will be secure, but ready to get quickly once you get to it.

 

[Nathan67]

I appreciate the quick responses. I will definitely be getting a safe of some kind. It is irresponsible to have my gun up in the closet. The three year old couldn't get to it, but my ten year old could. About the education issue, I'm teaching alot of that with my ten year old, and everyone in my house knows the rules, but I agree, If I'm not around it definitely needs locked up. I remember being a kid also. I cant concealed carry as of yet throughout the day, I just went through the class and am waiting for my license, and home carry isn't necessary. Thanks for the input. -Nathan