Why Carry A Holstered Gun At Home?

[rugerman07]

I've noticed quite a few who post here claim they carry a holstered gun at home while going about their daily routine around the house. I'm not being critical here, it's certainly your right to do so. But, I have to ask why? Do you feel unsafe at home?

 

[Pilot]

Your home is where your family resides and contains your valuable possesions. Incidents of home invasions occur everyday. Why not be armed when you are protecting what you value most? Yes, there are locked doors and windows seperating you and the criminals, but these are easily defeated. The time you need a gun may be the time its sitting in a safe or drawer and you can't get to it in time.

 

[AlaskaErik]

It's simply easier to continue carrying while at home. Yes, I do feel safe in my own home, but home invasions do occur on a regular basis. The closest one to my home was less than a mile away. Also, I like to be armed when I answer the door. You never know who's knocking.

 

[Dksimon]

It is just a matter of being prepared. If you have your gun stashed in your bedroom and you are at the other end of the house in your kitchen and someone breaks in through the front door how are you supposed to make it to youre firearm?

 

[papajohn]

I started carrying all the time when I lived in the middle of nowhere, now that I live in the inner city I am even more adamant about it. I ran the list of Registered Sex Offenders in my zip code, and found out that I'm apparently the only guy within five blocks (almost) who isn't a convicted felon, pedophile, or rapist. And those are just the Sex Criminals. Murderers, thieves, burglars and other violent psychos aren't listed.

My gun goes on with my trousers in the morning, and I also have one in every room. If I need one, I need it NOW, not after I get the safe key, go to the room with the safe, unlock it, select a weapon, and check its loaded status.

As Cooper used to say (and I quote him a lot) "You can't make an appointment for an emergency".

Papajohn

 

[Kind of Blued]

Dust bunnies.

 

[ForeignDude]

Carry at home is the only method that ensures the following two conditions:

(1) Weapon is fully ready, and within immediate reach, in the event of a home invasion;
(2) Weapon cannot be accessed by children in the home without your explicit knowledge/consent.

 

[moooose102]

my gun is never (except for hospital and dr office or anywhere else ccw regulations prohibit it) more than an arms length away. at night, it is under my pillow, during the day, in my pocket and or in my waist band. do i feel safe at home, sure. but, i am disabled, if somebody was trying to force his way in, harm my children, etc. i wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight. so, my only option would be to defend ourselves in the only other manner i can. hopefully, this will NEVER happen. but if it does, i will not let somebody grab my kids and do untold horrific things to them. this is NOT to say i am trigger happy. i am very much aware of the fact that in the course of taking someone elses life, i may end up with signifigant mental anguish. but if i am FORCED into doing this, i would rather deal with that guilt, than deal with the guilt of doing nothing while my kids are raped/mutilated/killed/etc. etc. I WILL DEFEND THEM, TO MY DEATH if necessary.

 

[Zedicus]

(1) Weapon is fully ready, and within immediate reach, in the event of a home invasion;
(2) Weapon cannot be accessed by children in the home without your explicit knowledge/consent.

Got it all in one post!

 

[shooter45]

I agree with all of the other answers, but would like to add that carrying at home builds confidence in the gear you will carry on the street. For example, I have a new holster for my Kimber and I am breaking it in at home where I can adjust it with out everyone knowing I am carrying.

 

[Kind of Blued]

Family members also make for good guinea pigs when testing concealability of a new holster/gun. That is if they don't assume you have a gun on you at all times.

 

[mbt2001]

I've noticed quite a few who post here claim they carry a holstered gun at home while going about their daily routine around the house. I'm not being critical here, it's certainly your right to do so. But, I have to ask why? Do you feel unsafe at home?

(1) Weapon is fully ready, and within immediate reach, in the event of a home invasion;
(2) Weapon cannot be accessed by children in the home without your explicit knowledge/consent.

+1

Also, a holstered gun is one of the most effective and safest ways to carry. Guns only "go off" when they are being handled. Having it in the holster means it is at hand and safe (by safe I mean it can't go off from handeling b/c you are not handeling it, it is in the holster...)

While it sounds odd, the more you have handeled loaded guns, the more you understand carrying in a holster.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Why Carry A Holstered Gun At Home? ... Do you feel unsafe at home?

Of the eight murders on my hometown in three recent years,
- woman slashed in home invasion at a boarding house,
- man and woman beaten to death with baseball bat another home invasion,
- two men shot death in a business break-in,
I could look up the other three, but those five show good reason to feel unsafe at home and to go armed at home. True, the two couples killed in home invasions were involved in drugs and were killed for drugs or money to buy drugs. But, the woman in the boarding house was an innocent victim of a home invader.

Perhaps carry at home makes more sense than carry on a public street: cops can patrol on public streets, they cannot patrol inside private homes. And if cops cannot always be there when you are mugged on a public street, they certainly cannot be there when you are mugged by a home invader.

----------------------

After reading some of the other posters' comments, I must add I test holster and gun and carry techniques at home before going out. (It is better to discover a gun will slip out of a particular holster while moving about your kitchen than to find it out in public.)

 

[1911 guy]

Why do you carry your car insurance policy number in your glovebox? Don't you trust your driving?

Everything bad always happens to "The Other Guy". To someone else, YOU are "The Other Guy".

 

[Walkalong]

Unfortunately, our homes are not as safe as we would like them to be. I do not carry at home. Some weapons are always fairly handy, but not on my person.

 

[foghornl]

You never know when war will come to you.

 

[StrawHat]

One less decision to make.

When I made the decision to carry, I decided to carry 24/7.

I don't have to think "should I carry to..." it is already in place.

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

ForeignDude nailed it. But I'll add that home invasions occur with disregard to whether yoiu're home or where you are in your home. There's no rule that says bad guys have to break in while you're away, or at night while you're asleep and your shotgun is close by. And if there were such a rule, they'd break it cause they're bad guys A break in can just as easily happen while you're in the office doing taxes, or in the basement or anywhere else. Don't you want to be ready? Or are you going to tell the BG "hold on, I'm not ready for you, let me go unlock my safe in the other room real fast and grab my weapon, then you can continue with your break in"

 

[Jdude]

I keep it next to my computer or in my sleeping room, wherever I happen to be mostly that day. I do it primarily to scuff and ding my holster to see if it actually holds up to my average use.

Oh and my gun is pretty.

 

[Bubbles]

I have a toddler. My home-defense handgun is safer on my hip than in my purse, on a table, in my nightstand, etc.

 

[Ric in Richmond]

Ask the Harvey's if a gun on your person would of been handy....oh wait...you can't now....

http://www.crimelibrary.com/news/original/0106/0202_harvey_family_murders.html

http://www.crimelibrary.com/news/original/0106/0302_harvey_killers_in_house1.html

 

[KI.W.]

Thruly ****ty;"You never know when war will come to yuo".(mr Foghorn).
I know, never to me. I can to live with my guns (only 14) in the safetybox. Very sorry for you.

 

[TheLastBoyScout]

Why carry a holstered gun at home?

Because its

a) Safer-the weapon is under your direct control at all times.
b) Quicker-self explanatory
c) Convenient-don't have to take the holster on/off when you go out, don't have to engage in unneccessary admin gunhandling.
d) Less likely to result in a weapon being left out easy to steal when you leave the house.
e) Less likely to freak out anti relatives than an AR or Mossberg propped up on the nightstand "cruiser ready"

 

[esq_stu]

"Oh, excuse me, Mr. home invader while I run to my bedroom night table [or safe, or cupboard] and get my gun."

I spend at least half my life at home - about 12 hours a day. I have read about lots of home invasions perhaps just as many as muggings. I see no difference in the need to be armed at home and away from home.

 

[thunder173]

Why NOT?? Yes,...I feel safe at home because I make it that way, along with smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, and first aid kits. I live along a busy rural highway, and have no idea who may come to my door,...day or night. I have no younger children at home, but often have "company" that brings their young inquisitive children to my home, and the occasional visits of equally inquisitive young grandsons. When they are expected,....the house is "swept" and anything I have out is secured,....except what is on me. If company arrives unexpectedly, ... I discreetly "tidy" things up as I can, and secure the area. I never leave firearms lying about in plain site, but both myself and my wife know where they are. I often carry while at home,... and if it's not ON me,..one is very close at hand.