Why Carry A Holstered Gun At Home?

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Funny thing happened the other night - around 3:00 am the wife tells me someone is out by the cars with a flashlight, so I walk out to the living room window and look out. Much to my surprise I come face to face with some guy on a mountain bike who is clearly on his way to look in the house to see what he can score.

I think the sight of me with a gun in holster helped remind him that he should go home and go to bed.
 
It is the best place for it when it is loaded. I wouldn't want to lock it up because I cannot get to it in time if needed and I wouldn't want to leave it on the coffee table unattended. Seems like the logical place to keep it. It is ready to be used, therefore keeping me and my family safe from anything that may arise and is in a safe place, keeping me and my family safe from an accidental or negligent discharge.
 
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?
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I used to work in the psych ward of a maximum security prison, so in the event that one of the inmates that used to be under my "supervision" paroles or discharges and decides to come a knockin', I will be decently prepared. (And believe me, I've seen some of the most horrible things that people are capable of. Also, remember that these inmates weren't born in prison. They victimized someone in the freeworld to get there). Also, eventhough I live in a "decent" neighborhood, just one block over last summer a resident had a forced home invasion where 2 men kicked in the front door of the home and robbed the family at gunpoint (and they were lucky that robbing was all that happened). You're not truly "safe" anywhere. But that's just me. I'm one of those "the price of peace is eternal vigilence" kind of guys.

Awesome topic, by the way!
 
I'm not doing it yet because I'm still gun shopping, but I will be. There is no other way to have a loaded gun immediately available in case of a home invasion without risking my young children getting their hands on it.

My 2yo is perfectly capable of firing a cowboy revolver styled cap pistol with a trigger that is significantly heavier than the trigger on my Mark III -- and he knows how to cock it for single action too.
 
If I only carried when I 'felt unsafe' that would mean that I was turning carrying a weapon into a dice toss.

I carry all the time. I keep a firearm in arm's reach 24/7 except when I'm forced to go into a safety zone for criminals.

There's a firearm in arm's reach when I'm sleeping.

It's not a matter of 'feeling safe' or 'feeling unsafe.' Painful experience has shown that sometimes when I 'feel safe,' I'm not safe and that when I 'feel unsafe,' I'm not. Therefore, I carry all the time. That way, it doesn't matter if my feelings are accurate or inaccurate.
 
Why Carry at home??? Here's one reason

I just had an incident this morning, that gave me a reminder to strap it on when I put my pants on!
Every morning, when my wife goes to work, I let her out the front gate! Then I return to the house, or to the barn to let the horses out!
This morning, for some stupid reason, I did not slip a gun in my pants pocket. Just about a minute after the wife left the phone started ringing, but I could not get to it before it stopped. (I was walking up the driveway to barn, about 400 feet long).

I got to the barn checked the caller ID, it was the wife! I just continued to put the horses out. She calls back, and says there were two very weird acting guys walking down our road toward our house as she went to work. I look out and can see at least one of them, walking and I HAVE NO GUN!! It is a couple hundred feet to the house.

To say the least, I hot footed it to the house, checked for the JUDGE, which was setting loaded on the kitchen table, picked up my 905 and paddle holster, and went to the front door of my house!!

I look out and see where these guys were. Well I only see one of them, but he is walking angrily past my house, and as he gets to my mail box (which is a hardened steel type) he hauls off and punches the mail box. Then spent a little time rubbing his fist.

No I did not open the door and yell at him for trying to break his fist on my mail box. But I did call the Sheriff's non emergency #, and report him with description, as there are numerous houses close to the road where he was headed, and he was up to NO GOOD!

I am happy to say, two sheriffs cars shortly went down the road looking for these guys.

You know I am kicking myself, for being unprotected this morning. and not even having my cell phone. They could have been close to my gate when I let the wife out, giving me a problem!! They could have jumped my fence entering my property, where I could not observe them, giving me a problem.

The whole theme of this post, is like others!

YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU MIGHT NEED IT!!

I did not, but could have from the one who had some anger issues already.

I AM KICKING MYSELF FOR BREAKING MY OWN GUIDELINES FOR HERE ON THE FARM!!!

I also am getting concerned that after almost 10 weeks, KSP has not sent me my CC paperwork.
 
First without a holster my gun is likely to fall down the leg of my pants and might shoot me in the foot. Second, have you ever heard of “Home Invasions”? I have and they never seem to be pre-announced so you have time to run and get to your gun. I’m not expecting one but neither were any of the people that experienced them first hand from what I can tell. Third it harms no one so why not?
 
I live about six miles out of town in a very rural area and my house is about 1/4 to 1/2 mile off the road. If I called 911 and a sherrif's deputy were sitting on the road by my mailbox he would not be able to get here in time to protect my family or me. He would be here in time to take a report and put the yellow tape around the area. It is legal to carry open or concealed on my own property and if an invader wants to come in my house, he will come at his own risk.
 
About two weeks ago some clown started ringing our doorbell at 1:00 AM. He was looking for “Susan” but he didn’t know the address and his cell phone was dead so he just started “looking for her house”. Riiiight!! About this time he spotted the P90 in my hand. His eyes got as big as saucers, he started to stutter and stammer, and promptly beat a hasty retreat from our property.

Was he just a total idiot or did he have other ideas? I don’t know and he didn’t stick around long enough to enlighten me.
 
I guess the need may even vary a bit from person to person.

I've read through many of the responses here, and I can see some good points:

1) Live in a rural area, and might be out on the land... no help nearby

2) Live in a high-crime area, or densely populated place where crime is likely.

... and, other good examples.


For me though, I still stand by the fact that I can't be "on" at all times. My doors are locked to my house. There is a gun on my nightstand, and it is a ten foot walk from where I am sitting, and a 20 foot walk from the closest door. I have a gun in other places too, and can very likely get to any of them before an intruder could get to me. My wife is also a shooter, and can get to something if I can't. Oh, and we have a 75lb German Shepherd/Akita mix (she's pretty friendly, but can be intimidating when she's barking in the backyard).

Honestly, you can always be more prepared. Preparedness is often measured after the fact. If someone gets a jump on you and you had a gun on you, some would say that you should have been able to get to your gun more quickly. If someone breaks in your house and you don't have a gun, most would say that you should have!

But, I guess I'm not prepared (or is it paranoid?) enough to carry inside of my house in my low-crime suburban neighborhood. Examples of things going wrong in any area exist, but it isn't worth the trouble to me when I'm relaxing in my sweats at home!

Plus, it isn't like I'm helpless without a gun. A firearm is only one layer of defense. Awareness, security, and hand-to-hand tactics (among other things) should not be completely disregarded.
 
I have carried long enough to feel lopsided without it.

If people feel secure in their homes they've never kicked in a door or busted out a window.
 
Moooose102 brings up a point that rings true with me too. I have severe arthritis in my knees and both of my hips are bone on bone. So I can't really fight off an intruder and I can't run to my bedroom to get my gun. So I keep it with me. Besides the Boy Scout Motto is "Be prepared"

And as was so very well pointed out, if my gun is with me, my kids aren't going to get in trouble. Even though they have been instructed in the 4 basics of gun handling and threatened with "Corporal punishment" if they ever handle one of my guns without me being present. They are still kids and I can remember (barely) what it was like to be a kid and like guns at a young age.... tempting veryyy tempting. But I also knew my Dad would tan my hide end if I handled his guns without him being present.
 
In the last 24 hrs here in Colorado Springs there have been 2 homicides, one armed robbery , a stabbing & 1 home inasion. As recently as the last 2 weeks there have been 4 home invasions , 2 rapes and 3 shootings. With in the last month 3 other sexuall assaults 2 or 3 other shootings & I think 3 other home invasions ( they're actually becoming so common they no longer make the 10 O' Clock news).

Tonight a spokesperson for CSPD stated in an interview that CSPD has niether the manpower, nor the money to effectively police the city.

I would say that given that information the responsability for my safety rests squarely on MY shoulders.
 
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Why? Because I refuse to be a helpless victim & I don't believe my home is somehow off-limits to dirt bags or is a safety zone. I reckon I'm just a firm believer in the old adage that says "Home is where the hardware is . . . "
 
I carry a spare tire in my car. Does that make me paranoid of a flat? It's just a contingency plan that I hope to avoid using. In either case, it's not like I hope to use either anytime soon.
 
To be honest, there's no philosophical reason behind why I carry in the home.

I put the holster on when I get dressed in the morning. I'm too lazy to take it off again until I'm going to bed. That's about it.
 
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.
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that and it is annoying to arm and disarm everytime i come and go. and i never know when i will need to pistol whip one of my kids to get them back in line.............................:what: JK
 
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