Wife-Shotgun-Storage argument

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Liberty has a biometric lock option for their safes. You'd have to special order it, and it does cost a little bit more but it would give you a biometric "safe" long enough to hold 12 guns (their smallest model).
 
Let's see:
We've got a beagle with a mean bark, but he sleeps more soundly than any of us. Great with the kids, sucks as a watch dog.

I don't think my wife could remember to take the gun out at night, plus the kids crawl into our bed when I'm gone.

Plenty of obstacles; toys, shoes, and a never-ending mountain of laundry:neener:

I don't know, maybe we'll just stick to the pistols. The boys are getting to the age now where they'll have to be locked up, so kinda the same situation. I worry about them like crazy when I'm helplessly thousands of miles away. My kids have it ingrained in their heads to never touch a gun unless I hand it to them. Guns aren't taboo in the house either, we go over safety, they help me clean them and they particularly love helping me sort range brass. But...I remember how I was when I was a kid too. I shot my .22 without my parents knowing quite often.

I really gotta think on this one. I need something safe, accessible, with no daily routine involved. I think I'm down to pistols in a bio-safe.:banghead:

I really wanted a shotgun for her. Safer for penetration through walls, general direction aiming, and the "holy crap" sound of a shell getting chambered.

Keep em coming though, this is a good thread with a lot of good ideas. I'm sure someone out there has my circumstances, and the game plan to go along with it.
 
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Pull a drill on your wife. Have the shotgun nicely encased with locks and all sitting next to the bed.

Bang on the door and scream at the wife "THIS IS A DRILL< INTRUDER!!!!" really bang on the door. Then advance on the wife and her gun with deliberate walk.

Chances you will find wife sitting there fumbling with keys, combos or doing circles because of too many things to do at once.

Wife did the drill on me. I thought I had it all down. Nope. I died 12 seconds into the drill while choosing the correct trigger lock key.

Our solution.

ugh.. busted link.

We modded ours to cut down a bit and they are on the wall ready to go.

When they are locked up there is a ... trigger cable that goes through the chamber and shell loading area. That gun is not going to be operatable other than as a club.


Now we can fall out of bed and be spooling up to speed more or less within 4 seconds. There is also a handgun that reduces that time to nothing if necessary.

I think a over and under model will work for the 870 and the standard tube works for the moss. We measure the height mount of the grabber to be JUST ABOVE the pump's top with action open. So you just grab barrel and haul it pops right out.

THere are several gun grabbers around the home, several of which are occupied at any time 24/7. They are usually located away from windows where people wont catch sight of them right away.
 
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Mechanical lock for the shotgun (trigger lock, with key or something like that), with the KEY in the instantly accessible safe?

You're adding roughly 4-5 seconds to the process, but you get a shotgun in usable condition within 8-10 seconds without having to worry about misplacing the key.

WORST case, the pistol is also in the safe.
 
Why not just avoid the entire lock problem? Get a good quality pistol and put it in one of the Trick picture frames that hide guns. There are several on the market, including at least one that is long enough to hold a shotgun.

Hang your nice new picture on the wall on her side of the bed. Don't tell the kids there is anything in there. No locks, latches, switches or fingerprint readers needed. Access time <1 second.

Problem solved.
 
NavyGuy said:
I see hundreds, possibly thousands of posts on the shotgun being the ultimate HD weapon. How do you guys store them?
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Well, I have the advantage that there are no kids in the house. The wife and I call our bed "Bedzilla" ... and for good reason. Platform bed, Big storage headboard, and 6 underbed drawers on each side of the bed, built in nightstands. The loaded 870 (mag full, but nothing in the pipe) is in the headboard on her side. The loaded Judge (Winchester 000 buck) is in the nightstand on my side.
 
Kid Safe but Quick Access

Reinforce your doors first. http://www.djarmor.com/Products/Door-Jamb-Armor This may buy you time to get to your firearm. Then you can make your wife happy by locking your shotgun in a safe to keep the kids at bay.
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But that only works if the intruder is comming through the door. What about the window or possible screen door?

Unless you mean put it on the door to the bedroom making it a "safe room" type. But then you have the kids you need to get up, out, and into the safe room first.

*** Here is what I did and it may seem "extreme" but it makes everyone comfortable. I put the shotgun INSIDE my wall. I cut out a rectangle length of drywall in the bedroom near my bed. I put a loaded 20 gauge inside (none in the chamber though). Then I screwed a long plastic mirror over it. The mirror is screwed into the drywall and not the studs. ***

This way if there is an intruder, I just yank the mirror off the wall and have access to the weapon. REALLY FAST, totaly concealed, perfectly child safe. Now you can probably use this only once before your kids know it is there. But I keep the rest of my rifles, including a duplicate shotgun in the safe. So the kids think that is where i keep all the guns.

Everyone is happy. No keys, no combos to remember. No fine motor dexterity required. All gross motor skills that work really well when the adrenaline is flowing. And that shotgun doesnt get touched excet to change the ammo out every year or so. The duplicate in the safe is what the wife and I practice with.
 
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You would be surprised what our walls contain sometimes. Not that there is anything going on. There is a fire extinguisher next to the computer in the corner and that thing will do some damage against a badguy. Much like the little 10 dollar trucking extinguishers used to do..

The previous poster talking mirrors makes a point.

The ability of your wife to handle small things when stressed is very challenged.

What is normal to touch gets very tiny when stressed.

Not to mention the right mirrior with the glass can be used as a vicious weapon if the BG is already inside the bedroom.

Ideally the HD battle is won or lost at the front door or the door in front of your chosen refuge room.
 
First, it's great that you're aware of the little ones. I strongly recommend you spend a lot of time ensuring there's no mystery. I always let the kids see and handle firearms, using the opportunity to drill safety. And make sure they see and realize the destruction they will do. (You likely already do that.) I'm more worried about the really little ones than the older ones.
Second, if you can get a dog, that'll buy you some time. We've got a cow dog and he only knows a few commands--sit, stay, and pin 'em...so I can get the rifle.#
Third, good advice has been given on running drills with whatever option you choose.
 
I'm seriously thinking about the mirror idea, seems pretty solid for what I need. I really appreciate all the input guys. It's great to come to a place, express your concerns and nobody treats you like you're a paranoid freak.
 
I'm seriously thinking about the mirror idea, seems pretty solid for what I need.
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It was the only solution that made my wife and I both happy. Quick access for me, out of sight/access from the young kids for her. A good compromise. Run it by the wife and see what she says.

Just make sure its a plastic mirror or else you can hurt youself on broken glass in an emergency or in the dark. A long painting might also work if it matches your decor better. Use screws instead of nails because nails will fall off the drywall by accident. And make sure you don't drill into a wall stud or else you will never rip if off.

And even kids know they get in BIG TROUBLE if they ever tear a mirror off the wall LOL.

I timed it once and it only took me 3 seconds to have the shotgun in hand and ready to go. Get up, tear the mirror off the wall, grab the shotgun.
 
The break-away mirror ideas sounds good, but is there another way to get to the gun in a nonemergency situation? Breaking a mirror or breaking out the electric screwdriver every time you make a range trip sounds like a pain.
 
Is there any way to get to the gun in a non emergency situation?



HMMMMMM....:scrutiny:

Ah yes.

Put a hatch on top of the gun compartment and a dipstick to check the oil once in a while without having to open the compartment LOL.

/sarcastic...

Regarding the paranoia... the older one gets and the younger the doctors become with the more potent medicines being filled... paranoia is easy to come by these days.
 
The break-away mirror ideas sounds good, but is there another way to get to the gun in a nonemergency situation? Breaking a mirror or breaking out the electric screwdriver every time you make a range trip sounds like a pain.
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Unscrewing it is the only way. I only take it out once a year to change out the ammo. BUT I do have a duplicate gun in the safe that I take to the range :) As for it being a pain, its a lot less of a pain than my wife can be lol
 
I had a girlfriend in high school, freshman year.

We spent the better part of a summer trying to figure out the combination to her dad's gun safe. We took notes. We eventually succeeded.

Kids will get into anything if they have the time and motivation. Best to teach them even at a young age that guns are not toys.

Oh...and don't store your stash in your gun safe. When we cracked Brooke's dads gun safe open, we found all his guns (loaded) and a pound of pot; which we smoked.
 
I would suggest getting her the safe. When she is up and alert she will be able to access it much easier. Just make her promise before she goes to sleep that she takes it out of the safe and hangs it above the bed. If the kids crawling on the bed to play with the shotgun in the middle of the night doesn't wake her up, then having a shotgun would be useless seeing as she would sleep thru the home invasion as well :D
 
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As I read this thread on how to go about safely storing a firearm for emergency puposes, I cannot help but comment so here goes. I'm sure I'll get roasted for this but this is my two cents on the issue.

I do not know about others' situation but, when I was a young lad (think just potty trained), my father told me that guns were absolutely not toys and were not to be toyed with. Now, I didn't fully understand that concept until one day I outstretched my little hand and just barely TOUCHED his unloaded service piece laying on the kitchen counter. Let me say he proceeded to whip my A double S :eek: so hard that I immediately realized the error of my ways and from that day forth I never touched another one of his firearms until I was of age and had the proper instruction on safety and so on. (There is a similar story on matches...another time perhaps):eek:

I am a serious advocate of physical discipline (discipline does not mean cruelty or abuse) for today's youth. I also believe that if parents would put the "fear of GOD" in kids today by wearing their little tender fannies out when orders are blatantly disobeyed, then the kids AND society as a whole would benefit greatly. Yall know where I'm going with this....

I am not advocating that the OP should not get a safe for storage of firearms but I am saying that in my opinion a firearm owned for the purpose of defense should be readily availible and one should not have to go through an obstacle course in the wee hours of the morning (or any time for that matter) to gain access to the firearm. Store the shotgun in the corner of the master bedroom closet with an empty chamber and leave the locks off (in the case of handguns, leave them in a nightstand drawer). Locks do nothing for your protection if you are fumbling with them in the event of a home invasion/burglarly situation.

DO tell the youth of the house that these areas (closet/nightstand)are STRICTLY off limits to them and that if they do violate this rule then.... well tell them they don't want to violate this rule. I also know that this way of thinking worked for my situation but is not applicable to 100 percent of the households in america and in those cases other courses of action need to be persued, I'll let someone else get creative on that one.

Kids are NEVER to young to start their education and learn certain life lessons. Jeez, how did people do it 50-100 years ago..... I'm surprise we survived at all without gun locks and safes...

I can smell burning flesh already.......:D
 
We all were a punishment on the fannie by several generations. Finally one day pa hit me and I laughed at him because I knew that would be his predictable behavior.

He changed punishments to match my advancing age LOL. OUCH!

I was around things that went boom quite a bit growing up. Somehow I knew that I dont play with them unless someone taught me how to do it.
 
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