Leave your firearm at home during vacation?

[vjallen75]

So, for the 4th of July my wife planned a lovely trip for our family. We went to Sea World in San Antonio. Now my wife and I talked about how I could keep the gun locked while we stayed in the hotel, since the two little boys would share a room with us. I thought about getting one of those Nano gun safes that are for single pistols, which I didn't end up getting. Long story short I left it at home thinking I didn't want to risk the kids getting a hold of it.

After we got to Sea World the first day as we were leaving my wife patted me down and asked where my gun was. I told her I left it at home and didn't have anything to lock it up with. The hotel we stayed in seemed sketchy at best, I will never stay there again that is for sure, Motel 6 off of 35, next to big lulu's. My wife reminded me about the case the gun came in. I felt pretty stupid after she reminded me of it and especially after hearing people argue and yell at all hours of the night. I told my wife I'd never let that happen again as we were leaving. All in all, it was a nice trip. We enjoyed ourselves and I was only paranoid the first night and so was my wife.

Has this happened to anyone else? I felt like I did the right thing and luckily I don't have to say "what if" but I will never leave my firearm at home again unless I am in a unfriendly state.

[Jago668]

I don't have to worry about children. So my pistol goes with me, and I just don't visit gun unfriendly states. I don't want them having any of my money anyways.

[AJSully421]

I have 3 kids. I do not go anywhere without a gun. Show your kids the gun, take the mystery out of it. I put it in a 7360 SLS/ALS holster on the nightstand. I can work that holster in my sleep.

Never had a problem.

[minytrker]

I keep my carry pistol in the night stand in a biometric safe, I just take the safe with me when we travel and set it on the nightstand next to the bed. I am already used to how it works and it keeps the pistol locked up at night. I dont leave the pistol in their if we are leaving the room since you can just pick it up.

[EODgunner]

I have 3 kids. I do not go anywhere without a gun. Show your kids the gun, take the mystery out of it. I put it in a 7360 SLS/ALS holster on the nightstand. I can work that holster in my sleep.

Never had a problem.

Can agree anymore. The mystery of it cause more problems then anything. My 4 yr old knows to not mess with it and asks me the other day (when we were swimming) where my gun was. Also if your dealing with a maturity level that doesn't understand permanence you could take a stuffed animal and shoot it. Seeing the stuffed animal being destroyed can set an understanding for the damage a gun could cause. You have to know if you child will get the right message because you don't want them thinking shooting there stuffed animal would be fun. With all that I will throw the disclaimer that I have a stand up gun safe as well as a little night stand one. Both have the real purpose of keeping hands off the gun and not really from theft.

[flowrie]

I always carry while on vacation, have a safe in the SUV so that I can lock it up if needed.
Wife always reminds me to carry.
We are old older parents and have an adopted 9 year boy ( had him siince birth).
Two weeks ago sat him down and showed him my carry piece.
Explained to him why I carry it, then had him watch the Eddie Eagle video on his iPad.
Answered all his questions. Also asked him not to mention anything to anyone about my carry.
Don't want him telling other kids "my dad carries a gun". Just don't want the attention, issues.
Of course everything that is not attached to me is locked up at home in safes.

[RPBrown]

I do not leave home without it.
When my kids and now grandkids were/are with us, I will use a biometric safe in my hotel room and can move it to my car and lock it down if needed.
The best thing though is to educate them starting at a very early age. I started educating mine at about 2-1/2 years old

[twjones]

I agree teaching the safety part would be a good idea.

Also, I usually take one of these in my luggage - Bulldog Vaults Personal Safe with Key Lock.

For ~$25 it serves its purpose. Plus, it meets TSA guidelines so if you need to fly with your EDC it works for that too.

[Kenneth77]

Only time i dont have a gun on me is when i am in the shower or sleeping but when that is happening i have one within arms reach , i have one kid and i have taught her about guns to make sure she knows about them . Once again a locked up gun is of no use to me and makes more likely to be in a place that will not be very good.

[vjallen75]

I have taught my kids about gun safety, what to do and what not to do. Since this trip I have not gone anywhere without my firearm. This was the first time I have been anywhere without it. I realized after the case I that came with my firearm is lockable, so I should've taken that. The safe I usually keep it in is bulky and I didn't want to bring attention to our room. My wife is more worried than I am about the boys messing with my gun, that's the main reason. Next time we will make sure to either buy a nano lock or just bring the one I bought the gun in.

Thanks for the suggestions. The SUV we have doesn't have any place to lock down a safe on or I would have just did that from the beginning.

[carlson1]

I drive a suburban and a F250 diesel. My Gunvault NV300 has a cable and I have not had any trouble locking it down to either vehicle.

[WTR]

I leave my pistol in the under neath console vault. I take the mags and ammo with me.

[loktite]

I run the cable to my safe through the child seat anchor point in the seat behind driver seat (metal bar, at back of seat where the seat back meets seat bottom), then fold the seat down so it's not visible at all. Makes it quite convenient to access when returning from a Rangers game, or when heading home after working at friend's house and rearming my BUG. FWIW I drive a suburban as well. Safe stays there unless I need it in someone else's vehicle (IE driving to a game in Dallas )

[vjallen75]

Thanks for all the suggestions!!

I may look into getting a slimmer vault with cable to keep in both of our vehicles.