Critique my current firearm storage situation

[Jumping Frog]

Do people really leave loaded handguns laying around the house unattended? Seems terribly unsafe to me. If it isn't on your person/under your immediate control, I really think you ought to unload the thing. You just never know who might end up running across it and possibly creating a 100% preventable tragedy.

Im single and I live alone. I do what I want.

I'm married with three full grown adult children living in the house. I also do what I want. For example, I'll leave a loaded handgun on the nightstand next to me when I sleep.

My children have all been trained in gun safety. They aren't coming into my bedroom while I am asleep to take my gun.

That said, 99% of the time my holstered carry gun is sitting right on my hip.

To the OP, I cannot imagine the utility of leaving one of my guns overnight in the car. Simply makes no sense to me.

[Itnkrman]

Do people really leave loaded handguns laying around the house unattended? Seems terribly unsafe to me. If it isn't on your person/under your immediate control, I really think you ought to unload the thing. You just never know who might end up running across it and possibly creating a 100% preventable tragedy.

Im single and I live alone. I do what I want.

Oh my! You leave them out all day unattended and they don't jump off the table and go commit crimes. Bad guns!

[rotor]

I am not sure why you even keep a Glock at home. How long would it take you to load a magazine and have a Glock ready to use in an emergency? Might as well just throw it at the BG. At the minimum have a mag loaded. Not too many children can pop a mag and rack a Glock. My wife is very supportive of firearms which makes life much easier though. My wife shoots more than I do. I have a large gun safe but I still keep loaded guns stashed around the house. Every car I have has a gun in the console.

[Abraham]

g31357,

Your home may contain any number of guns, but if they're unloaded, how much time do you think it'll take for home invaders to be inside your home?

Such things do happen and from what I read, on the rise...

Also, if your home is invaded, you'll probably be numbingly startled.

Obviously, that paralyzing moment will delay you even more.

Just some food for thought.

[rbwhatever1]

I'm going to take a wild guess and say some folks here would have a heart attack in my living room. From the seat of my comfortable leather couch I can see 10 loaded firearms ready for whatever it is they need to do today. 9 of the 10 (derringer is new) have been in their spot for over a decade and never did anything they were not supposed to do. Propped against doors, hanging next to doors or placed on various tables, all have utility and all are for different purposes. Those "loaded" firearms are as natural as a book on a table.

I also see a bottle of Hoppes gun oil on the coffee table next to 3 well oiled green Luepold Scope cloths, a pile of spare nipples, a nipple wrench, 5 spare cylinders, 2 unloaded 44 Remington's, a loaded magazine for a TSW4566 that is supposed to be on a shelf next to the 45 in my ammo / gun closet, and an unloaded 50 Caliber Hawkin is hanging on the wall. No idea why my kids left that 45 magazine out. It appears a spare cylinder has gone astray as well. They went through more than a few thousand rounds of ammo over the Holidays. Hoppes solvent along with the smell of a ham, pie or cookies in the oven and the constant sound of gunfire was awesome for the two weeks they were all home. My kids are very competitive when it comes to shooting. A few nights they were also very competitive at drinking. All of the firearms in storage are unloaded and cased. I do keep a spare 45 along with an M4 and Mini-14 on a shelf in there ready to go. I'll finish tinkering with the 44's and put them away along with that 45 magazine as soon as I locate the missing spare cylinder.

TAM nailed it. If you teach your children guns are never to be touched they may very well agree with you and teach their children the same thing. Where would we all be then? (If they don't "touch" one when you're not around) As soon as your kids are old enough to pull the trigger on a 22 let them. Destroy all thoughts of "taboo with firearms" and make them grow tired of shooting and cleaning guns. Even if they cant hold the firearm by themselves hold it for them and make them shoot it a thousand times. Always be safe and teach them well. Arm them well. Arm your grandchildren well too. Make them shoot often. Keep them in ammo. Their calibers should match your calibers and they will if you send them into the world armed, as it should be. Firearms are the protectors of Life and Liberty. They can also be used for destroying the Life & Liberty of those that don't have them.

Obviously dysfunctional families or dysfunctional children or dysfunctional grandchildren cannot possibly be unsupervised or trusted with any access to any firearm loaded or not. If one may fall in this category disregard everything I said and never allow a child raised by Nintendo any access to any firearms...

[anygunanywhere]

I have a Ruger 10/22, Mini-14, and a Winchester 1200 tactical shootgun in one of these these mounted on a wall in my closet. They are all loaded, chamber empty.

I have an AR in a case with loaded magazine in the rifle and 5 magazines in the case ready to rock. When I go out on the road I either take the Winchester shotty or the AR. I have several shotes loaded up and ready in the safe. One is a 870 tactical and one is a chinese Ithaca knockoff that is essentially a truck shotgun if I want to leave one in it.

I am wearing my Kimber CDP 45 and two mags.. I have a Llama 45 Minimax in my bedside table loaded with extra mags I use when I am in the garage or yard working. I tuned it up and it is reliable as any other 45 I own. If I am crawling under a vehicle or clearing land I don't want to wallow all over my Kimber. I have a Keltec P3AT bug in the drawer too with extra mag ready to slide in my pocket. Mrs Anygun has her S&W 649 with two speed loaders near or with her.

I have multiple throw away guns in my safe I will use to keep in the vehicles if I ever decide to do so if and when during a WROL/a problem arises scenario.

Our home and garages are on a monitored alarm via cell service. All vehicles are parked in garages every night and locked.

When my grandchildren visit I do take measures to make the house childproof. Racks are locked and guns except for what I am carrying are locked away.

I am never without a firearm either on me or next to me. Sorry to be blunt but relying on unloaded firearms for defense is stupid. So is not training your children in firearms.

Way back a long time ago my brother lived next door. His children would come over and play pr spend time with us. My brother told me he was nervous about my keeping loaded firearms in the house. My sons were trained in using all of my firearms and gun safety. They had their own shotguns in their rooms. No shells. I had them.

One day we were watching a football game and my brother started on his rant. I told my eldest to fetch me my SA GI 45 from the closet. Our sons were forbidden from entering our bedroom without permission. This was a firm rule punishable by a butt whipping. We respected their space in the same manner. Respect works both ways. My son went in my closet, unloaded my 45 and made it safe and brought it to me. He handed it to me. I reinserted the mag, put it in condition 1. I then unloaded it and made it safe, handed it back and told hime to return it. He did so. I then told my brother to make certain all of his children knew what to do around firearms. My sons had shot all of my firearms including my 44 magnum pistol and 7 mm Rem Mag rifle. Everything. They knew what was going to happen when they pulled the trigger.

[rbwhatever1]

I see I'm not the only outcast here with a 7mm Rem Mag! Awesome caliber and I'm sure other people here have them but not a lot of chatter about it. I've had mine for almost 30 years and have taken lots of game with it. My brothers went the 30-06 route. My dad gave me this A Bolt after High School and I'm very glad he did.

This one is now back in storage waiting for deer season.

[RogueUSMC]

Do people really leave loaded handguns laying around the house unattended? Seems terribly unsafe to me. If it isn't on your person/under your immediate control, I really think you ought to unload the thing. You just never know who might end up running across it and possibly creating a 100% preventable tragedy.

I have one on my person if moving around the house. If at my desk, I unholster and mount to a magnet on the desk near me. When I go to bed, that same gun is laying within reach on the nightstand. This firearm is in condition one all the time.

My wife has a revolver loaded and ready in her nightstand on the other side of the bed.

My daughter (who's bedroom is down a hall on the other side of the living room from ours) has a loaded revolver in her nightstand and has since she was 15 or so. If the alarm sounds at night, she knows to reach into the drawer, remove the revolver, lay it in her lap and sit tight. If anyone other than myself or my wife come through her door, she does not pass go, and she does not collect $200...she squeezes the trigger center mass. She can keyhole with DA trigger pulls from the distance between her bed and the door.

There is another revolver in a drawer in the vanity where my wife and daughter put their face on. It is right there if they need it.

There are other guns in in bags that I take shooting and my family knows where they are. These are usually cleared as that it is proper range protocol to have cleared guns when entering or exiting a range. But they know how to load them and use them.

Keeping guns inaccessible to others is rendering them inaccessible, for all intents and purposes, to me or someone that needs them if the need for them arises.

Not only do those regularly in your home need to be familiar with the firearms present, they need to know what their role is if something were to happen. As I said previously, my daughter knows what to do. If someone makes entry in the night, my wife knows to come across the bed, grab my mobile phone from the charger on her way to the master closet where she dials 911 and sits tight with the previously mentioned revolver from the vanity drawer.

Me? If they are in the living room, they are between me and my little girl. Both her and my wife are in as defensible positions as are available. I will probably make entry into the living room in a ballistic fashion.

Now, all this is a work in progress. My armory consists of handguns exclusively at the moment (this will be rectified in the next few months.)

Just my 2¢ but really only worth what you paid for it out of your pocket...lol

[VMI77]

When my kids were little, the accessible gun in the house had a trigger lock on it and I wore the key around my neck so I could quickly make it operational.

[VMI77]

To the OP, I cannot imagine the utility of leaving one of my guns overnight in the car. Simply makes no sense to me.

What that tells me is that you just don't have enough guns.

[Jumping Frog]

What that tells me is that you just don't have enough guns.

Well .... That is a true statement by definition!

[RogueUSMC]

What that tells me is that you just don't have enough guns.

Well .... That is a true statement by definition!

...and applies to EVERYONE here (if they are honest with themselves)

[SRH78]

I wouldn't leave the 9mm in the vehicle, primarily because I wouldn't want any potential thieves to realize it is there. I would definitely keep it in the house and holster/unholster there. A simple lock box or quick access safe would keep it out of your child's hands. Also, as others have stated, an unloaded firearm with an unloaded magazine is highly impractical.

I have a full size pistol on me or beside me pretty much 24-7 and there is always a round in the chamber. There is also loaded revolver in the dresser for the wife. The revolver and a flashlight are the only things in that drawer. In the safe, which has an electronic lock and takes very few seconds to open, is a loaded AR and a 12 guage full of buckshot. In my grown son's room is his 12 guage full of buckshot. If something happens, he is to get behind the bed with the shotgun aimed at the door.

On occasions when my 3 year old niece stays with us, that changes things. The revolver goes in the safe and the shotgun gets unloaded.

[VMI77]

I wouldn't leave the 9mm in the vehicle, primarily because I wouldn't want any potential thieves to realize it is there.

That depends on where you live and how you park your car. Where we live now out in the country our car would have to be specifically targeted by someone who knows where we live and it would still be difficult to get into the car. When we lived in town our cars were parked inside a locked garage.