After reading a few posts on here about people having to drive off intruders in their homes, I got to thinking about how to store a weapon intended for home defensive purposes.  This is obviously a trade-off between availability for rapid deployment versus keeping the weapon safe from children and the like.

I currently keep a Berreta 92 FS in a nightstand drawer with 2 loaded mags, but do not keep a mag in the gun.  Now I'm wondering if maybe I shouldn't keep a mag in the gun, a round chambered, and the safety on.  This is feasible in my case because I have no children living at home.  Not sure what I would do if kids were around.

Obviously, a loaded weapon *must* be inaccessible to children.  On the other hand, it is useless if you can't get to it quickly when needed.  Any good ideas on this?  I'm sure the topic has been covered before, but it is one of those that bear repeating.

Thanks.

I keep a Glock loaded with no round in chamber holstered and hidden from the kids. It's accessable to me, but not to them. All I have to do is grab, rack and go.

As they get older, I'm sure I'll have to think of something else, but right now they are too small to bother with it and I seriously doubt they could rack the slide should they find it, be able to reach it and take it out of the holster.

I would suggest keeping it in the condition you train with, if you carry or train with one in the pipe and safety on then keep it that way.  

However i'd like to throw a couple of conditions on that.  If you sometimes have kids of friends or family visit you have to weigh whether you'll remember to secure the gun EVERY time or whether it'd be better to just keep it secured in a gunvault, trigger lock etc. all the time.

If you live in an area where breakins when you're not around are a possibility, secure it to prevent its theft.

If you have a tendency like myself to find yourself awake a 3am with a gun in your hands cause some noise spooked ya, then secure it in a way that ensures that you'll be awake/cognitive by the time you have your weapon, especially if you like your SO.

My $.02

... I've no kids, it's always cocked and locked. When nieces and nephews come over I put firearms in the safe.

On my person most of the time, if not on me then in the gunvault, the kind with the quick action finger access lock on the top. Can get my shotgun in about 10 seconds from anywhere in the house.

No Kids in the house, you can bring your dog in but the kids have to stay in the car [:)]

  http://www.securityworld.com/firearm/91336.htmlCabelas also has them.   Best thing going.    
  Deluxe Multi Gun Vault

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Optional power connection jack

Omni-directional spring-loaded door

Removable interior shelf


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Those minivaults are a good idea. Who's to say you cannot keep it open at night or when the kids are gone, and then just close it when you leave or have company? I don't know if keeping it open runs the batteries down, but there is probably a way around it such as unscrewing the light bulb.

The only problem I see is finding something to secure it too. But if you have a large safe, why not put the whole thing in the safe before you leave?

You don't necessarily need a monolithic firearms storage model. You can have different levels of safe storage, depending on who's in your house at any given time.

My glock 30 is my constant companion during the day.  Only gets put in the mini vault at night.   The light inside goes out after 5 seconds. This sucker has a really loud alarm that is activated by moving the box.  Really only good if guests or children start trying to carry it off. It has several ways to attach it to things. Mine just lives under the bed.  I guess by rolling off the bed for cover and then drawing weapon you would be out of harms way. Really not sure that a quilted mattress would be much help.

I keep my glock fully loaded with a round in the chamber on the nightstand. However when I have kids someday I plan on definately getting one of those minivaults that was mentioned earlier.

I keep my Glock 30 loaded, one in the chamber, and two spare mags in a holster mounted to the side of the bed. I also have my shotgun in a sling thingy, kinda like a scabbard for lack of a better description, also attached to the side of the bed away from the door. I have a pedistal bed, meaning the base is for a water bed, but I have a regular mattress on it. It's made of good hard wood and I think it would provide excellent cover. Also keep my cell phone next to the bed at night.  No kids in the house and no S.O. living with me for the moment.
Everything goes in the safe when I leave the house.

I went through a similar process... I keep a 1911 cock and locked (no kids).  used to keep it next to me but then realized that I need to wake up before picking up the gun so I moved it across the room to force me to get out of bed and take a few steps to get some sense into me.

I bought cosumer mini safe and bolted it to the floor. I can get my gun in about 3 seconds with the touch pad lock.  Sentry V260.  Its half the price of the "gun" safes and twice the room.  Nice bargain, only $125.  Has a low battery indicator and back up key.  What else do you need?  Available at Staples or other office supply stores.

I have a Glock 21 w/tactical light and a Glock 30 at home.  I have three boys (one a teenager), so I keep them in a commercial Sentry mini-safe next to my bed that has both a combination lock and a key.

While I am at home, I usually keep the combination dial set to open the safe and lock it with just the key.  There is only one key to the safe in the house and that stays in my pocket.  If I am running, taking a shower or doing anything where my keys are not on my person, I spin the dial to secure the safe.  Before I go to bed at night, I put the key in the lock and turn it to ensure rapid access to my weapons.

I have found that this system gives me the best combination of security and accessability.  You CANNOT be too careful when there are kids in the house.  A collegue of mine recently had to bury his son after the son committed suicide with one of his weapons.

I sleep with a mossberg 590 under my pillow, loaded with an empty chamber. I used to keep it on the side of the bed with a mossberg supplied lock through it, and when I'd go to bed I'd keep a key in it and if the time came I would take the lock out and stick a 2 3/4" in the chamber and silently chamber it.

I decided against the lock though for two reasons. Too many and too fine are these movements for someone to bother with when they're half conscious and in stress. Also where I live is somewhere you would not expect a person to be living and the kind of thugs around here are the ones that avoid confrontation for the most part. So I don't care about chambering a round silently. If he's still trying to get in (and yes there is only one way to get in here since there is only one door and no windows) after I've made some noise then I guess he's got a death wish.

If you have kids, do yourself a favor and get one of those small, spring-loaded, single-weapon safes like the one from Mossberg.  They're very easy to use, very quick and secure (from children), and they will give you the peace of mind that a .38 under the mattress won't give.

If you think you keep a loaded weapon "hidden" from children, you don't know children.  They can and will get into everything.

I have a multi-level security system.  The first is a 120 lb Rhodesian Ridgeback with a profound dislike for intruders.  He's a great first distraction for intruders.

I also have a bedside safe with a four-button lock.  Inside, I have a pair of pistols (one for myself, and one for my wife).

Most importantly, I have two daughters (11 and 9 years old), and they know how to react to firearms, either at home or elsewhere.

Comment.  I taught my son where the pistols in the house were as soon as I thought he was mature enough.  I would be... sick/die/I don't know what...with grief if he needed a weapon, knew how to safely use one, but didn't have access to one.  All weapons are stored when his friends/cousins come over, but myself or my wife are always present during those times.  Just a thought.

Tate

Gotta agree with the Deluxe MultiVault. I have one mounted on the wall by my bed, and I do leave it open when I go to bed. The light shuts off fairly quickly, so you don't have to worry about the batteries. As a matter of fact, I've had the safe for two years with the original batteries. I checked them recently and they had an almost full charge.

I've been looking at getting a BedVault ([url]http://www.truckvault.com/bedvaults.asp[/url]).

I use a quick access safe (Gun Vault), to store loaded pistols or revolvers for emergency usage. While not as secure as my large safe, I find that it offers enough security to prevent curious kids from getting access.
It has finger grooves which opens by a touch combination sequence that you program into it.
It is nice because you don't need to turn on a light or even look at it in order to open it. Once opening, the door springs open (it has a spring loaded door).

It is very fast.
[url]http://store.yahoo.com/security-store/gv20stanmul.html[/url]

I use my Large Gun Safe for long term storage of items which are NOT to be used in an emergency (since access is a LOT slower).

Firearms which see regular usage are lightly oiled and dried.
Firearms which are NOT going to be used for years are packed with cosmoline.

A gun in an unlocked nightstand drawer is the worst place for it.

If you must keep a gun in your bedroom for fear of things that go bump in the night, put it in an unlikely place that's accessible. Burglaries happen everyday in every city and that gun will be found and stolen in a New York minute! Devise a hiding place that no person would suspect, if there are kids in the house use a locking fast access vault along with the hidden location.

[url]www.handgunsafe.com[/url]

Great stuff.  All mechanical.  No batteries.

Someone once said that Simplex locks were easy to defeat, though.  If anyone knows the vulnerable points, please email me with the specifics.

Still, very good deterrence.  (Isn't any security system really just at a level of deterrence?)

EDITTED for spellin' so I hope I caught it all....

I live in a "shotgun" style house. I keep a chambered (Cor-Bon 230gr. +P rounds)Glock 21 w/13 round mag, night sights and M3 light within 10 feet of me at all times...

No kids either.