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Posted: 3/24/2009 5:28:06 AM EDT
Last night the alarm on my house went off at about 3am. After getting my AR out of the safe an putting a mag in it while my wife was on the phone with the alarm company I relized it to way to long for me to "get ready". I used to keep one under the bed with a couple loaded mags in the night stand but now I have a 3yr old and keeping guns and ammo around is not an option. What should I do?
Edit: It was a false alarm caused by heavy winds last night. |
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I keep my AR in the safe. It's my SHTF rifle. I have a Remington 870 and my S&W 340PD on my side of the bed though, and my fiance has a Mossberg 500 and her S&W 642 on her side of the bed.
ETA: I suppose that really doesn't help you with your kid though. |
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I have a Gunvault Mini Vault with a pistol in it next to the bed. They have a key pad on top the you can manipulate in the dark. My safe is in the basement.
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I have a Gunvault Mini Vault with a pistol in it next to the bed. They have a key pad on top the you can manipulate in the dark. My safe is in the basement. +1 same here 4 digit combo i can open in the dark and be ready to fight my way to my rifle. keeps the gun out of youngins hands and readily accessable to me and the wife usually contains two glocks hers and his as she dont cary but i do gives me somewhere to put my carry piece when its bed time |
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by the bed as soon as I get home, and in the safe when I leave. I have a pistol on 24/7 cuz I CHL...
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by the bed as soon as I get home, and in the safe when I leave. I have a pistol on 24/7 cuz I CHL... This one |
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I like the idea of a Gunvault Mini Vault.
I would keep the gun under the bed, and a loaded mag in the easy (for you) to open safe. |
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Yeah, I have to forego a HD rifle, for the same reason as you: small children. My HD weapon is my Glock, which I keep in an electronic lockbox in my night side stand. It's either on my hip or in that box, which I can open in about the same time it takes to open a drawer.
Can't have a loaded gun laying around with a four year old son who loves guns. He's getting there, gun safety-wise, but he's not there yet. |
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Last night the alarm on my house went off at about 3am. After getting my AR out of the safe an putting a mag in it while my wife was on the phone with the alarm company I relized it to way to long for me to "get ready". I used to keep one under the bed with a couple loaded mags in the night stand but now I have a 3yr old and keeping guns and ammo around is not an option. What should I do? Edit: It was a false alarm caused by heavy winds last night. Two steps away from my XD which I sleep on top of. |
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Yeah, I have to forego a HD rifle, for the same reason as you: small children. My HD weapon is my Glock, which I keep in an electronic lockbox in my night side stand. It's either on my hip or in that box, which I can open in about the same time it takes to open a drawer. Can't have a loaded gun laying around with a four year old son who loves guns. He's getting there, gun safety-wise, but he's not there yet. This is really the key issue. I would love to (and did) have a loaded rifle right next to the bed every night but now with my little one just becoming mobile it really is no longer an option. Like the others I got a small gun vault that I mounted right next to the bed. |
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XD45 on the night stand. The AR is in the closet with several mags close by. The XD gives me 14 chances to get the AR. The wife has a Bersa .380 on her side just in case. No little ones to worry about anymore.
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Personally my favorite is the wall mount from Plastix Plus. Midway has them for sale:
Wall mount In my closet, wall mounted behind hanging clothes. You'd never know it was there if you don't move all the clothing out of the way. Storage for a single mag in the wall mount - although you might want to secure the mag elsewhere if you have kids. |
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I have a Gunvault Mini Vault with a pistol in it next to the bed. They have a key pad on top the you can manipulate in the dark. My safe is in the basement. For anyone with kids, this is the ONLY option. |
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As others have said with kids in house and kids who visit (may be your kid's friends who get into things) glock, mags and flashlight in safe in nightstand. AR & shotgun loaded in safe in closet ready to go. I used to keep everything in the closet safe also but realized it would take too long to get to something if needed.
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by the bed as soon as I get home, and in the safe when I leave. I have a pistol on 24/7 cuz I CHL... This. Get it out when the little one goes to bed. |
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I have the AR15 on my wife's cedar chest, which always gets me a word, a Glock .45 and a light next to the bed. I don't have kids at home anymore, so they are out when home, in the safe when I leave.
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I have a Gunvault Mini Vault with a pistol in it next to the bed. They have a key pad on top the you can manipulate in the dark. My safe is in the basement. For anyone with kids, this is the ONLY option. There are plenty of OTHER options - including options to put locking rifle racks on your wall (say in your closet). Personally I tried one of those safes, batteries went dead on me (whoops now you have to hunt for the key) not to mention finding a pattern on the keypad that you will remember at o'dark thirty, be able to do, and STILL make it 'random enough' that your kids can't accidentally open it if they play with it. Right now I'm of the opinion the lock either needs to be numerical or keyed. |
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I have a Gunvault Mini Vault with a pistol in it next to the bed. They have a key pad on top the you can manipulate in the dark. My safe is in the basement. For anyone with kids, this is the ONLY option. There are plenty of OTHER options - including options to put locking rifle racks on your wall (say in your closet). Personally I tried one of those safes, batteries went dead on me (whoops now you have to hunt for the key) not to mention finding a pattern on the keypad that you will remember at o'dark thirty, be able to do, and STILL make it 'random enough' that your kids can't accidentally open it if they play with it. Right now I'm of the opinion the lock either needs to be numerical or keyed. My batteries are back up, it's plugged in. The code is simple even half awake. After (if I remember correctly) four failed tries the safe will not open for 10 minutes with out the key. And the key is very well hidden close by. I just can feel good about a loaded weapon not being secured. To many kids coming and going. |
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Get a keypad door lock. Leave your stuff out in the room as you wish.
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I can not use an AR as a house gun, SHTF situation––yes. The 5.56mm has too much penetration for a house gun as pointed out above. At the moment we have a 1911, Glock 36, and a Smitty .357 mag loaded with .38 spcl +p for house guns. I need to get another shotgun, but I need to find something that my shoulder can handle because I am trying to hold off having shoulder surgery.
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I can not use an AR as a house gun, SHTF situation––yes. The 5.56mm has too much penetration for a house gun as pointed out above. At the moment we have a 1911, Glock 36, and a Smitty .357 mag loaded with .38 spcl +p for house guns. I need to get another shotgun, but I need to find something that my shoulder can handle because I am trying to hold off having shoulder surgery. Exactly - I tend to keep my AR handy for SHTF and easy access, but in reality it's not my primary home defense weapon - that would be my 12 ga. followed by my XD 45. |
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Why don't you keep your rifle in the safe during the day and take it out and load it before you go to bed?
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IMHO, everyone should have their guns locked in a safe. Even if you don't have kids at home, you just never know when company may bring kids over, etc and it isn't worth the risk. Our home defense plan is based around handguns. We use a secured mini gun safe in the bedroom. We keep a loaded 45auto for me and loaded 9mm for the wife. We also keep a pair of nice bright flashlights right on the nightstands so we each have one in arms reach. I investigate the situation (strange noise, alarm, etc) and lock bedroom door while wife takes a defensive position beside the bed with flashlight, 9mm and cellphone to call police if needed. We also have a secret word we use in an emergency so she knows everything is ok before she unlocks the bedroom door.
In 24 years of marriage, we have only had to use the plan a few times and all were false alarms but our plan works well for us. Might seem a bit paranoid but I feel it is always better to have a working gameplan than to be caught off guard in an emergency and try to just wing it. |
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I can not use an AR as a house gun, SHTF situation––yes. The 5.56mm has too much penetration for a house gun as pointed out above. At the moment we have a 1911, Glock 36, and a Smitty .357 mag loaded with .38 spcl +p for house guns. You might want to check the box o truth OP as far as the safe, I use a chest that I made, holds a rifle/mags/etc. It has a mechanical "digital lock" No batteries or keys, safe from the kids |
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Just want to point out that a gun in the home is the last line of defense AFTER the other layerS of security have been breached. YMMV
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Personally my favorite is the wall mount from Plastix Plus. Midway has them for sale: Wall mount In my closet, wall mounted behind hanging clothes. You'd never know it was there if you don't move all the clothing out of the way. Storage for a single mag in the wall mount - although you might want to secure the mag elsewhere if you have kids. Slanky, do you have to hit the mag release to remove the rifle? |
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Well no kids for yet. So my carry gun (1911 smith&wesson) sits on the night stand ready to go and the AR is in a case under the bed with a couple mags just in case.
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I love the idea of a lock box in my night stand but I am waiting for my pistol permit to come back. Until then my AR's and my Mossberg is my defense weapons. My wife knows the routine if something bad was ever to happen. She locks herself in the bedroom with my son and the Mossberg while I "check it out" with the AR.
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Personally my favorite is the wall mount from Plastix Plus. Midway has them for sale: Wall mount In my closet, wall mounted behind hanging clothes. You'd never know it was there if you don't move all the clothing out of the way. Storage for a single mag in the wall mount - although you might want to secure the mag elsewhere if you have kids. Slanky, do you have to hit the mag release to remove the rifle? Yes, you'll notice it has a groove in it, so it locks into the magwell. Makes it nice and secure and not prone to simply falling off the wall Edit: Sorry the midway pic sucks now that I look at it. If you go to the Plastix Plus website, it shows the groove: Plastix Plus |
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i gotta say, if your children are strong enough to charge an AR, then they are old enough to know about safety. why can't you just keep the AR propped up next to the bed with a loaded mag in the magwell, bolt closed on an empty chamber? Thats what i've got.
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i gotta say, if your children are strong enough to charge an AR, then they are old enough to know about safety. why can't you just keep the AR propped up next to the bed with a loaded mag in the magwell, bolt closed on an empty chamber? Thats what i've got. This^ |
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I have a Gunvault Mini Vault with a pistol in it next to the bed. They have a key pad on top the you can manipulate in the dark. My safe is in the basement. +1 |
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i gotta say, if your children are strong enough to charge an AR, then they are old enough to know about safety. why can't you just keep the AR propped up next to the bed with a loaded mag in the magwell, bolt closed on an empty chamber? Thats what i've got. What about the other kids that enter your home |
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i gotta say, if your children are strong enough to charge an AR, then they are old enough to know about safety. why can't you just keep the AR propped up next to the bed with a loaded mag in the magwell, bolt closed on an empty chamber? Thats what i've got. What about the other kids that enter your home We don't let other kids in our house unsupervised. |
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i gotta say, if your children are strong enough to charge an AR, then they are old enough to know about safety. why can't you just keep the AR propped up next to the bed with a loaded mag in the magwell, bolt closed on an empty chamber? Thats what i've got. My 4yo son moves the furniture around and he sure ain't ready to be left alone with ANY firearm. Kids WILL figure stuff out especially if you don't want them to. Period. |
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i gotta say, if your children are strong enough to charge an AR, then they are old enough to know about safety. why can't you just keep the AR propped up next to the bed with a loaded mag in the magwell, bolt closed on an empty chamber? Thats what i've got. My 4yo son moves the furniture around and he sure ain't ready to be left alone with ANY firearm. Kids WILL figure stuff out especially if you don't want them to. Period. Not my kids. They will not touch anything I tell them not to touch. You must have discipline problems. |
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Last night the alarm on my house went off at about 3am. After getting my AR out of the safe an putting a mag in it while my wife was on the phone with the alarm company I relized it to way to long for me to "get ready". I used to keep one under the bed with a couple loaded mags in the night stand but now I have a 3yr old and keeping guns and ammo around is not an option. What should I do? Edit: It was a false alarm caused by heavy winds last night. I had the same thing happen to me 2 years ago when we lived in GA. Went all the way to the basement, working every corner and hallway with a CAR-15. Basement door blew open at 5:00am due to high winds. I keep all my firearms, exept for a Sig .40, in the safe. I have a de-synsitized to firearms 12 yo son in the house but still cant quite trust that with lives on the line. Too many kids in-and-out of the house these days. |
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I can not use an AR as a house gun, SHTF situation––yes. The 5.56mm has too much penetration for a house gun as pointed out above. At the moment we have a 1911, Glock 36, and a Smitty .357 mag loaded with .38 spcl +p for house guns. I need to get another shotgun, but I need to find something that my shoulder can handle because I am trying to hold off having shoulder surgery. You might to do some research on that sport. All those handgun rounds you mention have more wounding potential than a 5.56 after passing through a wall or two. Which is exactly why most SWAT teams dumped the 9mm sub guns and went to 5.56 for urban CQB. |
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i gotta say, if your children are strong enough to charge an AR, then they are old enough to know about safety. why can't you just keep the AR propped up next to the bed with a loaded mag in the magwell, bolt closed on an empty chamber? Thats what i've got. My 4yo son moves the furniture around and he sure ain't ready to be left alone with ANY firearm. Kids WILL figure stuff out especially if you don't want them to. Period. Not my kids. They will not touch anything I tell them not to touch. You must have discipline problems. All it takes is one time. Not worth the risk in my opinion. A handgun in the gunvault is the decision I made. To each his own. I wouldn't want that on my concience. |
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i gotta say, if your children are strong enough to charge an AR, then they are old enough to know about safety. why can't you just keep the AR propped up next to the bed with a loaded mag in the magwell, bolt closed on an empty chamber? Thats what i've got. My 4yo son moves the furniture around and he sure ain't ready to be left alone with ANY firearm. Kids WILL figure stuff out especially if you don't want them to. Period. Not my kids. They will not touch anything I tell them not to touch. You must have discipline problems. ^this even my 2 year old know not to touch what daddy says not to touch |
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i gotta say, if your children are strong enough to charge an AR, then they are old enough to know about safety. why can't you just keep the AR propped up next to the bed with a loaded mag in the magwell, bolt closed on an empty chamber? Thats what i've got. My 4yo son moves the furniture around and he sure ain't ready to be left alone with ANY firearm. Kids WILL figure stuff out especially if you don't want them to. Period. Not my kids. They will not touch anything I tell them not to touch. You must have discipline problems. Good for you. I prefer to let my kids be kids and play - just not with loaded guns. YMMV You just go on thinking your kids don't do anything their not supposed to when your back is turned. If you do I have a bridge I would like to sell you. It has nothing to do with discipline and everything to do with the kids acting like kids. My 4 are all different. One I can make cry with a squint of the eye. Another I couldn't get to stop doing some things short of knocking him out. And with more than one I cannot watch all of them simultaneously. Maybe you can. |
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Not my kids. They will not touch anything I tell them not to touch. You must have discipline problems. I hate to tell you dude, but you're in for an inevitable dissapointment. I just hope the event is minor and doesn't end with your kid shooting himself or someone else. If you're relying on disclipline alone, you're either whipping him daily or you're deluding yourself. |
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i gotta say, if your children are strong enough to charge an AR, then they are old enough to know about safety. why can't you just keep the AR propped up next to the bed with a loaded mag in the magwell, bolt closed on an empty chamber? Thats what i've got. My 4yo son moves the furniture around and he sure ain't ready to be left alone with ANY firearm. Kids WILL figure stuff out especially if you don't want them to. Period. Not my kids. They will not touch anything I tell them not to touch. You must have discipline problems. Good for you. I prefer to let my kids be kids and play - just not with loaded guns. YMMV NM thread needs to go to general if its gonna be about parenting |
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i gotta say, if your children are strong enough to charge an AR, then they are old enough to know about safety. why can't you just keep the AR propped up next to the bed with a loaded mag in the magwell, bolt closed on an empty chamber? Thats what i've got. My 4yo son moves the furniture around and he sure ain't ready to be left alone with ANY firearm. Kids WILL figure stuff out especially if you don't want them to. Period. Not my kids. They will not touch anything I tell them not to touch. You must have discipline problems. Good for you. I prefer to let my kids be kids and play - just not with loaded guns. YMMV NM thread needs to go to general if its gonna be about parenting Thank you for your input. I think we are still on gun storage, it has just evolved to include children. |
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I keep an 870 loaded and ready to go on hooks above my bedroom closet door on the inside. Only the wife and I know its there.
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I can not use an AR as a house gun, SHTF situation––yes. The 5.56mm has too much penetration for a house gun as pointed out above. At the moment we have a 1911, Glock 36, and a Smitty .357 mag loaded with .38 spcl +p for house guns. You might want to check the box o truth this. |
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I keep an 870 loaded and ready to go on hooks above my bedroom closet door on the inside. Only the wife and I know its there. You keep believing that. I just hope you don't have mobile kids. |
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i personally do not use any of my AR's for HD. the main reason for me is the muzzle blast. if i have to shoot it inside the house it would suck and would effect me more than the muzzle blast of a pistol or shotgun. yeah most of the time you only have one target to engage, but can you really say for certainty there will only be one.
me personally i have a very low sitting bed. top of the matress to the ground is only about 18" or so. my nightstand is right beside me and i used a factory XD holster screwed from the top, then i have a little rabbit fur thing laying over top of it and you cant even tell the screws are there. a surefire 6P LED sits on top and XD9 is mounted underneath and a spare mag hidden in a stack of books so you cant tell theres a handgun nearby. then on the back of the headboard of my bed i have my 870 recon sitting on two L shaped brackets. i grab the XD and light for things that go bump in the night though, i find its more than adequate, and handles better than a AR in CQB. i used to have my SBR beside my bed, but it goes back to the whole muzzle blast thing. |
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