School me on home-defense (gun related).

[Cackalak Han]

I have been hunting for a long time (mostly duck). I have a shot gun and a .357 mag revolver (buying this week) in the home. No kids, so we leave it unlocked and unloaded (we are expecting our first in a few months, though). I was thinking, in a break-in situation, I'd imagine you'd need to get to your firearm very quick, right? If so, how do you get your sidearm/firearm ready and adhere to the child safety (and general safety) rules of locking up your firearms and leaving it unloaded? I'm sure the intruder won't wait until you have a chance to open up your safe, unlock the trigger lock, load your ammo and take aim. So what do you do?

We live in a safe neighborhood, but with the child on the way, it just got me thinking.

Thanks for any input.

BTW, in self-defense situation, I'd rather have my 12 ga over the .357.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

Mine has always been in my night stand... if you teach kids from a young age to respect guns..and to never go in your bed room you will be in a much better situation. when I was growing up we had a house full of firearms..I never once thought of playing with them.

 

[Dave Bennett]

With any weapon, safety becomes difficult in the sense that there is no way to store it, loaded and ready, without trigger lock. These take time to fool with, especially when awakened to discover that the perimeter has been breached... no bueno.

The solution is this: http://www.gunvault.com/
Any weapon can be safely stored, loaded and ready, at/near/or under the bed using one of these. I sleep good at night.

Our home invasion plan is simple: the 1st floor and the garage are left to local 911/LEO/alarm company response i.e. we will NOT go downstairs and confront them... it's just not worth it so let them have it and go.

The stairwell leading upstairs is the "kill zone" - if they break in and head upstairs they are probably there for more than the TV and beer... my wife and children are upstairs so we have agreed that this is our "line in the sand". There is no other way to get upstairs (short of grenades) so this is a very defensible position, one that my wife can EASILY dominate alone.

Geometry of fires is another little discussed safety issue. Know where you can shoot safely in your house BEFORE you put rounds through a wall into the kids room... know where it's safe to engage and where it is not. This is why you game everything and have a PLAN before anything ever happens, and then PRAY the day never comes.

Interior defense vice "meeting them at the door", and remember the gun is your LAST resort. Never confront unless confronted, and if you have to fight, fight dirty.

I also recommend a good dog as an added layer of security, they hear everything at night

Chance favors the prepared.

 

[78Bronco]

I think you have enough already!

I'm a canadian so take this with a liberal perspective.

I would look at getting an early warning system with four legs and some fur. Perimeter motion activated lighting! Then you'll have time to unlock the safe and load the gun.:ylsmoke:

If you are alergic to dogs they come in non allergy versions these days. Dogs come programmed to protect their flock and territory without any training.

 

[DarinM]

I don't have any kids so I keep my .357 loaded and in the top drawer of my dresser upstairs where I sleep. If I were to have any kids (like my nephews) visiting, it would be unloaded and stuck up in the top of my closet for the duration.
I have a 12 gauge with the magazine loaded in my closet. It's currently in a hard case with a couple of latches on it.
I can get the .357 out quicker, so I guess I would grab it first, but the 12 is really just a couple steps further.

My little brother has a 4 year old son. He has a 9mm in a gun safe. I think he has this one. I believe he stores it with a loaded clip, but nothing chambered. He and his wife both know the finger combination, but my nephew, of course, doesn't. I believe it is a very safe way of keeping a gun close at hand, but still safe for children.

 

[Dave Bennett]

Never store pistol/rifle magazines loaded for long periods of time. It degrades the springs and they will FAIL you when you need them.

Revolvers are best for long term loaded storage.

.02

 

[off.track]

I'm a canadian so take this with a liberal perspective.

I would look at getting an early warning system with four legs and some fur. Perimeter motion activated lighting! Then you'll have time to unlock the safe and load the gun.:ylsmoke:

If you are alergic to dogs they come in non allergy versions these days. Dogs come programmed to protect their flock and territory without any training.

did you say canadian?

:sombrero:


oh and as to the original topic, take a chill pill and check your pants in the morning.. paranoia in the USA is something wild right now. wow.

 

[bugnout]

With a load of buckshot, the shotgun has much better stopping power than the 357. But... you will be showing your hand. The major downside is its size.

Advantage of a handgun is being able to conceal it, having it on your person when you answer the door.

A biometric handgun safe will allow you to keep it loaded and ready, yet safe from little hands.

 

[Maximus Ram]

education education education

The best gun safety is education.
I don't care if a person takes every precation they can. There are stories of someone be shot with a firearm that was locked up and safe.
Teach your children that firearms are not toys. Don't make them a taboo thing. This only increases the curiousity and leads to problems as kids will be kids.


education education education

 

[Deleted member 9101]

education education education

The best gun safety is education.
I don't care if a person takes every precation they can. There are stories of someone be shot with a firearm that was locked up and safe.
Teach your children that firearms are not toys. Don't make them a taboo thing. This only increases the curiousity and leads to problems as kids will be kids.


education education education

:iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

[BIGdaddy]

With any weapon, safety becomes difficult in the sense that there is no way to store it, loaded and ready, without trigger lock. These take time to fool with, especially when awakened to discover that the perimeter has been breached... no bueno.

The solution is this: http://www.gunvault.com/
Any weapon can be safely stored, loaded and ready, at/near/or under the bed using one of these. I sleep good at night.

Dave, this is what I have, too. I have a brand called DAC, though. it has worked well for about 2 years, and came highly recommended.


To the original poster: In the safe, is my .380acp Bersa Thunder which is diminutive, but a gun I'm VERY good with it out to about 20 yards. Well within close encounter range.

In the safe also, is the key to my shotgun's action lock. I have figured out that the bersa is the "in a moments notice, firing rounds down the hall gun", and if there's time, I grab the key for the shotgun with the bersa in my belt as a backup.

This is all locked away from my three inquistive toddler daughters. They have all been trained to not touch my guns without me and to find someone if they find a gun, but I'm not leaving it up to them to be safe.

 

[BIGdaddy]

Oh, and ours is a one story, but the bedrooms are down the hall. Clear shot picture with no-one in the line of fire to send rounds into our living room/kitchen.

Our plan in the event of a break-in has to include grabbing all kids and bringing them to our bedroom, which requires me to have one hand free, which is leading me towards getting a longarm like a cali-legal AR15 due to how light they are. I have a pistol gripped full stock on my shottie (like a turkey gun) but its a beast to one hand.

One other thing is that though handguns are easy to manipulate in enclosed spaces, a longgun, with practice, can be very effective. Remember that no war has ever been won with pistols. rifles and shotguns rule the day. Even a lever action cowboy gun would be an asset with its long sight picture and reliable/quick-feeding operation. You are going to be at your worst, being woken up in the middle of the night, so anything you can do with gun choice to make it easier is a benifit. For me this is a hand gun I'm great with, and a longgun with large cartridges, that are easy to grip with scared, tired hands.

 

[7wt]

.357's are great. You can put 38's, 38+p's in them or 9mm with half moon clips and have a ton of shot flexibility to tame the recoil or shoot full power if you want. Just be mindful of the ammo kept in the cylinder, make sure it is a high fragmentation round and not a ball type round due to over penetration. You don't want to send a misplaced round toward the young ones.

Something like this works well.

http://www.dakotaammo.net/products/glaser/glaser.htm

BTW, 9mm in a .357 make a great practice round. You can shoot it all day without any hand fatigue and the rounds are good and cheap!

 

[BIGdaddy]

.357's are great. You can put 38's, 38+p's in them or 9mm with half moon clips and have a ton of shot flexibility to tame the recoil or shoot full power if you want. Just be mindful of the ammo kept in the cylinder, make sure it is a high fragmentation round and not a ball type round due to over penetration. You don't want to send a misplaced round toward the young ones.

Something like this works well.

http://www.dakotaammo.net/products/glaser/glaser.htm

BTW, 9mm in a .357 make a great practice round. You can shoot it all day without any hand fatigue and the rounds are good and cheap!

Ooooh...glasers...hmmm...gonna hold my tongue here.

A great resource is www.theboxotruth.com

its a fun website, full of real world data...

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

It's amazing to me that someone would result to a loaded gun for home protection. What are you going to do, kill someone? (and go to jail unless they shoot at you first?) I think it could be a useful tool too but we don't lock our doors either other than occasionally at night and the last thing I ever think about is my gun, and keeping it loaded...

My $.02