Keeping firearms safe, but in reach in an emergency?

Question

How do YOU keep your firearms safe from others (children-unotherized users), but able to get to fast in an emergency?

I personaly use 2 guns for home protection, a 12gauge remington 870 express (with 00' buck) in my room under my matress and boxspring so when im sleeping i can get it as soon as i wake up and during the day i just lock my bedroom door.

The other gun is use is a 40. Smith and wesson and i keep that mounted behind a dresser as soon as you open the front door. (it also has a holster which is very hard to get open if you dont know how) and no one would think to look behind a dresser so i consider that safe.

Answer 1

I keep mine on my person, during the waking hours, and on my bedsie table at night. Everyone in my home is an authorized user, and have been trained with firearms.. To date, after 30+ years of having firearms in the home, i can say there has never been an accidental shooting, or gun related injury in my home. and yes, we have children, 9 to be exact.

Answer 2

First off... there is nowhere that a child would not "think to look." Simply put, you cannot hide a firearm from a child... don't even try.

For ready access, there are several versions of safes with touchpad combinations that can mount on your nightstand and offer good security for the weapons yet allow access in just a few seconds. There are even some now with fingerprint recognition that are very fast and will prevent any problems caused by trying to enter a combination in a hurry and under tremendous stress. Here's one example: http://www.gunvault.com/gunvaultmultivaultbiometric/

I use a different model from the same company (non biometric) and it allows rapid access. I like it a lot.

As for the shotgun, they make similar locks that completely encase the trigger area yet come off quickly.

Teaching kids in the house about gun safety, allowing them to handle the firearms under close supervision, and removing the curiosity factor will help a lot - but kids are still kids and they will occasionally do things they know they aren't supposed to. So you can't rely totally on just teaching them gun safety. Also... what if their friends come over? You know, the ones whose parents just hide their heads in the samd and say, "guns are bad" and don't teach their kids anything about them. When that kid comes over, all the training that you have given your kids won't keep your kids from getting shot by their friend. Keep em locked up.

As for the, "do you live in a bad neighborhood" questions... violent home intrusions happen EVERYWHERE. People get mugged, raped, and murdered in "nice quiet neighborhoods" all over the world (even in places with gun bans - contrary to what some anti gun people would like you to believe). There is nothing wrong with having a firearm readily accessible for self defense. However, you do have an obligation to store it safely and prevent accidents.

Answer 3

My first question is, do you live in an area that bad that you need 2 ?
My next is, how old are the kids in your home?(I learned to care for a gun at a very young age)
My dad was a cop, there were guns in the house but they were always locked up in strong boxes, making it not so easy to access them.
When I got my first apartment I was burglarized, I bought a pellet gun, a damn good one......If somebody breaks in and youve had some target practice, you can actually kill a person with a mere pellet gun.
as for having the gun behind the dresser in a holster, its not really going to be much help if youre in a suprise situation.
Locking your bedroom door isnt going to do much good if you either have kids that are curious as to why yu lock the door, nor will it do you any good when somebody does break in when nobody is home....the first place theyll look is behind that locked door, and under the mattress.....
lock it up .....call a gun shop theyll have a few ideas.

Answer 4

Depends on what state. In California you must keep the weapons locked if there are children in the house.

Answer 5

We have no children in the house so I have 2 handguns in just as good a place as yours.

Answer 6

I just wear my 357 snub all the time. One never knows when crime will strike.

in 54 years the count is

Criminals 0

Me 5

Answer 7

Quite frankly, I keep them locked up in a safe. The ammo is kept locked up in a compartment of that safe, with a separate lock.
Most people who have guns "in reach in an emergency" actually end up dead during that emergency. It is a better idea to have an alarm system installed and to USE IT.