Where to keep Home defense hand gun with childern in the house?

[Tony22-250]

I have my 2 rifles in a hard case under my bed but its not like that does any good when some one is in your room when your sleeping.... I decided its a good idea to have an H&K USP 45 loaded and ready to go by my bed at all times. The only problem is that we have a 1 1/2 year old running around and another little one on the way. I want to be able to grab my pistol quick and draw on any intruder, but my intent is to protect my family and not have any unfortunate accidents involving children. Where would I keep my pistol that is safe yet easily accessible to protect my family and my self in a time of need?

[ampaterry]

This is very very touchy, and responses are going to be rather sparse for obvious reasons.

But speaking just for myself, I would keep it handy but with no round in the chamber.
A little guy is not going to be able to rack the slide on a .45, (nor should he know how it is done) and in the case of an intruder that nice solid chambering sound can be almost as big a deterent as the shot itself.

Of course, the kids are raised knowing that if they TOUCH dad's gun without him present and guiding them, there will be dire consequences - and I don't mean a 'time out'.

[Rocketman1]

I don't have children in the house to worry about, but I have several suggestions for you.

You could purchase a small handgun safe, with a keypad entry. (I don't recommend a key lock) There are a lot of different types, with biometric fingertip key pads, and you can even get ones with finger print recognition. Most safes can be bolted in place. Perhaps it could be bolted to you bed frame.

The second idea is to hide the gun in the wall beside or above your bed. Simply cut a hole in the dry wall high enough to be out of reach from the children, and hang a picture over the opening. You could also get a wall safe.

[Tony22-250]

Safes are out of the question. Im not going to tell an intruder to hold on let me open my safe when they are in my room.

[Insulation Tim]

Personally, I would consider a 38 Special revolver. I think that they are inherently safer then a semi. I keep mine in a holster bolted to the side of the bed. You can always lock it up during the day and holster it when you go to bed.

In all fairness, my 3 are all grown and no longer live at home. I never owned a gun nor saw the need when they were living with us.

[Tony22-250]

Originally Posted by Insulation Tim

Personally, I would consider a 38 Special revolver. I think that they are inherently safer then a semi. I keep mine in a holster bolted to the side of the bed. You can always lock it up during the day and holster it when you go to bed.

In all fairness, my 3 are all grown and no longer live at home. I never owned a gun nor saw the need when they were living with us.

A revolver is a good choice for reliability and "Stopping Power" but there is no safety and if it is double action than all a child has to do is pull the trigger and bang. The H&K USP offers 12 rounds of .45 ACP (if loaded with Winchester Ranger Ts that a force to be reckoned with) and a safety. As Terry pointed out a child would have to rack the slide of a large cal auto to chamber a round.

You know the holster on the side of the bed doesn't sound like a bad idea. Just keep it there when I'm sleeping with a full mag but not chambered and put the gun up when I'm awake.

The reason I'm posting this is because this is the second time I have had an unwelcome person enter my home with out my or my family's approval and it is time for protective measures other than my 2 rifles. In both cases a proper display of adequate force would have diffused the situation and made my intent clear to the trespassers.

[Terry_P]

Whatever you use keep it on your person. That is real inconvient for me as I'm usually in exercise shorts and T-shirt but I don't have young children around so I keep in drawers. If we have company then the firearms get locked up, period. The pistol safe makes sense to me and then supplement with door locks that are harder to kick in.

[Rocketman1]

Originally Posted by Tony22-250

A revolver is a good choice for reliability and "Stopping Power" but there is no safety and if it is double action than all a child has to do is pull the trigger and bang.

Think about that statment for a second.

The safety has nothing to do with it. As a responsible gun owner, no fire arm should be out of your control. A child should not be able to get to your guns period.

If you are home and have direct control of who has access to the gun(s) then the safety is not relevent.

As I said, I don't have children, but my guns go in a safe when I'm not home, to help prevent them from getting into the hands of a burgerlar when I'm not home. At night my 9mm pistol goes in my night stand drawer with a loaded mag.

[Marlin T]

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/c...4&kwtid=305345

[Tony22-250]

Originally Posted by Rocketman1

Think about that statement for a second.

The safety has nothing to do with it. As a responsible gun owner, no fire arm should be out of your control. A child should not be able to get to your guns period.

If you are home and have direct control of who has access to the gun(s) then the safety is not relevant.

Should not and could not are two different things. Having small children in the house they end up going through just about every thing being the mischievous little guys they are. It is tragic that childern unaware of firearms safety find guns and harm them selves or others. But it does happen and should be pervented at all cost. On the opposite side of the coin your family does need protection from intruders that may enter your home. May I remind you this also does happen. This scenario is a double edged sword. It is up to the people that have small children in the home weather to protect them at the cost of the possibility of harming them. Or to leave them unprotected by keeping the fire arm out of reach in a safe or not having one at all. Personally I would like to protect my family and my well being from potential threats. The question I am asking is, where to keep an auto loader that a child does not have access to but I can reach in a hurry if need be?

All that I'm saying about an Auto loader being safer than a revolver is that if in the event that a child does find a hand gun. There are is a time difference in the fact that a child would have to first figure out how to rack the slide which take some force then after trying the trigger would then have to figure out the safety. This is not the case with a revolver. It is caveman simple when loaded. You pull the trigger, click, bang.

[Tony22-250]

Come to think of it the only safe place that is easily accessible and out of reach at the same time is to carry when in the house LOL!

[Rocketman1]

Hi Tony,

Ok, Good your post clears things up. I do understand the need to protect your family and keep the firearms away from the children. We have had home invasions in our neighborhood. I'm glad I no longer have small kids to worry about. Back when I did have children under foot it was not an issue. We would even leave our doors unlocked. Now days that is out of the question.

I really feel you should consider one of the small pistol safes. Like the one found here: http://www.buyasafe.com/Gun-Vault-Safe-p/gv1000std.htm

The keypad can be worked easily in the dark. A friend of mine has a similar safe bolted to the side of his bed frame. When he first installed it he practiced to make sure he could open it quickly and in the dark. The combination is programmable. He has it positioned so he can reach it easily without getting out of bed. After entering the combo with the touch of the fingers the door pops open for instant access to a gun already chambered.

In my opinion it isn't much different then having it in a nightstand drawer. The only way to have faster access would be to get the one with finger print recognitionlike this one:
http://www.buyasafe.com/Biometric-Fi...e-p/biobox.htm

. . . or to have it on the nightstand or under your pillow. If that’s the case then you need to move to a safer neighborhood.

Take Care

[CampingJosh]

I don't have children in my house, but I have a lot of children "around" my house (my home is in the middle of a summer youth camp). We keep the doors to the house locked, and everyone knows to stay away from the house, but the guns still get locked up much of the time. Better safe than sorry, and frequently the best way to be safe is to keep the guns in the safe.

One method not mentioned that came to my mind is to mount a holster (probably kydex or similar) to the wall near your bed somewhere around head height. Make sure it's high enough that the kid can't reach it, even from standing on the bed. I would still generally keep the holster empty, but it would be a safer place than leaving it on the nightstand, and it would be easily accessible to you as soon as you stood up.

[Big ugly]

I got the bed pulled away from the wall about 5 or 6 inches and have a spot on the back of the head board to hang my Beretta. I got a 4 y/o and a 2 y/o and the 2y/o likes to climb in bet wit us in the middle of the night sometimes. I got the pistol situated where I can get to it from either the middle or the side. The trick is not to let the children see its back there. I placed my Hi Point right on the back and forgot about it. I dont have a round in the chamber but that dont matter cuz I can get it racked and fired in a hurry if I need to. That is what I would advise you to do.

[Big ugly]

I got the bed pulled away from the wall about 5 or 6 inches and have a spot on the back of the head board to hang my Hi Point. I got a 4 y/o and a 2 y/o and the 2y/o likes to climb in bet wit us in the middle of the night sometimes. I got the pistol situated where I can get to it from either the middle or the side. The trick is not to let the children see its back there. I placed my Hi Point right on the back and forgot about it. I dont have a round in the chamber but that dont matter cuz I can get it racked and fired in a hurry if I need to. That is what I would advise you to do.

[carver]

Tony22-250, While I don't have kids at home anymore, I like the idea of the small safes mounted to the bed side table. You can open one of these in about the same time it would take to rack the slide. Visit some of the sites, and watch their videos. When my kids were at home, these things didn't exist. You had to lock the guns in a safe that worked by a combination lock, or a key. Either method would spell trouble in an emergency. I taught my kids to never touch a fire arm with out my saying it was OK. The method I used was my own, and it did work for me.

[Double Deuce]

I have small kids and I have a keypad pistol safe, it takes seconds to open and get the pistol, its up on a dresser next to my bed where the kids cant reach. It fits 2 pistols and clips.

[Just One Shot]

Originally Posted by Double Deuce

I have small kids and I have a keypad pistol safe, it takes seconds to open and get the pistol, its up on a dresser next to my bed where the kids cant reach. It fits 2 pistols and clips.

Are those hair clips you are referring to?

[cakes]

You should give the kids their own guns so they don't need to take yours.


Seriously, though, you should keep your pistol in your immediate control(holster), or the kids in your immediate control, or both.

[ampaterry]

Times change so much.

When I was a kid, no one knew what a 'gun safe' was.
There was always a loaded shotgun leaning beside the back door and a loaded rifle close at hand as well. As kids, we knew if we touched one without being invited to, our butts would be blistered. And you know what? It worked. My visiting friends were raised the same way; no one would DARE touch a gun at home or visiting unless invited to by an adult. I never heard of any kid shooting thenmselves or anyone else, either, in those days. It was a different world, when responsability is something you grew up with and accepted.
I miss those days, especially when I see a bunch of kids running completely wild, badgering their parents into giving them their way - -

I am criticizing NO ONE here, just saying that the entire country used to be completely different in their philosophy of how to raise children, and I believe it worked much better than todays methods. Now, we teach kids that anything harmful will be locked away from them, and therefore if they can get their hands on something, it is safe. I blame much of the current drug problem on this philosophy.

OK, ducking and running for cover -

[carver]

Originally Posted by ampaterry

Times change so much.

When I was a kid, no one knew what a 'gun safe' was.
There was always a loaded shotgun leaning beside the back door and a loaded rifle close at hand as well. As kids, we knew if we touched one without being invited to, our butts would be blistered. And you know what? It worked. My visiting friends were raised the same way; no one would DARE touch a gun at home or visiting unless invited to by an adult. I never heard of any kid shooting thenmselves or anyone else, either, in those days. It was a different world, when responsability is something you grew up with and accepted.
I miss those days, especially when I see a bunch of kids running completely wild, badgering their parents into giving them their way - -

I am criticizing NO ONE here, just saying that the entire country used to be completely different in their philosophy of how to raise children, and I believe it worked much better than todays methods. Now, we teach kids that anything harmful will be locked away from them, and therefore if they can get their hands on something, it is safe. I blame much of the current drug problem on this philosophy.

OK, ducking and running for cover -

There ya go!! You really said what I wanted to say!

[Tony22-250]

Very good point Terry! This is how im going to raise my children. For now im with my Father and Step Mother and I don't have a any say nor am i going to try to voice my opinion on how to raise there children.

I remember my Mother spanked me once when I was young. I told her i was going to call the cops. She said go ahead they will take you away! That shut me up real quick Ha Ha!

[oscarmayer]

ampaterry hit the nail right on the head. when i brought a new gun into the house i sat my kids down on the sofa and checked the gun to make sure it was safe, and i handed the gun to the kids, i told them here it is once you've gotten the thrill of playing with this i'm going to put it away and lord help you if i find out or catch you snooping around my room. go snoop for your moms "toys" and leave mine alone . now with g-kids that are somewhat less than civilized i have gun safes. with my get to gun being locked in a lockbox on the night stand. the box is the type that only an adult hand will reach in and depress the 5 locking buttons.

[pinecone70]

This is a real issue now, and even though my brother and I were forbidden from poking around in our parents' belongings, we still knew what and where everything was. Don't think kids won't find a gun. Just the other day, a two year old child shot himself in the face with a .38 revolver his mom kept in the dresser drawer. She had told him not to touch it the day before and put it right back in the drawer.

[007bondjamesbond007]

http://corneredcat.com/TOC.aspx#Kids

Go to that web site. Get your wife to read it.