Home defense

[erik_26]

What is the best way to keep your home defense weapon ready, easily accessible to you, but not to your kids or unauthorized people?

Right now I have my guns in a locked safe. With gun locks on. Plus a loaded magazine on the shelf in the safe. I am guessing I would need about 2-3 minutes before I would be ready. I have to hope my dogs can keep a would be intruder at bay or at least buy me some time.

How do you do this better?

[tacticalcity]

There really is no good solution from a self defense perspective. Anything that can successfully block your kids from access will block you as well. You do not have the time you think you do. No matter what you do, when the time comes it will likely turn out to have been the worst thing you could have done with regards to being able to get access to your firearm. Murphy's law is alive and well.

Engineers have been working on this one for a long time. Biometric safes were a nice idea, until people realized just how glitchy biometrics are.

Locked in the safe would be as far as I would go. I would not add gunlocks on top of that. You might as well seal them in a box that can only be slowly cut open with a welding torch at the point. You'll have about as much luck getting to them in time.

The simple truth is, no matter what steps you take to keep your kids from being exposed to the guns (including not even owning them) it will not do a damn thing to keep them safe. Because you have ZERO control over their friends parents. Over half the households in America own a firearm, and you can bet your bottom dollar less than half of those households exercise proper gun safety. So a proper combination of keeping your own firearms locked up, and teaching your kids about gun safety is critical.

Part of your job is going to be educating your children on gun safety. There is an appropriate level of exposure for each age group, and odds are it is considerably higher than you (and especially your wife) might think. Since California tends to treat even adults like helpless idiots it is no wonder we under estimate the intelligence of our kids. Talk to the guys over at the NRA, they have some great tips on how to keep your kids safe while teaching them gun safety. A lot of it will be played by ear, as you measure how well your child responds. My buddies 5 year is still at the, "What is that? A Gun? What do we do when we see a gun? Don't touch it and go and find an adult!" stage of exposure. Which started when she as only two and is perfect for her age group. And it has already worked. At three years old she saw someone's BB Gun in the garage, and did not touch it and went and found an adult. It was only a BB Gun, but it was proof the exposure and safety training works. Sometime before she is 10 I would expect she will be at the "This is how to clear and strip a firearm to render it safe!" stage of the game. Not because you don't want her to go find an adult still, but because you know her rebellious idiot untrained friends won't let her. The thing most parents overlook when thinking about this stuff, is the reality of what it was like to be a kid and all the presures they are under. By age seven or so you become the idiot in their minds and their dumb friends become their roll models. Run and get an adult only works for so long.

[Librarian]

Belt holster, when you're home.

Wear a vest or a sweater/sweatshirt if that would seem a bit over the top for family or visitors, but the answer to 'two minutes away' is to keep it closer.

[ZX-10R]

Keep it where you know it is unloaded...Have the magazine in your pocket. That is what I do now that I have a handgun. My daughter is 14 and guns are not her thing and she knows extremely well what purpose they serve. My wife is pro gun and agrees with my practice. If there are guests, the guns go away.

[Katana]

[Super Spy]

I have a GunVault Biometric safe....It's not perfect and you need to practice opening it, as well as record fingerprints at different angles and with different amounts of pressure. Practicing getting into it makes sure your not pressing the hell out of the scanner and distorting the image it collects. That said I can get to my pistol in about 2 seconds, rack the slide and I'm ready for action.

Everything else is in a gunsafe that is bolted to the wall and the slab.

[Swift Justice]

Non-biometric gunvault. Or, one of those fake picture frames that can conceal a gun.

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=148194

[DaveFJ80]

If you don't feel comfortable carrying around in your house (playing with kids running around, depending on what clothes you're wearing, etc), then think about how your home is layed out and consider what routes you can take to get to your gun(s).

For me, I realized that if I'm in a front area of my house, then I can easily get up and go to my bedroom to get my loaded handgun in the GunVault (out & ready in a few seconds, while taking cover from back there as needed). However, if I'm in back area of my house and if badguys come through the front, then I can't go by them to get to my GunVault in my bedroom, so I put another one and hid it at the other end of the house. Again, easy for me to get to and can be ready in a matter of seconds, plus it's towards an area where I can take cover from as needed.

Just really depends on how you want to approach the situation, whether you're more comfortable carrying in your house or strategically stashing your firearms in your home.

[InGrAM]

Your home defense gun should be in YOUR room at all times. Have a safe in your room where you ONLY keep your home defense gun. A small single or dual gun safe.
Leave it unlocked when you are home/sleeping.
Tell your kids about gun safety... end of story.. letting them shoot the gun/guns is a good idea. EDUCATION! is key.
Lock the safe when you leave the home.
period.

I have no kids but a new non-gun exposed wife and this is what I do. It takes me about 5 seconds to get to the safe and chamber a round.

[sevensix2x51]

i keep it in my back pocket, locked and loaded. its not going to do you any good when its in a safe, or even unloaded. maybe one of these days i'll start using a holster, but old habits die hard. kids arent going to get to your pistol and shoot themselves if it is in your possession. it either goes in the safe when i leave, or comes along for the ride. usually the latter.

[esartori]

I would look into something similar to this safe. It is small and can hold one to two pistols. You don't need to fumble with a key, and it has a feature where it will disable to safe if too many attempts have been made. Something like this combined with good education should do the trick; you can be safe while also being prepared.

[esartori]

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/86_261/products_id/78100

forgot the link...

[tacticalcity]

I am a fan of the gunvaults, but anything battery powered has a failure potential that has to be kept in mind. Have a backup plan in case you can't get in. Seen it happen my friends.

I do not carry inside my home. My gun clashes with my boxer shorts.

I do open the safe when I get home. I do not have kids. My buddies that do have kids all have Gunvaults. They are a pretty decent seller for me as well.

[Mickey D]

Belt holster, when you're home

Best answer. Mine's on my hip at all times. My shirt always untucked or a sweater. Dress around your needs.

[kahai808]

i keep mine with a loaded mag but i also live by myself