Do people keep a bed side gun?

[Crovax]

I keep it in a safe next to my bed, loaded with a full mag, but not chambered.

I live in an extremely safe area but I really like to be prepared. If I lived in a crappy area I probably wouldn't keep it in the safe at night.

[MultiCal]

Close enough to get to. Both have loaded mags, with spare mags.
Rifle and shotgun near by.
We live out in the country on acreage. So the only problems so far are just the four legged kind - wild dogs, coyotes, and the occasional mountain lion.

[Deadbolt]

Magazine in, Not Chambered.

[NorCal*Shooter]

Glock 19 w/crimson trace, winchester ranger talons, full 15 round mag + 1 in the pipe.

When seconds count, you don't want to be d*cking around trying to load or rack a round especially when the intruder's is probably loaded and ready to go. It takes too much time as it is to compose yourself, identify that there is a threat and to reach for you firearm.

[PanchoVilla]

Springfield 1911 "Loaded"
Condition one in a quick access lockbox within arms reach and a spare mag in there too.

[Nessal]

G23 with Rangers always under my pillow. Magazine in none in chamber.

[addiction]

To those of you who load a mag but do not rack the slide, I used to think that was the way to go until I did a tactical class and did simulation of being woken up in bed. I put my gun in the mag loaded but no round in the chamber, put it by me in the mock bed room, and " went to sleep" when threat was called out, I woke up , grabed the gun and off I went to clear the house. First " bad guy" I saw aimed the gun and heard the loudest sound in a gub fight "click". Under stress, but wide awake and less than 30 seconds after I loaded the gun with a mag and did not rack the slide, I failed to "wake up" and remeber to rack the slide.

So unless up have trained and practiced it a lot, I would not leave my gun in a state were it looks loaded but it is not expecting that you will remember to rack it when you have really just woken up.

Leave the mag out, or the slide locked back, or one in the chamber, but never the mag in with the slide dropped.

[CombatMP]

Hell Ya!!

[sd joe]

Always keep one there and probably a few other places just in case.

[12voltguy]

To those of you who load a mag but do not rack the slide, I used to think that was the way to go until I did a tactical class and did simulation of being woken up in bed. I put my gun in the mag loaded but no round in the chamber, put it by me in the mock bed room, and " went to sleep" when threat was called out, I woke up , grabed the gun and off I went to clear the house. First " bad guy" I saw aimed the gun and heard the loudest sound in a gub fight "click". Under stress, but wide awake and less than 30 seconds after I loaded the gun with a mag and did not rack the slide, I failed to "wake up" and remeber to rack the slide.

So unless up have trained and practiced it a lot, I would not leave my gun in a state were it looks loaded but it is not expecting that you will remember to rack it when you have really just woken up.

Leave the mag out, or the slide locked back, or one in the chamber, but never the mag in with the slide dropped.

do you have a ccw?
in ca, if someone breaks into your house, you are to lock yourself in a room & call 911
only shoot if they break into your room with you, your family & preferably a 12ga.

even cops don't clear a house alone, it's dumb idea

[DaveFJ80]

Safe mounted nearby. Glock has a 19rd mag full of HST, mag inserted but not chambered. More high cap mags filled with HST & Gold Dot in the safe.

I also don't like in a bad area, but you never know.

[Chester]

do you have a ccw?
in ca, if someone breaks into your house, you are to lock yourself in a room & call 911
only shoot if they break into your room with you, your family & preferably a 12ga.

even cops don't clear a house alone, it's dumb idea

California law appears to be quite clear that the use of deadly force is justifiable if one REASONABLY believes they are in imminent danger of great bodily harm or death. And in the few cases around my part of town where criminals have been shot and killed, the law has consistently sided with the "castle keeper", so to speak.

An older woman recently blasted a shotgun hole in someone who broke through her door and last I heard, that was the end of it.

A more publicized coin shop robbery also ended in the owner being deemed justified in shooting an armed robber, and he even shot him in the BACK and LEG! And his scumbag friend even dragged him outside so he could bleed to death outside of the business... and bleed to death he did.

Last I heard, going out into the living room to investigate a noise, only to see someone who's not supposed to be there with "what you thought was a gun" in his hand qualifies. And while I'm not sure who said it, I remember someone from the police department here saying to the effect that you are taking your life into your own hands the moment you decide to break into a stranger's dwelling.

I know the gun laws in this state really suck balls, but I don't think it's fair to overlook some of the things here regarding home and personal defense that aren't completely retarded. Just wanted to point that out.

As to the question of a bedside gun, yeah... I'm a noob so I keep an AR-15 (because it's the only gun I possess) with the mag loaded but nothing in the chamber. But... in approximately 1 day, 20 hours, and 30 minutes, I'll have a Glock 22 also with mag loaded and empty chamber by the bed.

I'm really on the fence about chambering my bedside gun though, especially with the lack of traditional safety on the Glock. I have a feeling I MAY start chambering it since I really have no reason not to.

[S.A.]

do you have a ccw?
in ca, if someone breaks into your house, you are to lock yourself in a room & call 911
only shoot if they break into your room with you, your family & preferably a 12ga.

even cops don't clear a house alone, it's dumb idea

Back in 2006, four idiot's paid us a visit during the day to make death threats and one forced his way, one step, into our house. Yes, we called 911, after I tried to break one guy's jaw and my son put a 9mm in other guy's arm. This happened outside on street. No arrests on our side.

[addiction]

do you have a ccw?
in ca, if someone breaks into your house, you are to lock yourself in a room & call 911
only shoot if they break into your room with you, your family & preferably a 12ga.

even cops don't clear a house alone, it's dumb idea

Dude, it was a tactical training exercise, and the scenario was that your kids are in the house and you need to find them, along with that it was a total SHTF situation and you needed to get to your rifle to fend off the gang attacking from the outside.

I totally agree that clearing a house IF you don't need to is a bad idea, but if you have kids in the house in their rooms, no way I would lock myself in my room and dial 911, I am going to get my kids.....

So since this was a training excercise, and I clearly stated that, I don't see your objection to what I did, however I do agree that clearing a house is a bad idea, but I would like to make sure more people hear the bigger lesson, a seated mag without a chambered round is just asking for a "click" not a "bang" when you grab the bedside gun.

and for the record, I will always grab my pistol over my 12 gauge any day....faster on target, better trained on it, can work it with one hand so I can open doors, and turn on or off lights, easier to reload, etc...lots of reasons.....

Jim

[Rock_Islander]

Every night. I've got something serving as "bedstand" or "nightstand" duty.

Either my Mossberg 12-gauge, my OLL AR-15, or my favorite which is my good ol' 1911 (.45 acp).

All three should work fine, but I think the AR-15 is probably a little big and not totally suited for home defense.

The shotgun definitely rocks when it comes to one-shot-fight-is-stopped.

But the .45 is nice and light, and a pistol manuevers best in close quarters compared to a long gun. With my surefire handlights and some Winchester Supreme Elite HPs and I'm good to go me-thinks.

By the way, I don't chamber a round. I just keep a charged mag inside. I think that's how accidents happen. I don't want to chamber a round until the "moment of truth". Until that time, I feel confident that I'll remember to chamber that round, and it only adds a split second of time before you're ready to fire, compared to having a round already in the hole. The safety trade-off is worth it.