Do people keep a bed side gun?

[Parajeff71]

He's not wrong. That is current dogma - just not the complete picture. You added an element he was not including. Kids. It completely depends on the situation. If you and your wife are in your bedroom and you do not have kids or guests in other rooms grab the gun lock and load, lock the door, and call 911 - presuming their is no way out of the house which would be a better option. There is nothing in your home more valuable than you and your wife at that point. So why go looking to make things worse. It is the smart call. Now, if your kids are down the hall, you may have to go collect them. Still, if possible you want to get back to a place where you can barricade yourself all together. If there is the option to flee the house. So much the better. Let the cops earn their paycheck. It is only stuff and it is insured.

Some houses' layouts do not allow for that. You have to clear the house because it is the only way to get to the brats.

Hes also on partially right about the shotgun being the best choice. All things being equal, a shotgun is best for home defense. But if you train on your handgun, or were an infantry guy and trained like crazy on your rifle, and have little no experience with a shotgun, then it is clearly the wrong choice. The best gun is the one you are the most experienced and proficient with. You don't see a lot of guys at the local range training with their 18 inch shotguns. For those guys, it would be the wrong choice.

I think your former career field colored your judgment. You're training far exceeds anything he has, and you were trained to do some pretty crazy stuff and think it is normal. The average Joe simply could not survive some of the stuff you do/did just because it was a Thursday. Just saying'.

I see your point. Perhaps I have higher expectations of the capabilities of others. But I don't think my judgement is colored.

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

If you live alone, ok, maybe. Very few people do. Most people have families or at least a roommate. His statements were pretty clear. Lock yourself in, call cops. Only shoot if they enter the room. Cut and dry. Well, thats great if everyone in the dwelling sleeps in the same room. The biggest issue I have is the "in ca" part. What does location have to do with how far you will go to defend your family. He made it sound like that is the ONLY thing you can do in Ca. Just seemed like misinformation spewed out as certainty. And I don't remember saying anything about the shotgun.

If you and your wife are in your bedroom and you do not have kids or guests in other rooms grab the gun lock and load, lock the door, and call 911 - presuming their is no way out of the house which would be a better option.
I agree. This is a smart option, in certain circumstances.

[tacticalcity]

I hear ya. Kids are everything. If you have them, you have to get them. Bear in mind it could be one of them, or their knucklehead friends sleeping over and they did not want to wake you to tell you they were there. Happened to a cop friend of mine. His son's best friend had to clean his shorts after starring down the barrel of 1911 at AM while raiding the fridge. There were no plans for him to be there. He was drinking at a party and got too drunk to drive. Ever the responsible one his son let his friend sleep it off on the sofa. Dad had no idea, and the incident freaked him out a little. He had taken out the slack before he recognized the kid and realized it was a beer in his hand and not a gun. The older your kids get, the higher the likelihood of guests. Fathers of daughters tend to live in denial about this one big time, especially when it comes to the opposite sex sneaking in and out. Fathers of sons tend to expect it. Just because your kids know you have a gun does not mean they will not be stupid about this. Hormones override brains 9 times out of 10.

I would be pretty tempted to go looking to see what is making the noise. I have trained on clearing a house. Just the math goes sideways once you do. There is nothing out there worth my life. I don't have kids.

[Parajeff71]

Exactly. I would be pretty embarrassed if the police were called to my house because some adolescents were raiding my fridge. So that is where muzzel discipline, and more importantly, trigger control come in. Training, Training, and more Training.

[tacticalcity]

You also have the issue of not knowing how well trained the cop(s) is that is running into your home with his gun drawn and adrenaline racing as well. Could make things worse.

Life is one giant Catch 22.

For the record I answered magazine by the gun, slide to the rear. I do a lot of dry fire practice. Its a tad safer than having the magazine in the gun. I still chamber check it every single time I handle it. Its just one more added layer of defense against an ND. I practice like crazy and I just don't want to the risk of having a brain fart. It is what I was trained to do, it makes sense to me, so I do it.

When carrying concealed, it is of course loaded with a round in chamber, because it never leaves my custody. But in a drawer, that is not the same thing as being in my custody. By storing it with the magazine removed and slide to the rear I can see it is unloaded before I even pick it up. I still clear it out of habbit...and for the sake of preventing training scars. My worry is that half asleep I would pick it up and do something dumb, or somebody less trained, like the latest fling, might find it and do something stupid while I am out cold.

When not at home, or when kids are over, or when I am not in the room, the gun gets locked in the safe with the others - when it is not on me. I trained the relatives well, but their friends are not going to have any training.

[TabooAR]

2 within arm's reach of wife and self. Loaded mag, empty chamber on those without a mechanical safety.

Answer to other questions in OP:

what? Couple XD's, AR pistol, 1911 now and wife gets get new 870HD and AR out of gun jail on Tuesday.

What's your reasons? We live in a nice neighborhood that has had some issues with foreclosures and abandonment. During all the BS there was a spike in 459 and 211 crime. Also, with house prices dropping the rent has also dropped opening up the area to 'low income' families which seems to have increased the young thug gangster wannabes pushing dope on the residential streets and parks. My pits keep 'em out of my yard and act as first line.

Are you a LEO or Military? No, but a couple neighbors are and we watch for each other.

Do you live in a seedy neighborhood? Nope, I live in a 'high end' neighborhood and has had moments of seediness.

[garrett916]

who doesnt? i thought everybody does. mine is always cocked locked and ready to rock. an empty gun is like a car without wheels

[hk91666]

No semi auto but a revolver

Why ruin a good magazine spring. Taurus tracker .44 special -five is enough.

[inbox485]

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

The CCW bit is irrelevant as others have mentioned. But the CA bit is dead wrong. Locking yourself in a room is a decent strategy if that is what you want to do and the circumstances call for it, but that is not what the law requires. If somebody unlawfully forces into your house you have a virtual cart blanche to end their life. It is made explicitly clear in the penal code.

[inbox485]

We all need to do what works for us but ANYTIME I pick up a gun the slide/bolt comes back. ANYTIME, ANYTIME, ANYTIME, ANYTIME, seriously. You NEEEEEEEED to know what condition you are in. If you make a habbit of it, the gun will be ready and so will you. Worst case scenario a round falls onto the floor, best case, that click turns into a bang. Yes I realize that 10th round could be the one you need, but I think the likelihood of you needing the first round trumps your needing the 10th. Again, just my $.02. Practice makes perfect, and you wouldn't believe how fast you can get that slide rockin and rolling once you've done it enough.

I'll probably get flamed for this. lol

For the best of both worlds I keep my HD guns chambered and do a chamber check mag check any time I pick one up. That way, I don't have to worry about the click i/o bang, and if circumstances call for immediate shooting, it should be good to go.

[KillZone45]

Just added an in the process of refurbing a 1967 Remington 870 Wingmaster to the bedside with 12 rounds of 00buck. Sits right next to my SA XD .45acp as a back up weapon.

[1 SIG fan]

If somebody unlawfully forces into your house you have a virtual cart blanche to end their life. It is made explicitly clear in the penal code.

Not EXACTLY. You do not get right to murder. Only self (family) defend. So shoot to stop the threat, even if thats whole mag.... But your never shooting 'to kill'... Big difference in the law and the after civil trial

[cmaynes]

You also have the issue of not knowing how well trained the cop(s) is that is running into your home with his gun drawn and adrenaline racing as well. Could make things worse.

Life is one giant Catch 22.

For the record I answered magazine by the gun, slide to the rear. I do a lot of dry fire practice. Its a tad safer than having the magazine in the gun. I still chamber check it every single time I handle it. Its just one more added layer of defense against an ND. I practice like crazy and I just don't want to the risk of having a brain fart. It is what I was trained to do, it makes sense to me, so I do it.

When carrying concealed, it is of course loaded with a round in chamber, because it never leaves my custody. But in a drawer, that is not the same thing as being in my custody. By storing it with the magazine removed and slide to the rear I can see it is unloaded before I even pick it up. I still clear it out of habbit...and for the sake of preventing training scars. My worry is that half asleep I would pick it up and do something dumb, or somebody less trained, like the latest fling, might find it and do something stupid while I am out cold.

When not at home, or when kids are over, or when I am not in the room, the gun gets locked in the safe with the others - when it is not on me. I trained the relatives well, but their friends are not going to have any training.

If I were storing a gun like that I would out a cable lock on it.

I keep mine (when it is not on me, or in my direct control) in a locked rug, with loaded magazines in a second pocket.

the idea of having a snap cap mixed with live rounds (outside of failure to fire practice) though is very, very, very dangerous.

[Ratman12]

Just added an in the process of refurbing a 1967 Remington 870 Wingmaster to the bedside with 12 rounds of 00buck. Sits right next to my SA XD .45acp as a back up weapon.

Reading all these post got me thinking or rethinking my HD strategy,, currently I keep a loaded 90 pound Akita at the foot of my bed,, trust me, I dont go in the bedroom un announced if my wife is sleeping with the door shut while our little puppy is there .. we sleep with the bedroom door propped open 6 inches at night just for any other noises that a bad guy might make.. also have a house alarm and live in a good neighbor hood.. Oh yeah my back up is a black rifle is with arms reach with a almost fully loaded mag empty chamber with a mag light.. (No kids)

[Flopper]

Why ruin a good magazine spring. Taurus tracker .44 special -five is enough.

Although I don't disagree with your choice of HD gun, I want to point out that keeping a magazine constantly loaded does NOT wear out the spring.

Magazine springs eventually wear out from loading and unloading the magazine.

[1*mike]

Can you guys who go full mag empty chamber tell me why you dont want a round in the chamber. I dont want to have to rack a round before clearing my house when I hear a bump a night. That just tells anyone there that I have a gun.