Shotgun for home defense??

[IEShooter]

Posted this as a reply in another thread, then figured this was really the best place for my question:

You folks with shotguns for home defense, where do you store them?

I ask because I currently have a loaded pistol that is locked in a small gun safe very near my bed. If the wifey and I are asleep and the burglar alarm goes off, I can retrieve it very quickly.

Most importantly, it is safely secure and out of reach of my two, young children.

My main gun safe is on the first floor, while the bedrooms are on the 2nd floor.

For those folks with similiar living arrangements, how do you secure a shotgun near your 2nd floor sleeping area?

Just curious as I'd like to get one, but have been thinking it'd just be useless to me in an emergency if it was locked in the gun safe downstairs.

I suppose I could buy an inexpensive, smaller rifle safe for the 2nd floor, but I'm sure some of you clever folks have come up with other solutions.

Regards,

John

[rc601962]

My handgun is my everyday home defense tool. It is much easier to keep in a small safe instantly ready to deploy.

A rifle or shotgun would be kept ready for a situation where I anticipate the probability that there could be trouble - riot, a sudden rash of home invasions, person threatening me...

[IEShooter]

Shotgun

That's sorta my thinking too. A .40 caliber pistol is more than enough to ward off a home invasion burglar. Also, much easier to wield when searching and clearing the house.

My neighbor is a fireman, so he's away for days at a time and his wife is alone with their two kids. He said they keep a shotgun underneath the bed, but that will need to disappear or at least be unloaded once his very young kids get a bit older. Way too dangerous to have a loaded gun where they can get to it. He knows that and still has some time (they're VERY young kids), but I was wondering what common solutions are, aside from the obvious one of locking it in a nearby, rifle sized gun safe.

I suppose you could leave it unloaded, but keep the shells hidden or locked up nearby with quick access?

Having a good shotgun seems like a no-brainer to me, but I'm thinking it'd wind up being a safe queen. I already have an AR and an M1A, so I'm good to go for long guns.

Any other ideas?

Regards,

John

[whatmeworry]

Shotgun lock

I use a Santa Cruz lock like this one...

http://www.santacruzgunlocks.com/setups/completehome.html

[Sicarius]

Neat Idea but still won't stop kids from fooling around with the firearm. Still can be loaded and trigger pulled. I have the same situation as you. Way I do it is I have a small safe upstairs in my closet where I keep my HD pistol and shotgun. Every night I pull the pistol out and leave it on the nightstand and the safe door is unlocked and open. In the morning I secure everthing before I leave.
Kevin

[SPaikmos]

I've been thinking about this too, but haven't come up with a good solution yet. The ideal solution would meet the following criteria:

1) Allow me to store the SG loaded.
2) Allow quick access to the SG.
3) Keep the SG out of unwanted hands (i.e. kids, or a robber who's already in the house)

My friend's idea is to put hooks above the doorway inside his closet. The gun is out of sight, and fairly high up so out of the kids' hands. He keeps the magazine loaded but no shells in the chamber, so you still have to rack it once to load and go.

I like the idea, but it doesn't satisfy criteria (3) that well. Anyone rummaging through the home would find it easily. It would keep it out of the kids' hands until they're old enough to be ingrained with proper gun safety. Although not sure if it would satisfy CA DOJ rules for keeping a gun at home.

The other idea would be to have a small safe that you open and close every day. That seems to be the best compromise for me, since it restricts access appropriately.

I'd prefer to not have anything that requires a key; if it's locked up, I want it behind something that I can open on my own.

In any case, if you've got kids at home, start teaching gun safety EARLY. Education, IMHO, is way more important than any safe.

[1lostinspace]

I have had to clear my house with a shotgun and it's a pain in butt, the barrel sticks out no matter what technique you use. I prefer either my G17 or G21 with laser light combo M6

[BigDogatPlay]

Disclaimer... I don't have kids.

I've been thinking about this too, but haven't come up with a good solution yet. The ideal solution would meet the following criteria:

1) Allow me to store the SG loaded.
2) Allow quick access to the SG.
3) Keep the SG out of unwanted hands (i.e. kids, or a robber who's already in the house)

My friend's idea is to put hooks above the doorway inside his closet. The gun is out of sight, and fairly high up so out of the kids' hands. He keeps the magazine loaded but no shells in the chamber, so you still have to rack it once to load and go.

My first up HD is a handgun, period. It makes me able to fight my way to where the SG is stored, or to the safe which is elsewhere in the house, if I have to reach more / heavier tools.

I keep an 870 Police with a two shot extension and a Sure Fire fore end at hand. Tube loaded, hammer down on an empty chamber, safety off. The gun is fitted with a trigger lock of the type that can be opened "if you know how" without the key, or can be more fully secured with the key. These are available at Big 5 and many other retailers.

I first went with the hooks over the door of the walk in closet. This was great until we discovered that my wife could not comfortably reach it standing on the floor.

Scratch that idea.

I like the idea, but it doesn't satisfy criteria (3) that well. Anyone rummaging through the home would find it easily. It would keep it out of the kids' hands until they're old enough to be ingrained with proper gun safety. Although not sure if it would satisfy CA DOJ rules for keeping a gun at home.

Actually it might not be as easy to find as you think. One of the harder things to train people to do is to look up. If the closet is a reach in, not a walk in, there is a strong chance that no one short of a very competent burglar will discover it.

My understanding is iof the trigger lock is in place, the requirement is satisfied. I'm sure someone will correct me if I am mistaken.

The other idea would be to have a small safe that you open and close every day. That seems to be the best compromise for me, since it restricts access appropriately.

Any safe big enough to hold a SG won't be small. There are locking racks that can be lag bolted to the wall studs (like inside a closet) that are pretty secure. Presumably this type of solution would be unsecured when you are home, for easy access, and secured when you are not. Perhaps not a great solution with kids in the house.

I'd prefer to not have anything that requires a key; if it's locked up, I want it behind something that I can open on my own.

That requirement gets you back to something like the trigger lock I described above.

In any case, if you've got kids at home, start teaching gun safety EARLY. Education, IMHO, is way more important than any safe.

Very, very true. Can't stress that last part enough and very well stated.

What I've gone with now is securing the SG with the trigger lock and concealing the gun in the house. My wife and I both know right where it's at and how to get it into action in less then ten seconds. If you have a bunch of time to root around, you could find it.

But then you have to get past me, my wife, two very protective Belgian dogs and

[SPaikmos]

What I've gone with now is securing the SG with the trigger lock and concealing the gun in the house. My wife and I both know right where it's at and how to get it into action in less then ten seconds. If you have a bunch of time to root around, you could find it.

But then you have to get past me, my wife, two very protective Belgian dogs and

Unfortunately, I don't have dogs yet. On the list of things to get.

The thing I'm worried about is when I'm not home and someone is going through my crap, then I do come home. Statistically, a very small probability. But for some reason, I'm afraid of being shot by my own guns more than I'm afraid of dealing with things going bump in the night.

[orangevale]

When my daughter was young, my wife used a Master Lock trigger lock on her Remington 1100. The lock covered the entire trigger guard. The magazine was full, the chamber empty and the safety off. The key was on a big brass key ring under the handgun in the Mini-vault which was on my nightstand. The shotgun was under the head of the bed, butt out. She practiced unlocking the thing in the dark.

[DaveFJ80]

I have a Master Lock combo trigger lock that also covers the entire trigger guard on my Benelli. I can also get it off fairly quickly, but that's not to say I could do the same thing in the dark if I hear something go crash inside my house at night and if I had just woken up from a dead sleep. That's why I have my GunVault next to my bed with my Glock 19 in it. That's my first go-to gun as it's right there. Then as I approach my closet and have some time, I grab the shotgun and transition to that as my primary, and my Glock as the secondary.... if the time allows for it (I have a pretty big house so that buys some time).

I have too many nephews who go running through my house looking through everything, so the last thing I need is for one of them to climb up something in my closet and fall down with my loaded Benelli in their hands and no trigger lock (yes, it sounds bad and the kids need discipline, but I still keep safety first in the house).

[Lucky Scott]

A nice trigger lock or a cable lock that goes thru the chamber so you cant rack it works best for a home with small children. I used to leave the SG with a empty chamber, but with a few rounds loaded in it. Then I would use a trigger lock so it could not be fired.
It would require a couple minutes to unlock and then rack the SG.

But you cant cut corners with kids in the house.

Thank goodness my kids are all now grown up and we dont have to worry about that anymore. Now, the handguns, and the shotgun is loaded and nearby.

[IEShooter]

Home Defense

Lots of good informaton here. Thanks to everyone for the informative and thoughtful replies.

I'm laughing at the point someone made about it being hard to train people to look up. I have some experience with this and it is so true. I bet a shotgun suspended from hooks above the door on the inside of a closet would never be found by a thief. Won't work for my needs though as I remember how I was as a kid. Not much would stop my curiosity. Lots of things could be piled up to gain access to something cool up high.

My current setup is a small gun safe lag bolted to the wall studs and hidden by clothes in a closet. A push button code unlocks it to reveal a Glock 22 with strobing light attached to the front along with a laser. Clean setup and I can get to it within about 15 seconds of waking up, which is faster than a burglar can make it to me. It has those TSA bullets in it as I'd rather not shoot my kids or neighbor if I miss my target.

My thinking is I won't try to clear the house, but only cover my wife while she retrieves the kids and secures them in our master bedroom. I'd then join her, secure the door and wait for the police.

I'm a middle aged midwestern farm boy, not Rambo. Sure, I'm a veteran of the Navy, but I sat on my butt in front of a light table analyzing satellite and TARPS photogoraphy. I was NOT a seal or anything even close to it. They never trusted us Navy boys with guns, and for good reason....

On the other hand, I still like the idea of a shotgun in the house. I grew up with an older brother who was a LEO who taught me that racking a shotgun is an incredible audible deterrent to anyone.

I'm really liking that device that secures the shotgun to a wall, but worry that it wouldn't prevent someone from chambering a round and discharging the gun.

Regards,

John

[whatmeworry]

Santa Cruz Lock

With the Santa Cruz lock it will basically prevent the gun from being racked. So if you do not leave a round chambered, the lock will prevent the shotgun from being racked.

In regard to the key issue, you can install an electronic release (hidden button) which runs on 12 v and use the key as backup. Basically this is what LEO use in their cars.

[IEShooter]

Shotgun

With the Santa Cruz lock it will basically prevent the gun from being racked. So if you do not leave a round chambered, the lock will prevent the shotgun from being racked.

In regard to the key issue, you can install an electronic release (hidden button) which runs on 12 v and use the key as backup. Basically this is what LEO use in their cars.

Okay, now I'm REALLY liking this Santa Cruz lock. Pretty slick.

I take it you just adjust it vertically so that it grabs the gun in a position that it is impossible to rack a round?

Clever.

I'm not worried about a thief breaking in while we're gone and having the time to defeat the Santa Cruz or my gun safe. The alarm with motion sensors and glass breaks will detect them long before they ever get beyond their point of entry. Even with an alarm failure, I don't much care if they steal my things. I can always buy new things. That's what insurance is for.

My goal is to provide maximum protection to my family while we're at home.

Regards,

John